I felt it might be good to touch on the topic of languages, since we speak over 6,000 languages on this planet! I am monolingual, meaning I can only speak one language, as are most Americans. It takes years of training and practice to become fluent in a second (or third) language, and while there is a plethora of diversity in the spoken tongue, there are a few more predominant languages that can be used to communicate in more than one country or geographic area.
Let's lay down a few definitions, a language is defined as a set of words, their pronunciation and organization, that are used to communicate within a group of people. A Dialect is a minor variation within a language. Pidgin is a shorthand form of communication used by people who do not have a common language with which to communicate. Creole is Pidgin that over time has developed into a mother tongue. Finally, a Lingua Franca is a second language used to communicate with a larger group. So, while we may have over 6,000 languages on Earth, there are ways to get by without learning more than a few in various levels of understanding. Being able to speak a language versus read or write it are also different skills and levels of understanding. The longer one remains in an area the easier it will become to potentially learn Pidgin of that language, just enough to get by on a daily basis. In High School I took 2 years of Spanish using Rosetta Stone, and I enjoyed it, but like any language learning or skill in general, without practice it disappears. I have since forgotten everything I learned, however, I have started working on my Spanish again. It may seem logical that I should try to learn Chinese, Korean, Thai, or something from Asia, but hold on. Languages are also broken down into different families, There are 11 major global linguistic families, and the similarities between languages can be attributed to this. See, like the evolution of the animal kingdom, languages also evolve. Like the tree of life, where the trunk is oldest and the branches represent newer growth and newer growth, language has done the same. As groups of people moved and became isolated things changed, the environment in which they lived, their culture, their religions and values, and more changed. That's why you can look at geographic areas and often see similarities in language and the movement of language from one place and people to another. English and Spanish share the same family, Indo-European, while they are on different branches of the tree, English is Germanic while Spanish is Latin, they have similarities enough to belong to the same family and share a similar alphabet. For now, I am working on Spanish for these reasons. They are, obviously, different, but share some similarities that may make learning a second language easier. Whereas Mandarin and Thai are in different families, thus learning them is like flying blind, you cannot recognize the written form in a way that is familiar same with spoken words. I started learning Chinese on Duolingo and it would take me 20-30 minutes to get through a single lesson of a 10 or so questions, and most of the time I was guessing. When I know where I am going I will dedicate more time to learning that language, since Chinese, Thai, Korean, Japanese, etc. are not related or interchangeable, each one requires it's own study. Plus, I have heard that learning a language after a second one is easier because you have trained your mind to see things differently. There are many options for learning languages, many free apps, some apps or programs you can pay for, formal classes or online classes, it all depends on what you are looking for and what will motivate you. So far I have really enjoyed using Duolingo as it is free and really has been helping me learn some Spanish. When I spend the time I really can make some headway on Chinese using Duolingo. Hope this was interesting, if you have any questions or comments, leave them below! Much Love, Jess Resources Geography 100 @ CSU class notes (2016) and Britannica.com
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AuthorJessica Marie Cunningham - Intentional lifestyle blogger, aspiring author, and podcast host. All things Slow Living, Books, Writing, Art, creativity, Christianity, and personal stories. Archives
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