Vanishing Voices By Beth Rymer

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

Generally considered the “Great Melting Pot,” America is often noted for hosting ethnicities and cultures of every kind, however it is debatable whether or not they are genuinely welcomed. Some might argue that the prejudice acts throughout our nation such as the Ferguson, Missouri shootings and the disdain among minorities, especially Muslims, prove that our country does not offer a warm welcome towards those who are not Caucasians. Regardless, I firmly believe that America recognizes and cherishes the variation of citizens living among us.

Diversity isn’t something to be ignored, but is that where our primary focus should lie? It is in our very nature to celebrate our differences; without it we lose our identity. As a society we literally dance in the streets to celebrate our individualities. However, Walter Benn Michaels points out a very interesting issue that is not only social but economical as well, in his book The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality. When we strip away our color, our heritage and begin to look at our wallets we become embarrassed, even shy about our how fat or thin it becomes. His political stance is intended for a general audience to: show present concepts of cultural diversity, to illustrate how Americans

Diversity was an affect of the influx or movement of many people during the gold rush to California, which ultimately impacted the nation by inspiring similar dreams and hopes as people had become rich overnight striking gold. Within America there was a feeling and belief, whether you were an immigrant or born in the nation, could inspire to become wealthy or do whatever they desired. During the Gold Rush there was this new awareness that the nation by many Americans and immigrants that had different cultures and backgrounds, which created a unique atmosphere for the country to prosper. The American spirit was manifested during the Gold Rush by creating a new found of hope in many people around the world, and allowing them to start new beginnings. We have seen this same progression in today’s society by having the same values and beliefs of opportunity to dream and

I agree with the evidence that David Brooks presents in which the U.S. is not diverse. Mr. Brooks concludes that the U.S. isn’t diverse because we as human beings seclude ourselves and live around people of the same affiliation and class as we feel more comfortable being in that area. It is common that people in this country tend to group themselves with people around them that are basically like themselves and/or of same ranking. Geography is also another key factor as people cluster together and are predictable in what they might drink, eat, drive, etc. based upon their surroundings in that particular area of the U.S. The U.S. continues to promote the concepts of diversity because we believe in equality for all and diversity can promote

The number of Languages spoken throughout the world is estimated to be 6,000. Although a few languages are for wider communication around the world, these are very often spoken as second, third, fourth, or later-acquired languages. Fewer than 25% of the world 's approximately 200 countries recognize two or more official languages, with a mere handful recognizing more than two. Despite there being lots of bilinguals and multilinguals, there is also a bunch of monolingual people in the world. The adult population is allowing their children not to learn a foreign language, drastically underfunding language courses in middle to high school level classes. Because they think it 's not necessary in this century, thinking they don 't require communication with other people from other countries. But the truth is that it can actually benefit in more ways than people think. The United States school system has started to not require foreign language class for graduation requirements, this places the U.S at a disadvantage in the world scene.

The article Language Death by David Crystal talks about language threats that are present and that will occur in future. He begins off talking about the risk of to minority languages. There are level headed discussions over the meaning of “language” and assessment of the quantity of language change, yet a figure some place around 6000 is conceivable. Maybe more vital is the circulation of speakers, with 4% of language representing 96% of individuals and 25% having less than 1000 speakers. There are diverse methods for ordering "threat levels", however there is doubtlessly countless face termination in the prompt future, while in the more extended term even generally language spoken might be in threat. Crysal points out five key arguments of

'Diversity'. It's everywhere you look these days. When you switch on your TV set, you open up a newspaper, or you just look out your window - it's there. It seems everybody has a lot to say about diversity, but what does it mean, what does it really mean? And what does the future hold for a racially 'diverse' America?

