Influence of Language and Community

Hello, my name is… Where is the bathroom, please? Thank you. If one was to learn a second language, one will hear these commonly-used phrases often. They are used on a regular basis and are needed to be known to order to function within a foreign environment. However, that is not the most important part of learning a new language. Language is not only a medium to find out where the bathroom is or to show gratitude, but an intrinsic means to one's identity. People not only communicate with each other through language, but they express themselves through words. Ultimately, thinking is being. Even as one reads through this essay, s/he is assimilating words in the English language and processing them depending on their mother tongue in which they think; which may or not be English. 

Personal development occurs through the environment directly around someone. Social reproduction is grounded in social interaction with other people – interaction that occurs through mediums such as visual and oral communications. Language is the means by which both mediums are manifested; even those who cannot hear or speak can communicate in sign language, if need be. Whatever the actual manifestation of the medium, it still has a structured language, with specific rules and syntax, which allows for the person to express his/herself and what it is that might be needed. Regardless of the language and/or expression which that languages takes form in, one needs language to be someone. 

America has been known as a giant melting pot since the beginning of the 20th century, where immigrants flooded Ellis Island for a chance at freedom. This mix of various cultures has left a standing impression on foreign-born citizens. Language impacts a variety of nationalities, however, the same underlying concept stands — one’s native tongue is more familiar and more easily understood. Whether one is Asian, African or European, the barriers between themselves and the English language exists as the same struggle throughout.