Culture: The Elements Of Culture In Belize

“The major elements of culture consist of symbols, language, norms, values and artifacts” (The elements of culture). Every culture in Belize is different and has a unique element which stands out. Belize consists of a mixture of culture namely Mayan, Mestizo, Garifuna, Creole, Mennonites, East Indians and Asians. In all these cultures there is the element of language which every culture uses to communicate and socialize with each other. The element of language is more than communication; it’s a vital part of distinction for each culture.

There is an enormous diversity that exists in the language element because every culture has its own language and some are of the same culture but communicate in a similar but yet different language. For instance,

Spanish is their main language but they are also fluent in English. The Mestizos can be found all over Belize but mainly in the northern districts of Orange-Walk and Corozal. The mestizo have now influence the English speaking countries and is “the mother language of over 40 percent of the Belizeans” their language has been extremely influential, has break down barriers and built credentials (Belize Adventure). Besides, every job requires that an employee must have knowledge of Spanish in order to be considered for an

The Mennonites migrated from Europe and are mainly found in “Blue Creek on the Mexican border; Shipyard, Indian Creek, Richmond Hill in the Orange Walk District; Spanish Lookout and Barton Creek in the Cayo District; Little Belize in the Corozal District” (History & Culture of Belize). They make up 3.6 percent of Belize’s population and are very influential in their respective communities; they have their own school, church, and financial institutions (History of Mennonites of Belize). Their language of origin is “a guttural form of German” but they can be considered trilingual since they speak English, Spanish and their German dialect (History of Mennonite of Belize). The East Indians are originally from India and they diversified in their location and have a variety of language such as Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia and Punjabi( History & Culture). However, Bengali is the most spoken language of the Belizean East Indians. The Asian population often referred to as Chinese roughly makes up about 3% of the entire population of Belize (History & Culture of Belize). They have made quite an impact on Belize economy and development. “All Chinese share a common written language, but spoken Chinese differs in dialect from place to place; a Chinese speaking one dialect may not understand a different dialect, and the tow must resort to written Chinese to