Languages: Are They Dying Out?

What is really shocking is that the number of people now in Britain who do continue to be illiterate in their own language, English seems barely laudable. The number of people who struggle to pass GCSE English seems quite stunning. Many people struggle to get jobs because they can’t read or write and it seems bad that we can’t do anything to change that situation.

As I wonder about languages and why people don’t speak as many languages now, I feel that personally, now we aren’t bothered to learn languages. Holiday is just relaxation time rather than trying to understand different cultures. In a world filled with stress, learning a language is last in everyone’s agenda. The advantages of learning a language are copious and multilingualism, according to me, is the way forward. Still I hope that if we can’t keep the culture of multilingualism alive, other people from other countries will continue to. After all even though languages might be different, the people of the world are united.

I’d like to finish with two witty quotes, one by Geordie Howe, an ice hockey great from Canada who said, “All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.”

The other is by Mark Twain, the famous author, “In Paris, they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language.”