My relationship to language ties to the commerce language of America – English. It is the language that I speak, read and write, and the language I feel most comfortable communicating in. Within English, I have my colloquialisms that lie root to my community and inadvertently slips whenever I am speaking at a formal setting. My colloquialisms and I are connected because it is part of my cultural identity, and is an indicator of where I came from even if I no longer reside in that community. Language tells a story regardless if people are willing to listen. It tells of all the places you have been, and expresses the knowledge you have attained through these experiences. At home, which is my comfort zone, I do not speak formally and neither does the rest of my family. We are very expressive of our thoughts, and therefore, we are not very conscious of the way we say things. While I am at LaGuardia, I tend to stay within the lines of formal communication even with classmates. Amongst the friends that I have, it would depend on the action or topic of discussion. If my friends and I are talking about politics we keep the conversation formal; each expressing our thoughts equally. In contrast, if we are conversing about something less formal like celebrity screw ups, we tend to embrace casualness.
Language is acquired without effort in many cases. I believe being immersed into any environment in which the language is different from your own allows you to begin to expand your vocabulary and eventually begin to understand speech within that culture. In addition, I believe language also begins while the child is younger and in usually acquired in the household from the parents or through education. Although I think it would be harder for an adult to learn other languages through instruction, learning from being included into a culture whether through traveling abroad or living in a community that solely speaks the language of interest would better help you attain the language and at the very least become conversational.
In Deutscher’s Article, he challenged my opinion of language and gender specific associations. He states that assigning inanimate objects a specific gender code could possibly reflect cultural views and perceptions of the world. Although this is a well thought out hypothesis, I would argue that each individual reflects their own opinions and that a language does not dictate personal perceptions. The way a person views the world are based on life experiences and the upbringing of the child, and therefore, the children’s sound description of the objects reflects their own opinions on how the object might have sounded.
Furthermore, language is mutual understanding of a common form of communication. Whether the language is “standard” or a construction from it, it is a form of communication amongst those that speak it, and there is an understanding both culturally and linguistically. In addition, although there is informal and formal communication in every language, it does not make the informal speech any less acceptable, hence all languages whether colloquial or formal are considered a language.
Hi, Eric,
ReplyDeleteI loved this! Especially where you say: Language tells a story regardless if people are willing to listen. It tells of all the places you have been, and expresses the knowledge you have attained through these experiences.
That's a great, great line!! You could say that your are "bilingual" in your "home" English and your English languate at school/work. Or we'd call it bidialectal. But the point is, you're the one negotiating when and how you say something. That's pretty advanced *languaging*!
P.S. You need to post the book you chose on your blog--not in a comment to me! Thanks. (Great choice!!)