Language (/ˈlaŋɡwɪdʒ/) is a structured system of communication used by humans. It involves a set of words and expressions used to express and communicate one’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions. It is the silver lining of every dark cloud, be it miscommunication, lack of understanding, incomprehensibility, or many others.
Out of all the 6,500 languages in the world, it isn’t humanly possible to gain efficiency in all of them. If not, then the question that may predictably arise is: Does being fluent in one language make us brave in and within the regions where it is densely spoken and cowardly amongst the areas where it is scarcely or not at all spoken?
Introduction
“The Last Lesson,” by Alphonse Daudet quotes, “When a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language, it is as if they have the key to their prison.” We must guard and protect it. Language helps in self-introspection. It exposes people to their deepest sides, lifts them up on their darkest days, and plasters their vulnerable wounds.
But the world is myriad. It isn’t a homogenous gigantic puzzle arranged together, made up of different flavours of people. A language known to one may or may not be the language spoken by the other person. This is from where the dominance of language starts and leads to divisions between the speakers of a prominent and less prominent language. It is both- the armour of the brave and the coward.
Language and Communication
“Communication,” according to Merriam Webster implies the act or process of using words, sounds, signs, or behaviours to express or exchange information or to share one’s ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The destiny of the World has taken a twitching turn. Where will its fate drive it? Aliens who only communicate with sign language seem to have invaded it. With a pertinent and imminent clash of opinions and language barriers, how will a world with both aliens and humans face-to-face in real-time look like? Imagine: Will there be a power hierarchy? Will the human race wash down the shore? Will a doomsday arrive? What will our future look like? Likely, there are infinite Wh-question tags attached to understanding how differently the 6,500 languages look when spoken differently, classifying speakers on the aspects of brave and coward.
To avoid war, our governments must engage a vastly marginalized portion of the human population: the hearing-impaired. George Graham Vest in his article Will Dog Still Be Man’s Best Friend In 50 Years? proposes, “…the only, absolute best friend that a man had, in this selfish world, the only one that will not betray or deny him, is his dog.” This is not a myth, but scientifically proven! Dogs are one of the few creatures that are loyal and intellectual out of all the animals and rate also, for that reason, deployed in many artificial intelligence companies. But the paradox is this best friend of man, cannot speak! And, well is still considered being the most loyal and the best one. Does this mean not speaking brings loyalty? Well, no! Simply, the reason is while excessive speaking lands us up in trouble, under speaking can prove fatal. It may affect one’s mental health as the person shall start confiding and burying all their thoughts deep down themselves.
Language as an Armour of the Brave
What is an ‘armour of the brave?’ Well, for the fact being, the armour of the brave is any tool that supports or adds to the bravery of the superior. Likely, language is the tool that has the potential to transmute a coward into a powerful sage and even vice versa. It is liberating! Language frees a soul from the shackles of bondage and slavery. The Last Lesson by Alphonse Daudet is primarily about the longing to learn one’s mother tongue and the love for it. It has an essence of patriotism. In The Last Lesson, the Prussians rejected the freedom of the people of Lorraine and Alsace to learn their mother tongue. Thus, language demystifies the differences prevailing in the nooks and crannies of society. It is that ultimate source of sheer energy that has the reflective power to disseminate and differentiate between the moral and evil virtues that triumph over mankind out of love and lust for one’s own or those relating to him or her directly or indirectly over language. It is important to chalk out the positives and negatives of languages for people because the results are the only ultimate guiding factors that determine the brave and cowardly sect of society.