At Grinnell, every incoming first-year student takes a course called Tutorial in the fall semester. Tutorial is meant to introduce students to college-level reading and writing, and their instructor is also their advisor until they declare a major. Faculty take turns teaching Tutorial, and each Tutorial has a unique topic chosen by the professor. This fall, I’m teaching my first Tutorial, and my chosen topic is language revitalization. 

Language revitalization refers to the efforts to restore or...