The limits of my language Essay Example for Free

The limits of my language Essay Human language is considered to be an exclusively human mode of communication; although other animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems, none of these are known to make use of all of the properties that linguists use to define language. Linguistics is the scientific study of language. At the core of theoretical linguistics are the study of language structure and the study of meaning. Edward Sapir and his colleague Benjamin Whorf came up with a hypothesis postulating that a particular languages nature influences the habitual thought of its speakers: that different language patterns yield different patterns of thought. On the basis of this theory we could easily say that community we are born into influences our thinking, our background, education and social interaction. For example, a person born in England would be characterised by different behaviours and same drives as a person born in other country.  Pupils in Poland study quite a lot about patriotism and values. A structure of a Polish school teaching is completely different to English one. Everyone in Poland has to learn Polish language and history until they are 19. Most of books they have to read refer to a hero attitude, death, Poland and its history, justice, anti-Semitism, wars and concentration camps. We are being taught information that will shape us in some way and will help us to answer a question: Am I a patriot? Another subject that Polish students have to learn is religious studies. About 95.8 % Polish people are Catholics today. This is another reason to make teenagers learn religious studies. Some of them choose to not to att end this lesson because they describe themselves as theists, but the majority of them still choose to attend RE to find out more about God and their attitude to our motherland. In my opinion, Polish teaching system differ completely from the English way of teaching youth. English people get to choose subjects they prefer to learn and they are limited with their choice. In Poland, pupils do not get a choice and they have to learn about 15 different subjects to get as great knowledge as its possible. It differs in English schools, because in a typical English College when you decide to do A Levels you are only aloud to do from three to five subjects. It shows that students are under pressure of learning logic points of view and way of thinking. It seems to be better idea of training you people but it doesnt teach them any values. Another factor that shapes us would be our background as it has been said in Saphir-Whorf hypothesis. Personally, I find myself more independent and confident that some English people because Poland is characterised by its industry crisis and this is the reason why such a lot of Poles decide to come to England. Another reason that shaped Polish people in the way they are shaped is a fact that Poland was one of these countries that were damaged the most during World War and World War II. I think that it had some influence on the way Polish people behave as well. Final factor would be the fact that English people interact socially different than Polish people. There are some typical issues showing that Polish would behave in another way that English person. English people try to be polite by saying: Hello, how are you ? to everyone while they are not even interested in a receivers answer. Polish person wouldnt try to make an impression on somebody that they are polite. The form and content of both nationalities say differ as well, and the reason for this, again would be nationality and the community you were born into. To recap, my examples have illustrated that a limited knowledge of language severely limits a persons world. The ones I have presented show that community we are born into shapes us and the way we behave. It makes us other from English people who have to decide on how they are going to behave and what are their values, on their own and without any help. I agree with Saphir Whorf hypothesis and I think that language we speak makes us who we are and what we do.