If you thought memorising irregular verbs for French tests was hell at school, then spare a thought for the young inhabitants of the Spanish island of La Gomera. Despite protests, every primary school child on the Canary island is required to learn an archaic whistling language called Silbo, a version of which was once spoken by entire communities in the 16th and 17th century. The language consists of just two to four vowels and four consonants and employs whistling to make all of its sounds. Scroll down for video Every primary school child on the Canary Island of La Gomera is required to learn a whistling language called Silbo in a bid to keep the archaic language alive
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Silbo is a whistled form of Spanish spoken by entire communities on the island in the 16th and 17th centuries
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The language uses whistling to make all of its sounds and is now protected
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It is thought that Silbo was originally developed as a form of long distance communication
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The language is being taught to small school children in a bid to keep it alive
@placeholder's landscape (pictured) consists of hills, valleys, and ravines and a whistle can travel up to two miles across such a landscape