Most people find dialects intriguing. At the same time, they have lots of questions about them and often have strong opinions as well. Probably the most common question we encounter about the condition of our indigenous dialects is, "Are Manipuri dialects dying, due to television and the mobility of the English speaking population?"

Certainly, media, transportation, and technology have radically compressed the geography of the Manipur State and altered Manipuri lifestyles over the last century. So what effects do these significant changes have on English language? What about Manipuri dialects as English assumes a global role?

It appears that the new generation of today are unable to write our own mother-tongue, be it Meitei dialect or any other tribal dialects. The effort to preserve the dying language will be a serious blow to the future generation.

As a matter of fact, most of the new generation prefer to use English as a means of communication and correspondence and as a result they are not in a position to write dialects correctly.

Perhaps, the young generation are more concerned about their future, about how best they can survive in a growing competitive environment and in pragmatic materialistic world. Thus in view of the present circumstances, English language still plays an important role in term of jobs security and global market economics.

Young people follow activities which will provide them future security; reading and writing of fluent English is much more important than upholding their own indigenous dialects.

As a major new means of global communication, the internet is bound to have a great impact on language use. Probably the most feared result, voiced most often in the internet's early years, was that the internet would encourage global use of English to such a degree that other languages would be crowded out.

And indeed, in the mid-1990s, 80% of international Web sites were reported to be in English. The spread of world English, changes in employment patterns, and the emergence of new technology are enforcing trends of the global informational economy.

From a historical perspective, if a language is in distress and dying it is a reflection of the state of the people who use it. Manipuri original script cannot be treated in isolation; its development is tremendously associated with the economic mayhem, educational paradigm and political experiments.

If our language is in crisis, perhaps, it is a reflection of the dilemma in which the society and the people are currently situated, after all a language is only as good as the people who use it. In the past Manipur made tremendous progress in developing Manipuri language and literature, partly because there was a parallel development in their economic and political pursuits.

It is also said that Manipuri is the most developed language of Tibeto-Burman family of India, and Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterjee also emphatically said that Manipuri literature is one of the most advanced languages of modern Indian literature (Kirata-Jana-Kirti, 1974:166).

Thus, the new generation needs to be counselled to revive the decaying of our indigenous scripts but not by force.

Unfortunately, the state government does little to support the institutions and people dedicated to make our native dialects effective and attractive.

The average Manipuri especially who are living outside the home state have little or no understanding and appreciation and the importance of artists in the development of language. The most interesting question is how many 'language patriots' buy Manipuri or other books of tribal languages regularly and support the development of our dying languages?

Language is like a living being; it needs to be constantly pruned and fed to ensure its growth and development. The need of an hour are new story tellers, new artists, new writers, and new movie makers, and at the same time a purchaser of good market, eager to get through the finished products.

Globalization and free information on the internet adds to the confusion. Given our small population, irrespective of our backgrounds or how good our written or oral skills are, has a role to play in ensuring our language survival.

For a start, we need to rid of ourselves of the one dimensional view of the 'language patriots'. Just a reminder that we must not to expect divine intervention here. Even Aramaic, one of the most ancient languages spoken by Christ himself, was in the process of dying.

American English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English, Caribbean English, Indian English, and Pidgin English are among the many newer English dialects that have emerged since the period of emigration from the British Isles during the expansion of the British Empire.

The English language spread as Britain expanded its colonial empire from the 1600s on and established legal, military, and educational systems in many countries along English lines. British expansion ended after World War II (1939-1945), when many of its colonies sought independence.

Since World War II American English has dominated as a world language, largely because of U.S. economic and political influence and the advance of technology, especially computing and the Internet. At the turn of the 21st century, English prevailed as the most widely used language internationally.

At the same time as English became a world language, the number of English speakers learning a second language dropped substantially. Even more disturbingly, English was blamed for the "death" of some minority languages, such as Gaelic and various Australian aboriginal languages.

Various measures are needed to protect these smaller languages from disappearing.