Week 2: The Marvels of Multilingualism


Let's be honest. English. It's everywhere.

 

 



China, America, Germany, Italy, Narnia. Yes, English would be present.

 

Thus, being a monolingual speaker of English is enough, right?

 

 

 

 

Imagine you're a plumber. Some lady calls in desperate need of your plumbing expertise. So, there you are. Under the sink. There's a leak, and you're just the person to fix it.

 

Or are you?!

 

You're in need of a wrench, but alas! You only have a spanner. One lousy spanner. What do you do now?

 

Cry. Just cry it out. Everything won't be alright. 

 

 

 

 

Sure, it's possible to get by with just English, but is that what we want? To get by?

 

Why doesn't everybody just get on the multilingualism train so that we can depart to a brighter tomorrow? We're all living in the now, and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

But we're struggling. We're struggling to understand each other, and not only in the verbal sense.

 

We have all been affected by the past. We all carry pain from the happenings of the past, and forgiveness does not come easily.

 

Embracing multilingualism might be seen by many as a betrayal. It's understandable. Also, everybody grapples with a fear of the unknown.

 

We don't like change, but we need change. Multilingualism could open so many doors for us.

 

 



 

 

It gives us insight into other cultures. We are also given the opportunity to view our own culture from an entirely different perspective.



 

One of the most amazing benefits of multilingualism is that it allows us to form more meaningful relationships. The insight into other cultures help us understand others on a less superficial basis.

 

And that is awesome.

 

Of course, as we get older, it becomes much harder to learn new languages.

 

Once again, we look towards our children. They are the future, but they are still young and impressionable.

 

We need to ensure that we are not teaching them what we have been taught, but teaching them what they need to know in order to prosper and live contentedly.

 

Remember: Multilingualism is dope. Let's stop saying 'nope'.