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 One of the topics we discussed on Thursday that interested me the most was our discussion on language, linguistics, and culture. I love languages, like a majority of people, and believe that they're very important to our world today. I was sitting at lunch with an international student from Jordan last week and we were discussing the culture of Jordan and also the requirements for the students to take English. She said that she began learning English at a very young age and that it was something she was tested on constantly. She also brought up a very interesting point. She stated that an English speaker is lucky because no matter what country he or she goes to, there will always be someone whom they could communicate with in English if needed. Why should English speakers rely on the abilities of others though? We should at least try and meet them half way instead of hoping and relying that they have enough English-speaking skills to help us. 

Here's another interesting point about languages. My Mom was born in Eastern Europe and moved to Canada when she was five. My mom is fluent in Hungarian because, like many other children who grew up with immigrant parents, she was forced to speak it at home and to relatives. My mom doesn't speak Hungarian as much as she used to when she was a teenager or in her twenties. She only speaks it when she's talking to my grandparents or other European relatives. However, she tells me numerous of times that when she speaks to my grandmother, a lot of her thinking and speaking is like that of when she was in her twenties because that was the time when she spoke Hungarian the most. I don't completely understand this, but I thought it was an interesting topic to bring up about languages if we were to discuss them further.