This week we got the chance to read Margaret Kovach chapters of "Epistemology and research: Centring Tribal Knowledge." As this weeks reading were fairly complex to comprehend they were different from the topics that we have been discussing. This is our first week talking about the theory of knowing something from culture to culture. I find this topic very interesting as I have traveled a bit. In talking about the language we speak vs how another I think there are a lot of things we have to contribute to when discussing topics across cultures and mainly languages. In taking research from one language to another or talking about another language without being fully versed in the entire language you are almost playing a card game with out a full deck in a way. You do not have all the pieces to the puzzle when you dive into research of a language that you are not 100% in. While there are some things that you can learn that will help you in understanding the language there are also things that you only really know by being fluent or having the language be your native language. Within some cultures and language there are words that do not even directly translate to another word but more to an idea or a concept of living or thought. With out fully understanding the language you can not fully understand the depth of some of those words or phrases that simply do not directly aline. I think only knowing one or two language really narrows your world view because yes while you can be an expert in what you speak or know, you still do not connect to the rest of the world that reads or understand within there language. I think you have to know one language, typically being your native language. But as soon as you learn another language then you open your brain and mental ability to understand things that otherwise would not make sense. You see things with a more open perspective because you have to learn something completely different. Learning more language does make you more worldly. Not only by being able to communicate with so many others but by being able to have an open mind set to things that are different.
I like your case on how knowing another language can open your perception to the world. I agree that when translation happens, it might lose the intention or that word that is being translated. And it is best to know the language. You mentioned only knowing one or two languages narrows one’s worldview how many more languages must a person learn to have that worldly experience?
ReplyDeleteKnowing more than one language doesn't only open your mind to other cultures, but to other perspectives, even within our own language. Do you think that people benefit from a consistent vocabulary or an education in the way people used to talk? The culture of the past was very different of today and we receive such a limited perspective, it makes me wonder how many other cultures have the same huge language shift as America and Europe.
ReplyDeleteHi Paige!
ReplyDeleteI like your comparison to playing a card game without a full deck or a puzzle without all the pieces. I think it speaks clearly to the ways in which it can be hard to know what one is missing. How do you think this interpretation of the benefits of multiple languages would apply to smaller alterations such as dialect or slang within a particular region?