Languages We Speak Matter
We live in the world where our greatest concerns are concentrated in the areas of economic prosperity, social disparities, and racial discrimination. Although we all belong to different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, we have to learn to understand each other by using the simplest, the most useful and at the same time the most difficult of human inventions - a language. Most of the time, we overlook the importance of languages in our society. We underestimate them, believing that they are used simply to serve as a means to communicate. However, languages can be the indicators of success and dominance of certain groups of people.
I find it puzzling that the United States, which constantly stresses the diversity of its population, is so adverse to accepting other cultures. When I came to the United States, the first thing I noticed was that the radio stations here played songs only in English. When I went to a movie theater, I watched only American movies. If I wanted to watch a movie from another countries, I had to go to a special movie theater. Not only is English promoted everywhere in the United States, but it has also started to extend its roots globally. Many European bands choose to sing in English instead of their native languages. Others, like Korean K-Pop stars, incorporate some English catch-phrases into their songs. Many children in Korea are undergoing surgical procedures to improve their English pronunciation ("Children's surgery to speak better English").
What I want to address in my research is the fact that the language we speak or choose to learn matters, because it will either open new doors for you or leave you in the darkest places of our society.
Credits to:
Picture 1: http://www.bsd405.org/about-us/departments/student-services/english-language-learners-ell.aspx
Picture 2: http://blog.pangeanic.com/category/machine-translation-technology/
I find it puzzling that the United States, which constantly stresses the diversity of its population, is so adverse to accepting other cultures. When I came to the United States, the first thing I noticed was that the radio stations here played songs only in English. When I went to a movie theater, I watched only American movies. If I wanted to watch a movie from another countries, I had to go to a special movie theater. Not only is English promoted everywhere in the United States, but it has also started to extend its roots globally. Many European bands choose to sing in English instead of their native languages. Others, like Korean K-Pop stars, incorporate some English catch-phrases into their songs. Many children in Korea are undergoing surgical procedures to improve their English pronunciation ("Children's surgery to speak better English").
What I want to address in my research is the fact that the language we speak or choose to learn matters, because it will either open new doors for you or leave you in the darkest places of our society.
Credits to:
Picture 1: http://www.bsd405.org/about-us/departments/student-services/english-language-learners-ell.aspx
Picture 2: http://blog.pangeanic.com/category/machine-translation-technology/