This chapter looks at various kinds of language revitalization communities, and explores issues affecting different community types and subgroups of speakers within communities. Types include ‘original’ or ancestral communities; exiled, forcibly dispersed or resettled communities; diaspora and migrant communities; and communities of practice and learning. The latter are groups which deliberately develop social revitalization networks focusing on efforts to reverse shift, enhance mutual learning and communication, and mobilize available resources. An example of such a project in Nahuatl, Mexico, is described. Various types of speakers of heritage languages are also described, although we emphasize that categorizing individual speakers and their language competence can be counterproductive for people struggling to speak or learn their heritage language. The case studies describe the younger generation’s interest in developing new Wymysiöeryś identities in the twenty-first century; the diverse language practices of diaspora Mixtec communities; and the creation of a community of practice for the revitalization of Greko, Italy.

People’s attitudes towards a language are closely related to emotional factors, and the valorization of a language can have a powerful healing effect. In the case of Nawat, El Salvador, Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy approach to psychotherapy is applied to language revitalization. The capsules examine the importance of identity as a motivating factor in four revitalization scenarios. In Wymysiöeryś, changes in negative ideologies were strongly influenced by the interest of external institutions, which also changed the attitude of the municipal government. For Māori speakers, personal identity, community membership and spiritual well-being were far more important motivators for their use of the language than revitalization as a goal in itself. The emotional value of a language and the relationship between speakers and revitalizers is also emphasized for Greko. In Nahuatl, students were empowered by the creation of a monolingual Nahuatl space that enabled them to realise their ability to express themselves in their language. A further capsule explores the role of language activism in empowering a community and influencing policy.