Our catch phrase is on its way.
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
For those of you who are parents and are puzzled about your children’s language needs, I suggest that in the event your child’s native language is English, first determine that it is England English-based. If not, then your child will encounter difficulties competing on the world stage in business, science, technology, and in politics. Secondly, if your family’s native language is not English, then make sure that your child has opportunitiies to truly master kerm native tongue before kee dives headlong into the study of English. If not, there is the possibility that kee (your child) may lose a nativelike grasp of kerm parents’ language – and losing that grasp is tantamount to, when all is said and done, losing an important aspect of one’s cultural heritage. Just how many allophonomes should your child develop? A lot of that depends on geography. If you are in Luxembourg, then Luxembourgeois is a must. But French, Dutch, and German might also come in handy. Would there be any utility in learning Swahili? I think not. After all, Swahili speakers generally use Swahili only in eastern Africa. And a great many of those people also speak English. Unless your child will be spending lots of time with people who speak only Swahili, there is little need to learn it. If by chance a gifted teacher of a more exotic language, say, Rapa Nui, is in the neighborhood, then your child would surely gain a deeper “feel” for the dynamics of language learning and for aspects of a different culture, by learning it. When all is said and done, however, your child would do best to make sure kee has nativelike expertise in your family’s ethnic language or languages, in English, and (if necessary) in any language (such as Spanish or French or Arabic or Portuguese) that opens doors to wide circles of speakers. There ARE of course many things to do besides learning languages, so make sure your child has plenty of training in mathematics, fine arts, science, economoics, ecology, ethics, and so on. Plus, your child needs to time to pursue sports, to sleep, and to just play with kerm friends.
Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.