Talking to One Another, Living Together
We communicate by talking to one another. Of course, facial expressions and gestures are also crucial, but especially when dealing with people we don’t know, the spoken word is fundamental. And this applies to all of the approximately 6,000 languages that exist in the world. To understand them, we must not only hear well, but also listen carefully.
Imagine you’re traveling but don’t speak the local language. It’s not easy at first, but then you start gesturing, miming, and pointing—and somehow you manage to make yourself understood anyway. However, especially when you can’t communicate through language, misunderstandings of all kinds are bound to happen. A nod of the head, which is understood as “yes” almost everywhere in the world, isn’t actually that clear in India or Bulgaria, for example—there, people tilt their heads from side to side to say “yes.” Seen in this light, one thing is certain: Our language is the key to communication.
The great importance of language in our society is also demonstrated by the UNESCO-designated observance day for the “Promotion of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity and Multilingualism,” which has been held annually on February 21 since the year 2000. The occasion stems from the ongoing disappearance of the approximately 6,000 languages currently spoken worldwide—languages that are well worth preserving.
Smartphones and the like don’t understand everything
But why do languages disappear? For one thing, it’s a completely natural process. However, the pace of this process has increased significantly over the last century: According to linguists, globalization and the resulting convergence of the world continue to play a decisive role in this. Languages such as Spanish, Chinese, and French—official languages of the United Nations since 1946—are, for example, spreading further and further around the world; they are among the world’s major languages. And according to experts, digitalization is not entirely blameless either, because not all languages—nor even all variants of a single language—are available via smartphones, tablets, and other devices. In addition, there are countries like Indonesia, where there is one official language—in this case, Bahasa Indonesia—which is spoken by a growing number of people as the population increases. And in the long term, this is effectively displacing the smaller languages within the country. According to estimates, more than 2,500 of the world’s 6,000 existing languages are at risk of disappearing. The UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered Languages shows which ones these are.
Speaking—and Listening to—a Language
Nevertheless, speaking a language alone is not enough. After all, there is always a speaker who speaks and a listener who listens. And only those who can listen are able to learn a language, speak it, and communicate with their fellow human beings. As the Dalai Lama once said: “Always remember: When you speak, you’re only repeating what you already know. But when you listen, you can learn something new.”
Has this piqued your curiosity? Then check out the Zuhören Foundation. Through numerous projects and a wide range of continuing education and professional development programs, it promotes active listening across all sectors of society and age groups—regardless of the language we speak.
