Endangered languages

What a shame it seems that so many languages are extinct or in danger of being so. There are almost 6,500 languages spoken all over the world, and UNESCO believes that half of them are critically endangered and may be out of use by the end of this century.

You would imagine that these endangered languages be found amongst the deep Himalayan mountains or on the Tibetan border, but this is not the case. Today Welsh, Guernsey French, Scottish Gaelic and Manx are still among some of the world’s endangered tongues.

In 2008 the Eyak language, spoken in the Alaska region became extinct with the death of the last speaker, and just recently, in 2010, Bo, the ancient tribal language died out.

Can the extinction of a language be considered positive or negative?

Many articles have been written on this subject. Some claim that a loss of a language does not imply the loss of a culture. Others say that keeping a language alive does not keep a culture alive. I personally believe that a language occupies an important place in any culture. What do you think?

It is believed that unifying global communication through English can only be positive as it avoids possible language barriers. However, this isn’t as black and white as it seems. There are many types of English spoken today.  Many countries official language is English, but the style of English used is different to that spoken by an Australian, for example. This variant in the English language is usually due to the fact that many countries adapt the English language to the grammar of their dialect or second language. The differences aren’t just a matter of accent. In Indian English, people say half-pants when they are referring to shorts, neckerchief to refer to scarf and Nes-coffee to refer to instant coffee.

“Lingua Franca” which is English used as a communication between companies is just another dialect of the English language. The queer thing about this is that most English speakers find it difficult to communicate with these types of speakers as the English is too different.

In conclusion, we could probably say that languages are in fact influenced by cultures and that unifying global communication through English is a hard task. I think that it’s a real shame to unify communication. 

Languages are impregnated with culture... We should at least try to preserve some of them, shouldn’t we?

Is learning a third language really easier than the second?

Yes! It would appear so. If you are bilingual, you will in fact find it easier to learn a third language, as you will have gained a better aptitude in languages whilst learning the second one. 

A study was conducted in 2011 between students who were fluent in only one language and students who knew two languages. Both groups were given tests that assessed their reading strategies and familiarity with the orthography of each language. Bilinguals obtained a higher average than the monolinguals.

What does this mean?

When an individual speaks more than one language, he or she improves proficiency in native languages. When you learn another language, it normally requires you to gain more knowledge in you native language. Concepts such as “past simple”, “passive”, “present progressive” become clearer to somebody who knows another language. Other phonologic, morphologic and syntactic tools are reinforced too.  

How do I learn a third language without mixing it up with the second?

I personally think that the best method to retain any language, whether it is the second or the third, is practise, practise and more practise! It is important not to mix languages up so learning how to separate them is favourable. A good tip is to spend a few hours a week doing something in your second or third language. I consider that reading is also a very important factor in the learning process.  

It goes without saying that speaking a second language helps you in the learning process of a third language, but it also depends on the language. Japanese would obviously be considerably harder for English speakers than learning Spanish!

Emma Milnthorpe

Babies begin to learn their native language in the womb!

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Babies begin to learn their native language in the womb!

It was thought that babies were born without any knowledge about the outside world, but this is now being questioned and investigated. Many psychologists today believe that babies in fact comprehend inside the womb and can remember after they’re born.  They even go as far as saying that they actually recognize their mother’s voice!

It turns out that babies are capable of producing different cry melodies which are typical for the ambient language. This means that a Chinese baby will have a different cry melody to a French baby. Scientists believe that it is in fact during the last stage of pregnancy when the fetus begins to develop sensory and brain mechanisms.

If we take into account all of this information, babies can not only hear what you say, but listen to the same music and films as the mother does!

Research was carried out on 40 babies born in Stockholm and Tacoma. The babies listened to vocalic sounds from their mother language and in other languages. The interest that the babies showed was measured by giving the babies a dummy which was connected to a computer which at the same time measures the time the babies were sucking for.  The suction varied depending on the sound they heard. They sucked on their dummies for more time when listening to foreign sounds.

After learning about this latest discovery, I realized that there is so much more to learn about the mysteries of the human brain and its workings. 

Emma Milnthorpe