In this video, we travel to the Spanish island of La Gomera in the Canaries, to encounter an ancient mode of communication.

Long before telephones were invented, locals living on the island, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, were able to talk to each other across great distances.

Their secret? A whistled language called ‘Silbo Gomero’. Whistling travels much further and with less effort than shouting, so it is the perfect way of communicating on the volcanic island.

Around the world, there are around 40 whistled languages, most of which are facing extinction. But ‘Silbo Gomero’ is a compulsory subject in La Gomera’s grade schools, and the island’s young people are determined to preserve its use.

View the original video here.

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