Over winter break I watched Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. It has since become my favorite film. Scott’s attention to detail is evident in every frame of the movie. Language, or rather communication, is a recurring theme throughout the film. More precisely, Cityspeak—a language made up of German, Japanese, and Spanish—is one of the not so noticeable thematic elements of the film(being described only once by Harrison Ford’s voiceover in the 1986 U.S. theatrical release, and not at all in subsequent cuts which opted to not use the voiceover). Cityspeak highlights a key characteristic of all languages and, to a certain extent, cultures: they are inherently dynamic, are subject to change, and—in a modern, overcrowded city—are bound to influence each other. Endangered languages are dying at an unprecedented rate, new languages becoming the vernacular, and others becoming obsolete. As a result, a host of native populations are abandoning their mother tongues in order to be part of the modern world, opting to teach their children English, Spanish, or Chinese. The majority of linguists believe that endangered languages must be saved; however, the adoption or abandonment of a language by a group of speakers is a conscious choice, often resulting in innumerable benefits. Communication is synonymous with productivity. In fact, an active

Languages are being rapidly lost, at a rate of extinction. Serious concerns over the impending loss of human cultural diversity have caused many organizations to actively start engaging in the upkeep of languages. Early studies have identified areas with a high number of endangered languages, and preformed investigations. What they came across was the population size of the culture, and how vast of an area the language is spoken in, are key factors to the decline of languages. Other factors include; mass genocide, evolution, economics growth or decline, religion, a change in culture can be a partial cause for the endangerment or extinction of a language. The main factor is usually when a more powerful and pronounced language over takes the smaller subdivision languages, somewhat related to what the Lingua franca. An example of this would be in Canada. In parts of Canada such as Quebec the primary language is French, but in other many places in Canada, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Montreal, the primary language is English, so French is become less common throughout the country. The more powerful and know language allows for less language barriers, and allows easier communication. So what does it mean for a language to become endangered? It means extinction may be in the near future. Only a few people still speak the language and when they become deceased the language will soon cease to exist, unless they preserve documents or it continues to get passed on.

This often happened when nation or states endeavoring to promote a single national culture restrict the opportunities for speaking minority languages in the public sector of life and in some cases, even prohibiting them altogether. Sometimes minority sets are forcibly migrated or children may be schooled away from home or otherwise have their chances of cultural and linguistic continuity disrupted. We noticed this happen in the case of numerous Native American and Australian languages, as well as Asian and European minority languages like Kurdish in Turkey and Alsatian in

Communication is an amazing tool. Through communication we can present thoughts or knowledge to others. Overtime, humanity developed many languages to communicate to others, but today they are beginning to disappear. Kiplangat Cheruiyot (2017), the National Coordinator of the Centre of Endangered Languages, states, “a lost language is a lost culture, a lost culture is invaluable knowledge lost” (2017, p. 1). This problem is only growing more pervasive as fewer languages are being spoken around the world. How can society preserve lingual diversity and how would this affect society’s idea of cultural unity? Although this would eliminate the idea of a perfect universal language everyone can understand, society should preserve lingual diversity by prioritizing the preservation of smaller languages, limiting the spread of dominant languages, and providing resources for all languages to survive.

Language is universal. People voice their ideas, emotions, and thoughts across to the world through language. Multitudes of people across the country speak a varierty of languages. However, a foreigner is reduced to their native language, and sometimes has difficulties mainstreaming English into their dialect. A native language is a foreigner's blueprint for the world to hear. Native language gives homage to a foreigner's culture and home life. Native tongues open doors for education and job opprutunities. A native tongue is translated in books and plastered on signs across the communites. Imagine if language decreased to just English, and no another language existed. People would mirror each other, and have no idea of diversity. So where

Language is an essential piece of culture. Many cultures are completely identified by their own language used as lingua franca or a second language. Nowadays, the belief of disappearing languages can be seen as a true fact. Merriam- Webster defined language as “the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other” (Merriam- Webster, para. 1), and it is important to emphasize that language is only understood and used by a particular group of people (Ibid., para. 2). In 2012, Grimes indicated that approximately 450 languages will disappear soon because they only have a few elderly speakers (Grimes, 2012, para. 1). In fact, according to Krauss, at least 90 percent of languages will be extinct by 2100 because only 10 percent of languages are considered safe. Ostler considered that the speed of languages extinction is twice faster of mammals and birds extinction (Ostler, 2012, para. 1). This essay will talk about the importance of language, the causes of languages disappearance and some solutions that help to prevent the extinction of languages.

The short story by Naomi Wood was written in 2012, and is about Pia, who is a middle-aged woman and the day where the short story takes place, is her 40th birthday. In this story we meet Pia, her partner Daniel and random people from the streets and of course Pia is our main character.