Language revolves all around us, whether it’s just talking to your teacher or talking on the phone with a friend. But language is not just talking, it’s more than that. It is how we understand each other by using our own speech and actions. However, not everyone shares a common language, there are thousands of languages around the world; therefore, thousands of ways to assign meaning to a message. Although in the article by Edge, Lera Boroditsky stated, “How does our language shape the way we think?”. Language is an important role of being human, it’s hard to survive life without it.
Language is thought differently to everyone around the globe. Culture is a factor of how we communicate with our native tongue. This is interesting considering that all cultures have different ways of saying hello. For example, here in the United States people meeting for the first time usually shake hands and introduce themselves. Although for Japan it is important to greet someone by bowing and using polite words, especially your elders. Bowing in Japan is a type of language used with the body, it is a way of showing respect and etiquette. Body language and verbal language is a big part as we grow up and develop our outlook on the world. It is a way to show our beliefs and express them to other people.
In the article by Lera Boroditsky, she discussed the Aboriginal community in Australia on how they have a different aspect of how they can tell directions. For example, here in the United States, we’ve been taught directions like our rights, lefts, front and back. But however, the native Australians use the cardinal points such as north, south, east, west, etc. This is an additional way of how we grow up to think.
The idea of this concept is how we grow up into thinking about how we name things and stick to it because of how we’ve been taught to correlate the words to the object. This is why we think a “chair” is an object that lets us sit on it without letting us fall, it’s a way of developing our thoughts into what we believe with language.
We all manage to communicate with crowds of the same language, whether it’s with dialects or slang. Except we never think twice about how there are other worlds of languages and how they grow and develop somebody with it. So language isn’t about talking, it’s a way of shaping the way we think.
