Culture As A Result of Language

             Heine (2012) explains that humans have such developed cultural learning skills as a result of two key capacities. Humans have a theory of mind, meaning that they are able to consider the perspectives of others and that they have the ability to communicate through the use of language. Humans are able to learn and pass on culture so easily because of language. Language provides a very efficient way to learn culture, because of language we can express thoughts, we can clarify them and explain them.  Having a theory of mind and the ability to use language appear to be what separates humans from other primate species.

            Although I have never travelled abroad (I have only been to a few provinces in Canada and a few states in the USA) I still feel as though different situations that I have experienced are reflective of different cultures. Last spring break I participated in a Service Learning Immersion Experience to Ottawa, where I lived in a L’Arche Community for a week. While in Ottawa I lived in a French home with 5 core members who were all non-verbal.  Although this is not a huge difference for me as I am bilingual, the difficulty was in attempting to communicate in ways other than words. We did find other ways of communicating, for example through signs, tone and gestures, but I can see why it is so easy to pass culture down when you can use language. Some of the members did use sign language and were able to communicate amongst themselves.

            Having language provides an important way of learning cultural believes. My career goal is to become a teacher, and being from New Brunswick, the only bilingual province, it only makes sense that I may potentially teach a French class. By teaching French, as it is my second language I would most likely only pass on the rules that create the language and be leaving behind the cultural aspects of the language. Although it is mandatory for students in the New Brunswick school system to learn some level of French they may not be exposed to the culture of the language simply due to a lack of teachers who are French.