Die Language Die !!!

Sam Roberts’s article, “Listening to and Saving the World’s Languages,” is a compelling analysis of the many languages in New York City that are in danger of extinction. Diversity is one of the great attributes of New York City; therefore I was not surprised to have learned in reading Roberts’s article that the city is considered a Mecca of dying languages. New Yorkers speak over 800 different languages and according to Professor Daniel Kaufmann, some of these languages will not be around in the next 20 years. It is a cultural loss when a language dies, however the ultimate goal of language is to communicate with others effectively. As our society becomes more globalized each day many of these “endangered languages” will fail to meet the goal of effective communication. It is my opinion that we should let these languages die gracefully and embrace the more prevalent languages. If we follow this path more people of this world will begin to speak the same language which will increase the effectiveness of communication and possibly decrease the amount of conflicts caused by mis-communication.