Post Learning Journal #7 on Your Blog in the Ning
Respond to the reading, reflecting on what is lost when languages die. (You might want to watch the interview with David Harrison posted to the front page of the Ning.)
It was very interesting to read about the Siletz language, and the many people attempting to keep it alive. As a Korean who grew up in Los Angeles, I never thought about what would happen if my language suddenly disappeared. I was constantly surrounded by it, so I didn’t realize how painful losing it would be. Everyone spoke the language, and we had an entire country across the ocean that also spoke the language. If the Siletz language died, many aspects of the language would die with it as well. The language would lose its traditions due to no one practicing them anymore. Furthermore, it would lose its ability to be spoken. No one would know how the grammar of the language worked, and, thus, would not accurately string words together. The most important thing that would be lost when languages die would be the culture associated with it. We would lose the cultural values the group had. We would lose the traditional clothing and food. We would lose the life lessons and perspectives associate with the language. In a world of seven billion people, it is important to embrace diversity. We thrive through challenging ourselves and maturing, and we do this through learning about others and their differences. We learn from other languages' cultures, and we incorporate that into ours and vice versa. By losing the Siltez language, we, as a world, further deplete ourselves of the ability to grow in understanding.
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