Brant 1 Matt Brant Professor Jan Rieman English 1101-010 March 28, 2013 Dont Insist on English I feel

that the rapid loss of languages is something that not only the speakers of such languages, but all people alike should be greatly concerned about. This is something that I have found to be true mainly because of the diversity it creates. Language is extremely important to the life of a culture, as it serves as one of the most defining aspects of a culture. In fact, language could metaphorically be the lungs, or at least a vital organ to a particular culture. It serves the purpose of keeping the culture alive, due to how the people within that culture write, speak, or just communicate in general with one another. The reaction may not be an immediate result, but without a language and means of communication amongst the people of any given culture, the culture will die off and cease to exist any longer. This idea has a way of relating back to the importance of not depending solely on English to be the one superior language throughout the world. As Patricia Ryan stated in the TED talk, there isnt anything wrong with the English language, it is actually a great language and should be taught worldwide in order to use in certain contexts when necessary to do so. I would have to say that I agree with her statement one hundred percent, yet I also feel that universally the population shouldnt automatically revert to English and just drop their own natural language just because the idea that it is taking over and becoming the language of the world has been proposed. Personally I would actually suggest very strongly that people make it a priority to see that such an event does not happen because of

Brant 2 the negative consequences that come along with it and how they can affect numerous different cultures in the process. Diversity is a great thing and people need to come to this realization for the benefit of society as a whole, and learn to value such a thing. In a global exchange of ideas, insisting on English to communicate with one another could possibly do more harm than it would good. I say this with the thought in mind that often non-native English speakers have to pause and think about how to express and say what they are thinking, and sometimes just simply arent able to do so. This could be detrimental in many situations where the individual had a great idea to propose that no one else had thought of, but it would be pointless because nobody would know what they were thinking besides themselves. Or on the other hand, an individual could know some vital information that could be useful in the particular scenario but not have the ability to let the information be known because of this. As vague as the situations described may be, its difficult to predict the future and know exactly the context of what may happen or how problems could arise because of the incompetency in English, yet is still a very realistic scenario to think about. On the other hand, a global language could prove to be beneficial in the way that it would serve as a common ground that could be used to prevent confusion and chaos in the event of say a worldwide natural disaster occurring. Ultimately I feel like having a global language as a secondary language would be a great idea but I would have to disagree on allowing it to take over all other languages and being seen as a superior language. This is mainly because of my belief that culture diversity is a great thing to have throughout society because it brings an assortment of different temperaments, talents, and convictions to the table for the betterment of the people in this world.