Leonard Tran
Dr. Knowles Writing 121
Dying Languages
Many languages in the world dying out because of the major languages taking over in countries all over the world. The larger languages in the world according to Infoplease are Chinese, Spanish, and English. These languages are taking over a large portion of the population, many native speakers of older generations are dying off, sometimes taking the last of a fluently spoken language in their family. I believe in preserving languages is important because language is a medium in which we can see the past and culture.
Languages that are dying out are important because there are some people born into a race that has a unique language, like the Blackfoot natives. Jesse DesRosier is an eighth grader at the Blackfeet Reservation in far northwestern Montana RealSpeakSchool, or Nizipuhwahsin. This school is like a normal school, but everything spoken is spoken in Piegan, otherwise known as the Blackfoot language. For Jesse, learning and using Piegan is important to him because he wants to preserve his culture and to do that, he must also preserve his language. The spoken language is more than just a means of communication, for within the language lies the stories and the traditions of the Blackfoot people. Years of dedication led Darrell Kip to teach his native language to the young ones of the tribe.
I believe that if native language speakers, no matter what race should teach their native language to the children of their community. It’s possible to teach multiple languages at young ages so if there are parents that are worried that their children won’t fit it with english speakers in social situations, they can teach them english to communicate with their peers. To be bilingual is to also be multicultural, because learning a language will expand one’s cultural lenses. In the case that many people become multicultural, it’s possible to eliminate racism and prejudice. The Blackfoot and many other Native...