In 1992, Guarani was designated an official language in Paraguay’s new constitution, alongside Spanish.

It is the only indigenous language of South America to have achieved such recognition and ended years of rejection and discrimination against Paraguay’s majority Guarani speakers.

Mike Lanchin hears from the Paraguayan linguist and anthropologist David Olivera, and even tries to speak a bit of the language.

A CTVC production for the BBC World Service.

(Photo: A man reads a book in Guarani. Credit: Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)