We speak, we think, we love, we believe, we live… and we don’t know how much we owe to language. Can you imagine a world with no languages? How would we communicate? The structure of words is the basis of whatever ideas we may build. We can only think because we have incorporated a system according to which sounds represent material things, emotions, ideas, etc. We are able to grow up, have an opinion and goals because of our language.
If you ever studied Semiology or a close field, you must have heard about Saussure. He was a Swiss linguist whose ideas laid a foundation for many material developments in linguistics during the 20th century. According to him, language is what constructs our world and not the other way around. We are limited to the constraints of our language and this is the reason why we should work on its expansion as much as we can. Only that way we would be making the most of ourselves, boosting our brain and opening up our mind to creativity.
When seeking to Learn German Leeds students know that even though German has many similarities with English as regards its vocabulary, the grammar side is quite different. For example, objects have a genre – as in “the lamp”, Die Lampe (female) or “the printer” Der Drucker (the printer) – while in English all objects are referred to as with the article “the” and the pronoun “it”.
This idea might throw English speakers a little bit off-balance, while it is not so crazy for Spanish speakers who also use assign genres to nouns. What we are trying to point out with these examples is how much our perception of the world can be limited by our language. When we learn foreign tongues we understand that our reality is not the only valid one and even more, it might be just one point of view of the many existent ones. This is why something as simple as French courses London can help us discover the world, analyze different points of view and finally help us discover ourselves and make the most of who we are and what we could become.
Alexis Sheldon, CEO of Language Trainers, explains that we are the only ones who can give meaning to our own lives, “no one else is going to do it for you”. We need to take responsibility and explore, open up our mind until we find that fulfilling feeling we all seek. In the words of Steve Jobs: “Stay Hungry”.
