A Nation’s Soul

Language is a nation’s soul; it binds and fosters ties, bridges and overcomes indifference and miscommunication, and makes a nation, a nation. At the very least, that is what I believe.

Yeah, I do love to study languages for several reasons. Of course, apart from my native tongue (Pilipino), English is my second language and I’ve learned using it since primary school. But there are a lot more in this world, and I’d learn them all if I could.

Lately I’ve been delving much into manga, and I now know Nihongo a bit more than before. And it is actually because of my increasing interest in learning the Japanese language that I realized that I really am interested in languages. Hehe. (But back in my student years, I also despise language subjects) =P

Anyway, one thing about languages is that by carefully looking at several aspects, one may know more about the people that speak it. A person need not to learn all a language’s intricacies and idiosyncrasies to know that it genuinely reflects the nation, which uses it.To know about the people, it is important to know their language

Well, I’m no expert at this stuff, but I’ve deduced a little from the bits of knowledge I have of the languages I know. Yeah, Pilipino sure is family-oriented, Nihongo an honor-oriented one, and English is as straightforwardly-businesslike as it is, or something like that. (I’d rather not elaborate on this matter, as I'm still lacking data to back it up).

The bottom line is, to know about the people, it is important to know their language, and vice-versa.