There is an underlying and universalirony in language across the world. Yes,language is definitely used to communicatewith people around the world. It canbe seen as a tool to connect with others,either in business or in internationalpolitics. It can be seen as a cultural bridge,something that can link two cultures togetherin a mutual relationship. Throughlanguage, hope is found in building thefuture of a nation, the prosperity of a developingglobal economy, and the unityof cultures around the world. All in all,language serves a very prime purpose ofproviding a way for people to communicatewith one another, for one importantreason to the next. However, languagealso acts as a barrier. Language is the veryreason country borders exist and the reasonwhy such things as nationalistic prideand patriotism fill the hearts of differentgroups of people around the world.

Long ago, people that were able tocommunicate with each other, people thatdeveloped and had the same language,grouped themselves together into a livingsociety, a small community. And with eachlanguage, a different type of communitygrew. As groups of people became moreand more distinct and as they started toshare their own ideas with each other,unique cultures would start to flourishin different areas across the world. Soonenough, as these groups started to claimtheir own territories and establish theirown borders, ethnicities started to formand be dotted across the face of eachcontinent. Thereafter, countries and risingempires have been thrown into theworld. History took place, and the courseof the world became driven by alliancesand wars. All this happened because oflanguage, or more specifically, the varietyof language.

Now, whenever people with differentlanguages meet, whenever people cometogether from different cultures, a comparisonnaturally takes place. Usually, thatcomparison acts as a barrier, sometimes sohigh and sturdy that the people meetingeach other fail to see who the other personactually is. From here develops a caseof stereotypes and racism, and in someextreme cases, genocide.

Language can act as a tool for communication,yet it also acts as a barrier.

However, this is only the case when people’s hearts allow that to happen. By opening upnew perspectives and having an acceptingheart, language can become a powerful toolfor uniting the world under a single cause,whatever that cause may be.

Min Kyu Shin
Oxford Academy11th Grade

<Min Kyu Shin>