Language Bridges the Gap
By Maheen Nusrat
Canada
Language is the vehicle by which human beings communicate. It is what distinguishes men from animals. The ability to write, converse by use of words or symbols, and to articulate thought into spoken words is an art, which may be innately present, but requires development and training to reach its full potential.
It is common to see many bilingual people residing in Canada. The reason for these phenomena is the massive amount of immigrant populace that has come to settle here from all over the globe. They bring with them a part of their heritage, their distinct culture, and language. Many of those who immigrate feel a necessity to cling to their traditions, culture and heritage. Many struggle to retain their mother tongue and to pass it on to their offspring.
Language is a way of expanding horizons and learning about other cultures. I, for one, have had an opportunity to learn many languages. In my earlier years, as I was growing up in my beloved country, Pakistan, I learnt to read, write in my mother tongue Urdu and my secondary language English. As fate took me to the deserts of Bahrain, I had a chance to learn Arabic. With the passage of time, and immigration to Canada, I was lucky to learn Spanish. Now, in my post-secondary years, I am given another chance to learn to read and write Gurmukhi Punjabi.
I have unfortunately not been able to gain proficiency in Arabic or Spanish, but due to the close similarities of the Urdu and Punjabi languages, I have been able to speak Punjabi with fluency. As I enrolled in the class to learn the language, I assumed it an easy A, which I believe many native speakers assume while enrolling into the course. What I failed to realize was that to be literate in a language does not just mean speaking and understanding it but also acquiring the ability to write it. The Gurmukhi script is completely different from the Urdu script despite an overwhelming majority of an overlapping vocabulary. As I learnt the different alphabets in the Punjabi language, simultaneously drawing comparisons with the Urdu language and English, I discovered a completely new level of understanding of the culture and its people.
Language acts as a door to the understanding of the vastness of a culture. Here, I would also like to point out the difference in colloquial language and academic or standardized language. Colloquial language is the spoken or conversational language whereas the literal or academic language is the written language, or the correct or actual form of a language. For educational purposes in schools, colleges and universities, one learns the standardized or literal form of a language. Many a times the literal language’s vocabulary is unknown even to native speakers because colloquialism results from an unusual facility with the language, as it may be more difficult for non-native speakers to understand. Fluency in the standardized form of a language does not warrant an automatic entrance into the understanding of a culture.
In fact, the best way to learn a language is through living in a country and associating with its people. The shortcoming, however, of this is a lack of understanding of the literature of that language. Learning to speak a language exposes a certain dimension of a culture, whereas learning to read and write allows a better and deeper understanding. It also allows our brain to function on different levels while engaging the different parts of our brain. For example, in order for me to learn to read and write English, from left to right after having learnt to write Urdu from right to left, requires a new level of dedication and motivation. Learning to write languages allows for greater mind control and creates an artistic discipline. Learning a new language also allows to dispel any preconceived notions that one may have about a culture, or its people.
Language, therefore, is a gateway to greater learning, understanding, harmony and ultimately peace between humanity. It is imperative to encourage the learning of new languages while retaining our mother tongues. A language bridges the gap between two cultures otherwise viewed as antagonistic to one another. If the germs of racism and hatred are to be eradicated from our future, a greater emphasis needs to be placed on the importance of learning new languages and being multilingual.
Canada is a great country, where one gets to not only preserve his/her own heritage, culture and language but also has an opportunity to integrate with other cultures and people. It is important that when someone strives to introduce different languages in our schools or post-secondary institutions, we support and encourage his/her strivings because opposition to a language results in sowing the seeds of racism at an early age.
