There are cultural reasons for learning a language of another country: it helps one understand its culture. It is a fundamental truth that cultures define themselves through languages, and language becomes a peephole look at the nation’s culture, its traditions and its history. Italian film director Federico Fellini says, “A different language is a different vision of life”. It is only when one perceives something the way it is expressed, he/ she can be said to have “understood” the expression. Seen like that, learning a language is almost comparable to a journey of discovery. Conversely, to lose a language is to lose a whole culture. This realization has led to determined efforts to preserve minority languages, including, for example, in Britain, the renaissance of the Welsh and Gaelic languages. There are similar widespread efforts in Britain to promote community languages, for example providing application forms in Urdu or other languages.
If one wants to realize art and literature expressed in other languages, one has to know the languages. True knowledge of a language only can lead to an exact interpretation of a literary work that has been done in a foreign language. Original form of an expression is often lost in its translation, that is why true appreciation of art and literature is possible on accessing it in the language of its own.
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Minority Languages
Community Languages
Learning a Foreign Language
The Cultural Reasons for Learning a Foreign Language
