If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
Day six: Humming along the chants of Peru.
Peru is a megadiverse country that unites multiple people, indigenous tribes, cultural traditions and languages within its borders. Before the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century an assumed 300 to 600 different languages were spoken in the area. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk9J5xnTVMA Every two weeks, a language is lost forever; Peru is no exception. Forty years ago, half …
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Day Five: Far over the misty mountains of China.
“I can only understand it a little and say a few everyday expressions. My children don’t understand it at all. They only learn Chinese,” said Du Mei, an Ewenki from Inner Mongolia.
Day Four: Zooming in the obscure hills of Nigeria
"Many years ago a friend introduced me to one of her friends. She said: 'Chidi does not speak Igbo, by the way.' Then her friend replied: 'I am sorry for you.' That has never left me. I wondered why did this person whom I never knew feel sorry for me?"
Day Three: Slipping through the ridges of India.
सर्वं ज्ञानं मयि विद्यते All that I have to learn is within me. India writes in many languages and speaks in many more voices. And yet, communication has never broken down in this subcontinent. With about 2.4% of the world's land surface and a total of 16% of the world's population, India houses according to …
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Fate of the Indigenous Languages: Is there a superior language?
'If only you could come down to our level, you would realize our potential'
Day Two: Through the sandy beaches and sea urchins of Australia
Language and culture are interdependent. It has long been understood that language is the verbal expression of culture. It is the medium through which culture is carried and transferred. Stories, songs and the nuanced meaning of words contain the key to understanding one’s world and one’s part within it. Strong culture gives the individual a …
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Day One: Following the streams through the mountains of Mexico
La lengua no tiene hueso, pero corta lo más grueso. The tongue doesn't have a bone, but it cuts the thickest thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkMkFEeUegc&t=78s Interestingly, while Spanish is the dominant language in Mexico, it is not defined as the official language in Mexican legislation. Many different languages are spoken in Mexico. Mexico has about six million citizens who …
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Hello. Welcome to The Tongue Trail.
Poetry expresses meanings, relationships, and underlying truths of reality with a different kind of precision and clarity that science can’t. The language of the world, too, though not always keeping with the same type of unambiguity that science has, nonetheless is rational and consistent, albeit a different kind. It arouses noble sentiments, empowers and inspires the reader, and reaches the deepest roots of human motivation through its appeal to a human being’s innate attraction to beauty. Click the title to see more.