Reflect on how knowing a language's history can help you learn the language.
Knowing the language's history definitely helps one in learning the language because it helps you better understand the origin of the language and the words that you are speaking. It helps put the language you are learning in context. When learning the history behind Hindi, I learned that Hindi actually originated from the language Urdu (the language commonly spoken by Pakistanis). This actually helped me because a lot of things made more sense knowing this. It is for this reason that Pakistanis and Indians dont have as much trouble conversing with one another. Because the two languages are essentially the same with a few random different words.
When I spoke to my language partner about this, she confirmed it. She related it to the desi community on the Richmond campus. She told me that it is for this reason that the Pakistanis at UofR and the Indians at UofR are always speaking in Hindi because the Pakistanis can understand Hindi perfectly well. Urdu, she told me, is just like Hindi, there are just a few words that are different.
Knowing the history of a language can help in many ways. It can help one understand why people converse in the ways that they do. It can help one understand why the words and the script are the way they are. But it can also help one truly appreciate the language and the culture they are learning. It helps one gain a deeper understanding for the culture they are trying to enter by learning the language.
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