languages in Europe and how to overcome

[Joelle Lyons Everett]

Erich, John, Artur--

All over the world, people are struggling with language--because of history.
Once upon a time, most people lived out their life in one place, not
travelling far from their place of birth.  Or, they moved with their tribe, still
inside the same culture and language.  This fact of isolation created great
diversity of languages and cultures. When people began to move and travel more, they
were influenced by each others' languages--more diversity in the original
language, and some possibility for communicating across languages.

Through the whole colonial era, there was a strong movement to impose a few
cultures and languages across wide areas of the world, and destroy the remnants
of the earlier cultures and languages.  I think a horrible thing, but
certainly a fact of history, and an attitude that still affects us all.  This is the
extreme case of Artur's point about unequal relations.

Today, we can travel almost anywhere in the world if we have the time and
money, maybe without learning much about other cultures.  I agree with Artur that
Europeans have an advantage because they have learned 2, 3 or more languages
at an early age.  My lack of other languages certainly limits my ability to
share deep conversations with other people.

I am encouraged by seeing small steps toward valuing all the languages people
speak.  Of my four children, two speak a second language fluently and know
something about another culture--one has lived two years in France, the other
lived and worked in Japan for five years.

I support all the efforts we make on this list, and on the OS websites, to
encourage people to write in their own languages.  I value and appreciate those
who are bilingual (or more) and willing to translate.  We can examine the
assumptions of the meetings we have responsibility for, to see whether we are
allowing people to participate on an equal basis, insofar as possible.  We all
need the insights and points of view that come from diverse cultures.  We can't
change the past history of the world, but we can make some small steps to make
future history a little different.

My two cents' worth,

Joelle

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