Languages:
Blessing or Curse?
Are foreign languages really assets of value? Or is it rather a problem concerning the whole world? Different opinions exist, but for me there is only one answer.
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What is the meaning behind different languages? The most important aspect of a language is it’s charismatic power to bind and bring people together. In our day-to-day life, the key to open the door to someone´s heart is to speak in his or her mother tongue.
However, languages are not solely a medium of expression, but an asset to be proud of. Nations and people feel proud of their respective language for different reasons. Some for the charming melodic speech, some for their literary heritage, others for their vocabulary and there are some ancient languages that reflect pride for the nation. Arabians were so proud of their skill of oratory and art of speaking, therefore they would call themselves Arab and call the rest of the world “Ajam”, referring to someone who is illiterate of language. In the former sense it is a neutral term meaning "stranger" or "foreign".
When Sarojini Naidu, a famous poetess, showed her poems to a British writer, he had a strong objection to her on being a creative writer of English, as he thought it was the only privilege of British.
A popular saying in Urdu language is: Reekhta Mein Hum Se Gugtagoo Mat Kar, Yeh Hamari Zuban Hai Pyare. In English this means, don't try to have a conversation in Reekhta with us as it is our language. Earlier Urdu language had been called Reekhta.
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The history of languages contains a number of similar examples, which shows people exaggerating merit and greatness of their languages and at the same time they degrade others.
In fact, literary heritage is a matter of pride for a nation as well as for the people associated to it. But, this love and the pride sometimes had given way to the hatred for other languages too. We know that the people of France are against English. In India Southern states have disliking for Hindi. Germans tend to say that Austrian´s are not capable of speaking proper German due to their dialect. A similar situation can be observed between Urdu and Hindi, since these two languages are considered rival to each other. Often it is claimed that the division of states in India is based on languages, and that Indians cannot ignore this harsh reality that languages had divided the country.
Despite all this stories and the ongoing prejudices and probably even a division of the world according to languages, different languages still carry a valuable culture. Without languages for every culture, we would not be able to express ourselves appropriately and individually.
Consider a world with only one language and one dialect, for example American English. Would the Spanish still be able to express their passion in their language and wouldn´t the Spanish people slowly change their characteristic of passion? Or think about the British and their charm and decency in their accent. Wouldn´t it be a pity if that were lost?
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Language is a way of expressing ourselves as individuals, but as well as a nation and social belonging. This fact can cause cultural difficulties among nations and probably the world is somehow classified according to the languages and dialect people speak. But this would not change. If we speak the same language around the world, the development of dialects and accents cannot be hindered. Most probably other issues might arise which separate the world according to another scheme.
So why not learning another language in order to understand the other people around the world better? Languages are assets and should be treated like treasures!
Are you convinced to respect other languages and learn foreign languages? Make every language the easiest language to learn. Learning foreign languages brings people closer together.
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