Joanne Joseph

English 201-102

 

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing that you said to your parents? When you pick up the phone and talk to someone, have you thought about what you said? When you speak before a class, do you stop to think, do they understand what I am saying? The greatest form of communication in human history is language; the question is, how has the English language stood the test of time as one, if not, the dominant language in human history?

            Learning how to adapt to a new environment can be very overwhelming, yet an exhilarating experience. Even fear can be intertwined at some point of time and we are sometimes fearful of the unknown. I have had my fair share of adventures traveling around the world exploring while new countries. Over the years I've made comparisons in people's native languages, dialects and verbal expressions. Based on my observations there were a variance in vocabulary, grammatical structure and the way they pronounced their words and over the years I have noticed a vast progression of my use of the English language. Languages can be a barrier but throughout history it has more often connected people. English is the official language spoken in my country; to give a brief history there was a truculent power struggle between the French and British Governments. They fought for the island fourteen times; seven times ruled by the British and seven times ruled by the French. In the end, the British Government gained control but today many French cultural influences and customs still exists. Today, many saint Lucians speak French creole, it is a language with its own orthography and grammar and slightly different from its main origin French.

            Speaking both French creole and English creole has had a profound effect on my speech pattern but I have acknowledged a bilingual environment. I believe that Standard English has to be acquired because of its international and professionalism importance and there should be some sort of uniformity in our speech in order to communicate effectively. I have encountered moments were I had to pronounce and spell my words differently words such as “cheque, labour, analyse, aluminum and dreamed” just to name a few, due to the fact that I was taught under the British education system. While reading the article “Nine Ideas of Language” by Harvey A. Daniels, I came across a very interesting point that interchanging of dialect is normal. Its evolution is continuous and inevitable and the changes might be vital as it helps make it more comprehensible and simplified to its users. In the English language words become colloquial; they take on a life of their own. For example “pop” it has taken on the meaning of soda when its initial intention was to describe a sensation.

Language has evolved for the necessity of humanity. By speaking, you can give others information about yourself and the world around you.