Well...I know that many of you guys are not so intersted about languages around the world..but,I had this interesting chapter in my TOK class (Theory Of Knowledge-I`ll explain to you later on) about languages that dissapeared,or dead-languages and the teacher put some interesting questions ,like:"What will it happen if we would all talk in a single language,a global language?" or "Am I Romanian(for example) without speaking Romanian?"
I captured my attention on the second question,which seemed to be a subject that not many people think about.
So..We can look at this question,from two points of view..for example..my first answer would have been "Yes,I am Romanian if I don`t speak Romanian".Why this answer?And I think many of you thought about this answer.But think about it very deep...If I wouldn`t speak Romanian,because some reasons,like for example,everyone in my family are speaking English since I was born,but they are also Romanian,but they just like to talk in English (stupid example but let`s just pretend it)..if there was like this,I would have thought:"Ok,I was born here,I live in this country,I live by its rules and the most important thing:all my family is born in this country..so my blood is a Romanian blood,let`s say.I also know its history and its culture so.I can consider myself a Romanian.without speaking Romanian".This case is very rare,because it`s kind of impossible to live in a country without speaking the language that is in that country.But let`s pretend that I was born in America,I lived there for 15 years with my parents (which are Romanian) and we talked only in English..and they told me about Romanian history,the culture and so on.This could be a real case that maybe many of you could be in.
So now,I`m asking you:"Are you Romanian,without speaking Romanian?"Only knowing some history,some traditions and that`s all?!You can`t just say that you know its culture,beacause the language of a country,represents a main part of its culture.From another side,we all know that every nationality has its stereotypes,and when I say this,I think about the behaviour of a mass of people.In this case,I think there are many people that don`t speak that X language very good,or not at all,but during the years,they learned how to think in that country,how to behaive by its rules.As a friend of mine told me,and I`ll make a parallel with the Americans,he told me that "to speak english (birtish english) you need to think british.";so there is a big difference between USA and Great Britain,a big difference between their "thinking",even if they basically talk the same language,but with different accents.
From my second point of view,I think that when the teacher put this question,I could have answered "I`m not Romanian,without speaking the language"Because language is very important ,as I said before,it is a main part in the culture of a country.Without speaking that language,the language that all your family ,for example was raised with,you might not be able to develop yourself in a community,you may lose lots of useful information about things that are happening around you,and so on.No,I`m not Romanian,because I don`t speak Romanian.I`m not pretending that I`m Romanian,just because all my friends are Romanian,and all my relatives are Romanian,and just because I think Romanian.If I want to act like a Romanian,or like a German,or whatever,I must know the language.If not,I`m not teoretically a Romanian.
BUT it also counts how do you think and how does the language affects you or not,how does the language makes you more "powerful" in a community,or how the people around you think and behave and that might be the sollution,just to learn how they think,to learn their principles of life.
In my oppinion,you could be Romanian like with all your legal documents,and with all your Romanian family and your knowledge of the history and culture and places,BUT you should think Romanian if you consider you are one and that means that you should also speak Romanian.
So I ask you now,is it important to speak Romanian,if you are a Romanian?
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Well I`m a Romanian fellow so I don`t prettend on being very accurate on what I am writing , because english is just a hobby more or less . I think , evend though your oppinions are bright and you have an interesting point of view , you might have omissed something . The parents beeing Romanian and having there childhood in Romania , the country of all posibilites , I think are in your opinion as well proudly named Romanians . Evend though their child was born on a nother continent it cand still be called Romanian , underlineing the fact he lives in America , because the blood can never be changed . Take for exemple to chinese people . They moved to Africa through black people . They have a child there ... could there child ever be confused of beeing one of the african people ?? never .. He`s country and he`s tipe is written all over him through his skin colour . So ... blood is your history that will follow you everywhere
There is much truth in what you say... I would like to add a detail related to one of your points of view...I consider that you need not speak the language, in our case romanian, but you must know it...I mean you don't HAVE to talk it on a daily basis...but you should know it in order to get in touch with the culture and history....you can't understand a certain nation perfectly without understanding their language first...Furthermore, I consider that you have the right to claim a nationality if you have any kind of blood of that specific nation running through your veins...you can have a relative that goes very far back in time...and if you find out that he is indeed related to you, and you learn about the certain country, you have the right to claim it's nationality...otherwise you should not be able to get a certain nationality...it's like denying you ancestors...and the whole proving your heritage, I know it's very hard and difficult to do but, it's worth a try at least...I did it for fun...
Great blog!
Speaking Romanian isn't crucial to being Romanian, however, tradition and culture is. If you act English, you're not Romanian.
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