Keeping Language Alive

I always hate hearing the phrase “speak American.” Even though I know people are referring to the English language when they say this, it still doesn’t make any sense. English does not just come from England or America only and, in fact, has a variety of influence from many other cultures. Loan words are proof of this.

Loan words are words we have borrowed from other languages. One example would be kindergarten. You hear this word so often and used so commonly in American settings that you really don’t even stop to think that this is actually a German word that we are using. Same thing goes for the word cafe. A lot of the time, we just use this word when planning to meet up with friends for coffee. Most people probably don’t realize that this is a French word or even stop to think how we came about to use this word so commonly in our English language.

My brother plays classical violin. Sometimes I’ll take a look at his sheet music and see Italian words like tutti or moderato written on the page. These are words he uses in everyday life to refer to how he should play the music. The English versions of these words is rarely or never used. For him, it’s like it almost becomes part of his English vocabulary rather than learning a foreign language because he is only familiar with the Italian words.

There are so many other words and phrases that English has borrowed from other languages. I think this is a beautiful thing because it re-emphasizes that America truly is a “melting pot.” Not to sound overly cocky, but I feel like America (in a sense) is the glue that keeps the world together because we have such a great blend of people and cultures. And this is what helps to keep the language alive. It is constantly changing and adapting. As more immigrants come, more words will be borrowed. This is a unique aspect of the English language.