What is language?

To really understand the concept of language, we first have to rid ourselves of the idea that every language is just a list of words we have to memorize; that as soon as we can recite most of its words by rote, we’ll be fluent. This is more than just untrue; it’s keeping your language skills back.

The Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras believed that mathematics was the language of the Gods. In fact, the opposite is true; language is what creates math as we use it. Don’t believe me? Consider this, as you’re reading the words on this page, letters, symbols that stand for sounds are being interpreted cognitively and subconsciously, forming your understanding of this sentence. Wouldn’t you agree that the sum total of all of these little symbols we call letters is greater than them all individually?

Just like any sentence has its own meaning, the written equation 4 + 4 = 8 has the exact same meaning as “a four plus a four is equal to an eight,” or in Spanish, “cuatro mas cuatro es ocho.” The concept of what we call “Four” is the same in any language.

Did you have trouble learning long division as a kid? Don’t worry about it! The universe doesn’t operate by long division. If a rock breaks apart, do you have 0.625 of a rock left over? Nope! You get two rocks and that’s that! Math operates like English in much the same way that a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square.

What this means for language, is that just about every concept we have for understanding the world and our own place in it, is based in our language. The Nü Shu language, for example, is only understood by women, and only in Jiangyong County in southern China. Do you think they might have just a slightly different perspective on their lives than you have in yours?

For today’s lesson, all you need to remember is that a language isn’t just a set of grammar rules and vocabulary, it’s the self-expression of its own culture, and so are you. This is why learning a new language can open your perception to ideas you might never have thought of before.