language helps us communicate..for example, malaysia a multiracial country that became home to people of different races who speak entirely different language made bahasa melayu their national language so that the rakyat may communicate with ease and has at least one thing in common - language. besides the languages spoken by people of different nationality or race, languages also differ according to type of society or social status..e.g. teenagers nowadays communicate through a language hardly understandable to their elders, the language used in courts, the language used in the wet market, etc...
hence, i think that language is able to potray the character, behavior, feelings, culture, beliefs, and many many more things about a person or a group of people or even a country..being a young malaysian chinese adult, i speak bahasa melayu, english, and a few dialects of my race fluently..besides that, i am also able to speak a wee bit of japanese and a few syllable of korean and french .. XD obviously, this tells you a bit that i'm somewhat attracted to languages..in reality, YES!!!
i find it fascinating for human to speak languages so different eventhough we are practically the same in terms of biology. i also find that whenever you listen to a person speak his/her language, you can feel or predict or almost get a vision of what that person is like..i also like language because it immerse me in the culture of the language's race, enable me to make friends with people from all over the world, bridges communication barriers and enhances cognitive flexibility in a person..
i also think that being able to speak your own mother tongue alone brings you closer to your family and gives you a sense of belonging..well, me for one feels that i am closer to my roots, culture and family..because i speak chinese, my friends from china felt very at home with me and think that i am very warm and friendly..same goes to my grandparents who first came to malaysia from china to tap rubber trees..they favour me and my siblings more than my `banana' cousins - a term used to call english educated chinese who don't know anything chinese...why is that so you ask?? well, its because i speak their language ;p
so you see, with languages you will be able to communicate to a wider group of people and is able to learn more things compared to being uni-lingual..learning a wider range of languages also promotes understanding among people from different nationalities..(less miscommunication will occur)..unfortunately, many people nowadays thinks that languages are rubbish..they are not worth to learn..even many of my friends are bananas..when asked why they don't want to learn their mother tongue, i receive the same reply - "what for?? you won't need it la..english is more important.." yes, i do understand that english is currently very important..it is a language used globally..but what has it got to do with learning your mother tongue??
by learning languages, you create an intercultural relationship with the native speaker of the language you learn..you can exchange ideas easily and avoid conflicts as you can understand more than one language..also, it will protect these languages from extinction..yes, it may sound weird saying that a language may go extinct but it is the truth..when the number of people speaking a language decreases and finally nobody know how to speak it, it is then extinct..be proud of your own mother tongue at least to show some respect for yourself..(especially malaysian teenagers) don't forget your roots... if you are done with your mother tongue, try some other languages..it is really fun and may release stress =) ohya, not to mention the advantage to flirt with cute guys or hot chicks from foreign too XD
here are some japanese you may be interested to learn :
hello.. - konnichiwa..
what is your name? - onamae wa? or anata wa donata desuka?
my name is may.. - watashino namae wa may desu. or boku wa may desu.
nice to meet you. - yoroshiku..
how are you? - daijyobu desuka?
i'm fine.. - daijyobu... or genki dane...
long time no see... - hisashiburi dane..
just a moment pls.. - shosho omachi kudasai or chotto matte kudasai
just jooking.. - joudan desu
please help me... - tasukatta kudasai...
please tell me... - oshiete kudasai.
shut up!/keep quiet. - urusai! or shisu kudasai..
oh my god! - mattaku!
so boring.. - suma nee...
byebye - sayonara or jya ne
A Love Song in Several Languages...
Rap around the world (30 languages!)
Birthday Song in Malaysian Languages(english,bm,mandarin,canto)
p.s : this is mainly based on my own opinion, common sense, feelings, and general knowledge..sorry for the crappiness again ;p and sorry its so long ya ;p
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