Published in the Sept. 30 – Oct. 13, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Theresa Lilley’s fourth-grade class at Morgan Hill Stratford School
Theresa Lilley’s fourth-grade class at Morgan Hill Stratford School
Language is important because it lets us communicate and build relationships. Language is an important part of cultures because people communicate in different languages in different countries.
For example, if someone is from the Azores — islands next to Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean — and they speak Portuguese only and you only speak English, it would be difficult to communicate. But if you did know how to speak Portuguese, you’d be able to share information and ideas.
People treat us differently if we can speak their language because words can serve as a bridge that connect people from different cultures. People appreciate us when we learn their language. If you were not able to speak to someone, it would be difficult to connect with them.
The more languages you learn, the more places you can travel and communicate with more people. Learning a language for a foreign country makes it more fun to travel because you can interact with more people in that country.
Learning other people’s language will show that you respect them so they will treat you in a friendlier way. You build deeper relationships with other people and appreciate the diversity of cultures in the world. By being multilingual, we can embrace other people’s cultures, customs, religions, lifestyles and holidays — and we grow from this multicultural awareness.
In our classroom at Stratford School, every one of the students has someone in their home who speaks another language. It encourages us to listen to other people better and to understand them to build our knowledge and global awareness of current events. And in our own community where some people speak only Spanish, we can learn that language and be able to communicate with them.
We students will keep on growing and learning new languages to collaborate with other people. The more languages we learn, the easier it is to travel and communicate with other people, including members of our families from other cultures.
After a Junior Journalism writing workshop by Morgan Hill Life Publisher Marty Cheek, Theresa Lilley’s fourth-grade class at Stratford School wrote this column. Interested in hosting a workshop? Contact Marty Cheek at [email protected].
