781: Silbo Gomero Jan 27, 2017

Depending on what one's native language is and which language one would like to learn, it will either be easier or harder to do so based on how similar the grammar, vocabulary, syntax and other factors are. For more on the levels of difficulty a second language can be, click here. While as a general rule, languages within one family are easier to pick up, there are a few exceptions. Silbo Gomero is a Romance language, specifically it is a dialect of Spanish spoken in Gomero in the Canary Islands, but it is composed entirely whistling. Different notes replace the otherwise spoken sounds and is therefore able to be written the same as standard Spanish. The whistling can travel as much as five kilometers, and before cell-phones, this was the best way to communicate across a terrain filled with valleys and other natural obstacles. There was a decline in its use for a long time, but now thanks to local efforts, and its mandatory teaching in schools, it has made a comeback, and is quite popular with the tourists.