Advantages And Disadvantages Of Multilingualism

It is my birthday’s eve. And by the time I submit the finished product of this composition attempt, after several days of non-preemptive reviewing, it will be already passed. As I sit by my computer, I find it hard to even start writing this essay. For many times, I have considered – and reconsidered – how I should begin putting into words that ethereal, shapeless, bulk of ideas that populate my mind as I read – and reread – the subject of said text: Language.

I find it “peculiar”, to say the least, how I am actually able to express those feelings of pre-composing uncertainty in this introduction. So peculiar that I decided that this would be the most adequate, transparent, true manner of beginning my dissertation. Here, I see one of the first,

Besides, that phenomenon of transvocalization, known as gairaigo, also takes place in concern to other languages, like Portuguese, French and Dutch, which underlines global citizenship. On the other hand, to solely consider the theoretical concepts behind multilingualism, its advantages, disadvantages and indirect consequences is to abstract it from reality. In order to properly settle it to tangibility, we must also excogitate how to make multilingualism possible and widespread, therefore diffusing global citizenship as well. To me, the key lies largely in education and plays a crucial role throughout anyone’s life. To legitimize my point, let’s consider where and when second languages are usually better learned by any individual. Studies state that the capability of learning a completely new set of grammatical rules fades as time goes by and is already substantially compromised when puberty arises. Ergo, it is in the early stages of life, during the dawn of one’s academic journey, that one must focus as much as possible on getting to know other languages. Note that it doesn’t imply that, as a child grows up, he/she may diminish multilingualism. It denotes, however, that efforts must start while still very young. And such effort can only be accomplished if parents and educators realize the preponderance of multilingualism

Resembling to life, languages are mutable. They are born, they grow – in number of speakers, in reach and/or in lexicon – get updated or adapted and, in some degree, come to an end while affecting and being affected by other languages. What a fascinating correlation to find… Undoubtedly, a quaint, somewhat odd – yet, unique – birthday gift.

Bibliography

Bakhtin, M. M., & Holquist, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Murray, J. (2014, June 21). Learning languages is key to UK 's success in the global economy. The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/education/0014/jun/19/learning-language-key-to-economic-success.

Otake, T. (2007, September 23). Japanese: A language in a state of flux. The Japan Times. Retrieved March 4, 2017, from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2007/09/23/to-be-sorted/japanese-a-language-in-a-state-of-flux.

Lewis, M. Paul; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2013), Ethnologue: Languages of the World (17th ed.), SIL