Languages make world go around

LANGUAGE is a vital tool – an important part of our lives. It is the tool that conveys ideas to others as well as traditions and values related to group identity.

Language is any formal system of gestures, signs, sounds, and symbols used as a means of communication and is the primary means through which humans can interact with one another. Language is used to inform others and to express feelings, moods, ideas, information and experiences.

Language and culture are closely connected. When interacting with people throughout the world, it is easier to understand the cultural contexts that shape the information, ideas, beliefs and customs of a society if you know the language.

Language is evolutionary and the vocabulary and phrases used is reflective of ethnic origin, region, social status, age, education level and even gender.

Through human interactions new words and phrases are picked up and integrated into human speech.

New technologies have seen electronic forms of communication providing a platform for language contact in social spaces where the use of language demonstrates wide variations from the standard or accepted form of language, bringing in its wake a change in language.

“When languages fade, so does the world’s rich tapestry of cultural diversity.” United Nations