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Language Diversity: What’s the Big Deal?
Accent Reduction Blog | Accent Neutralization Blog
Languages are not immortal. They need about 100,000 speakers at any given time to stay alive. Right now there are roughly 7,000 languages that represent the culture and collective experience of humankind. It’s estimated that by the end of the century, we’ll probably be down to less than 3,000. That’s mindboggling-- 4,000 languages that will have, unfortunately, made it to the ‘Extinction’ list. We know how languages evolve, but how do they die? The reasons are not generally happy ones and often don’t reflect man’s most glorious moments in history. None of us typically get the warm fuzzies when we think of destruction of habitat (in this case that of a language’s speakers) or oppressive political mandate…let alone genocide, mass demographic shifts due to poverty and war, forced assimilation, and even the introduction of electronic media as a replacement of (not just an addition to) one’s mother tongue. Most linguists, me included, go into grieving mode at the knowledge of yet another language no longer among the land of the living.
Why all the drama? Why should we care about endangered languages? How about the following three reasons, just for starters? Look them over and see if they resonate with any of your concerns.
Reason #1: The sustainability of our planet may depend on the viability of endangered languages. This may seem like a stretch, but consider that many of our most critical medicines are plant based and grow in areas where indigenous peoples have the best access to, and understanding of, local biodiversity. Linguist David Harrison explains, “The people who live there are the experts on the environment…They know more about the ecosystem, the plants and animals, than scientists typically do. And it's not just a list of things they know; it's a hierarchy of knowledge, how things fit together." Collaborators on the “Enduring Voices” project add, “Much of what humans know about nature is encoded only in oral languages. Indigenous groups that have interacted closely with the natural world for thousands of years often have profound insights into local lands, plants, animals, and ecosystems—many still undocumented by science. Studying indigenous languages therefore benefits environmental understanding and conservation efforts…And when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost.” In other words, language diversity = biodiversity.
Reason #2: The more we understand the workings of language, the more we understand the workings of our brain. And I don’t mean our own language (whatever that may happen to be). I mean our 7,000 living languages. The way we speak determines how we think. For example, the particularities of a language’s grammar and vocabulary actually determine the way we process information. (Please see blog, Accent Training: It’s Not Just What You Say But How You Say It.) And because of this, the larger the language variety, the more cognitive scientists can explore the capabilities, and limitations, of the human mind. Peg Barratt, NSF division director for behavioral and cognitive sciences, sums it up perfectly, “We want to know what the diversity of languages tells us about the ways the brain stores and communicates experience. “
Reason #3: Languages are the keys to our historical record and provide insight into creating our future. They tell us, almost step by step, how diverse peoples have coped with similar problems, challenges, organizational change, and community aspirations throughout millennia. They show us how diverse people problem solve, look for and find opportunity, and contribute to the well being of the group. Wait a minute! This last reason is beginning to sound a whole lot like a diversity and inclusion initiative!
And that’s the point. That’s the connection between language and our world today. The goal isn’t to all be the same. Au contraire. It’s to harness our diversity to problem solve, leverage opportunity, and help the group (aka organization) advance. As noted in the Endangered Languages Archive, “The more perspectives we have…the better we can hope to understand.” That’s what living languages do! They help us navigate our world. They help us excel.
To find out about current initiatives to sustain ‘endangered languages’, check out: “The Linguists”, a PBS special with linguists David Harrison and Greg Anderson.
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Do you need musical talent to learn languages? No.
Accent Reduction | Babel
Do you need musical talent to learn languages?
When people hear the title of my book, Language is Music, they often assume that one has to be a musician or a good singer to learn languages or that I profess that someone can learn language just through music. Neither is true.
Language is music because each language has its own musicality. But you don’t have to be a musician, opera singer or pop star to learn the musicality of a language.
You have to pay attention to HOW the language sounds to copy its rhythm, beat and sounds. Professional singers may be paying more attention to hitting the notes correctly and singing in key than to the correct pronunciation of the language of the music. So there are people without musical training who have good accents in other languages because they focus on improving pronunciation.
Let me give a couple of examples of singers who have professional musical training and do not have excellent accents or pronunciation in other languages to show that being a musical pro is not a sure way to learn a language.
I woke up before the crack of dawn one cold fall Saturday morning in New York City to stand in line to get standing room tickets to hear Luciano Pavarotti sing the main male role in the French opera, “La Fille du Regiment”. I wasn’t all that taken by the opera until he came on the stage and took my breath away. But he wasn’t singing in French, he was singing Pavarotti. I could barely understand the words he was singing although I am fluent in French. Do I regret not understanding his words clearly? No, I was totally mesmerized because his voice was out of this world. He had perfect pitch but couldn’t pronounce French correctly.
This clip is not from the performance I saw at the Metropolitan Opera, but it’s of another time when the Italian tenor sang “La Fille du Regiment” in French:
Many opera singers can’t sing in Russian. They sing some aberration of our language and sometimes they are so bad that it’s actually offensive. Opera singers who can’t correctly pronounce a foreign language might as well sing in English or their native tongue so at least those of us who do speak their language can understand what they are singing.
Classical Singer magazine interviewed me a couple of years ago to provide tips for students of opera singing who have trouble learning languages, especially Russian and Czech. Here’s the link to the article: http://createyourworldbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/50Week-september.pdf
Diana Krall has a sensual and gorgeous voice in her interpretations of classic Brazilian songs, but she can’t pronounce Portuguese. The requisite nasal sounds of Portuguese are absent in her songs. Here’s a clip from her concert in Rio:
The reason I am giving these examples is to show that even trained musical giants don’t have good pronunciation unless they make an effort.
Don’t use the excuse of being a poor piano student in elementary school be a reason not to pursue foreign language learning.
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