Lose American Languages

Mr. Treuer explains how there was several hundred of languages throughout different tribes and now there are very few that still are dying out. A main reason that the languages have died out was Native Americans being

Language is a very import part in our life, we carry it with us through all the steps, processes, moments experiences of our life, language built us and make us grow and the most important thing is that it grows with us, changes, modifies itself, and becomes more appropriate and specific. As we pointed out language help us to create and understand the world around us, gives meaning to everything and gives birth to emotions and feelings; a world without language would be meaningless and very lonely. Language it’s what help us grow up, the more we learn through it, the more we desire to experience and study in deep, leading us to new prospective, opening our mind to more specific and deep concepts, ideas, projects, goals. We really can’t

The film “The Linguists” follows linguists Gregory Anderson and David Harrison on their journey to learn about and document endangered languages in Bolivia, India, Arizona, and Siberia. Through their quest, they are able to interact with some of the few remaining speakers of languages that are near death and they manage to make an impact on how these communities view their heritage language. Focusing on the moribund languages of Siberia and Arizona, it becomes evident that speakers of the heritage language feel a love for the language and the culture it represents, but went through periods of oppression and embarrassment for being speakers of a minority language that ultimately shaped their attitudes on the language.

Ken Wiwa presents several ideas pertaining to language and culture within his essay, Get Beyond Babel. Wiwa explains that every language has a chance of dying out over time. For any language to survive through years of societal changes, it must be adapted so it can be used to embrace other cultures, new technology and new perspectives. Wiwa presents the concept that language is the same as culture. I do not agree with this concept because I believe that culture is carried by the people, not by the language.

We are all members of a social group and members of `society´ as a whole. People interact in many ways and communication is just about the most common and among the most important. Whatever is meaningful to a group, from their everyday life to their traditions constitutes their very own culture and is generally respected by all group members. Language is only one of such items. For ethnic minority groups that may have a language of their own, their language is a cornerstone in their culture.

In return, it also assisted in changing the way people valued disappearing languages in the way of opening the eyes of people all over the world through its amazing impact. Both of these positive effects caused a change in the world and for the people in it which is a small step towards reversing a very large problem. This important issue will not be corrected overnight, but as a famous Navajo proverb states: “A rocky vineyard does not need a prayer, but a pick axe” (“Navajo

In the article “America’s Foreign Language Deficit” by David Skorton explains how learning another language can have many effects. The author, David Skorton, claims that by having the next American generation learning a foreign language, it will prepare them for success in the future. This is a logical claim. First, as the author points out, “[America] need[s] diplomats, intelligence and foreign policy experts, politicians… who are proficient in languages other than English” (Skorton). For example, the military often needs people who can speak a different language for many different reasons, such as having an important meeting with another country. In addition, American businesses need to know how to communicate with other businesses outside

This is essential in asserting the author’s creditability. This quotation explains about the fact that digital technology is effective in rekindling dying languages and scripts such as N’Ko. The story of Traore’s personal experience allows the essay to be more compelling as it helps to make Traore’s story more relatable and credible to the average audience, and awards the readers with an intriguing piece of writing. Rosenberg’s approach of using real life examples works because her audience wants to hear firsthand accounts of other cultures that have either dealt or are dealing with the issue of preserving their indigenous language. She uses the story of Traore to raise interest among audience regarding this topic. By the use of anecdotes, Rosenberg makes Traore’s story more relatable and credible to her audience of linguistic minorities.

In the essay “Last Words,” published on the first of October in 2006, the author Walter Michaels instills an idea of what to do when a language is loss. Throughout the essay, he gives examples of how languages are (and how they could be) lost. He also points out, that even though many of those reasons have been eliminated, that languages continue to go extinct. Thus, the author brings up the point, “Why would it be a tragedy if English disappeared?” Although people mourn the loss of a language, Michaels argues that speakers of the dying language should exert effort to learn the dominate one.

As language develops over the years languages some suffer the times and become a thing of the past. There are approximately six thousand spoken languages that are facing extinction (Kravitz). I question the importance of preserving ancient languages especially because I grew up in a family who speak Pennsylvania Dutch. Pennsylvania Dutch, a dialect of German, is known as the wandering Dutchman language and is spoken exclusively in northeastern Pennsylvania by mostly Amish and Lutheran Reformists. As my Great Grandmother and Grandparents are some of the last to speak exclusively Pennsylvania Dutch I am lucky enough to be able to hold a conversation in the dying language. My question is should these languages including ‘folk’ languages be preserved

threatened or endangered, and which are the languages that have the fewest speakers in the

For those languages which have no written form, when the language dies off, so does the accumulated knowledge and history of the culture. Sadly, indigenous languages around the world are dying off at an alarming rate. It is estimated that nearly half of the languages spoken today are likely to die off within the next century if steps are not taken to preserve those which still exist.

Over centuries we have seen the amount and complexity of languages all across the globe reduced. If this trend continues, we could see the number of world languages potentially reduced from 6,000 to 600 in the future. Colonization and urbanization has led to the abolishment of languages spoke by smaller and less dominant civilizations. McWhorter uses the Native Americans in North America and the Aboriginal

2. What are the cultural disadvantages of being in this linguistic minority and speaking the minority's language?

In the article “What the World Will Speak in 2115,” by John H. McWhorter, he informs us of the possibility that in the future there will be fewer languages spoken in the world and the languages that remain will be in a simplified form. We also learn how the English language has changed from its original form and spread around the globe and how other languages are in danger of becoming extinct. Perhaps communication among different nationalities will improve as languages simplify or through the continual spread of the English language but will it be at the expense of our native languages.