Beerveza

Before watching six episodes of The Story of English, I was more conservative in the way I viewed language, especially in the context of my own Colombo-American school. I used to look down upon people using words in Spanish when speaking English, or vice-versa, to include English words in a Spanish dialogue. Most of all, I disliked Spanglish, which is just a great mush up of the two lan
guages, usually in the form of a verb in English with a Spanish infinitive, ex: blogear, dragear.

My father was even more anti-Spanglish than me. Even with brands and proper names, he would rather have me use the Spanish versions. Being prescriptivists, we both thought that the correct way of using the language was dictated by the academy.

Learning how the English language has evolved by the formalization of colloquialisms and the influences of other languages, I now think that there is no incorrect way of speaking. Public School English may sound more posh than redneck English, but they are both correct and perfectly acceptable.

I still understand the social importance of having a standard usage of language. A cousin of mine used a word in English when giving a televised interview in Barranquilla and he was ridiculed as a product on neo-colonization. Nevertheless, I have made my peace with Spanglish and I hold nothing against the people who use it. A good thing, if you study at Colegio Nueva Granada.

Feeding the Trolls

When watching The Story of English I can indulge in one of life’s small pleasures:  reading YouTube comments.

One can categorize YouTube commenter’s in:

Smart Alecks:

Presley96:“Swedish House Mafia will never die”, FifaJames: I’m sorry to disappoint you, we are all going to die.

Simple Simons:

Kind of.

Rdman: Show me the missing link, that day ill believe in evolution

Hill Billy:

Mrkent: Ain’t that jus nifty

Yo mama:

Yomama1:Yo mama

Sheldon’s:

Physics4evr:The duration of this video is of 43 min 23 sec, therefore watching as you say “4 hours straight of full reruns” is a mathematical impossibility since 4 cant be divided into 43.23 to give a full number.

There are academic, racist, pedantic, perverted, disoriented, etc. There are as many types as there are adjectives in the dictionary with which to describe them.

Look at what is to be seen in the comment section of the untrendy The Story Of English. Lets use a hash-tag in categorizing them!!

"This is all being wiped off the face of the land. Instead of hearing and experiencing unique culture you can party with the wealthy who have built their resorts and golf courses." #socialresentment

"My father grew up on a barrier island in Charleston, SC and was delighted when this series talked about Gullah. He'd heard it as a boy and was always fascinated by its grammar and cadence."
#overshare

"I can't understand Louisians'f for shit. They speak like they have a mouthful of marbles."#racist

"we should start reusing old words for means of unique expression" #givethisguyaNobel

"I'm in high school and I'm so glad my AP Lang teacher made me watch this! This is so thought-provoking and amazing."#brownosing

"I wish I could like your comment a million times. Sir, you are awesome" #needfriends

"why do they keep trilling their R's when reading ME? it's driving me crazy!" #Prozacplease

"Wow, that's...just ridiculous. I'm constantly stunned that sane people can swallow shit like that." #YeaAndYourePissedatLanguageDocumentary

"I wish the English hadn't dropped their Rs. The language sounds so much more passionate in its Rhotic form"#hopelessromantic

Also, there are the serious no-nonsense comments that actually add value to the video, but lets not pay attention to those.

In Scottish

A body ay th' key characteristics ay leid is 'at it’s constantly evolvin'. A human invention, leid adapts tae th' requirements ay th' fowk fa spick it.

An interestin' evolution has occurred in la gomera, a wee islain aff th' coest ay morocco. In thes canary islain plagued wi' geographical difficulties, spanish was fur some time transformed intae silbo gomero, a whistled version ay th' castilian leid. Silbo gomero was developed as an efficient way ay communication athwart th' moontains. wi' it much effort, a bodie usin' silbo can transmit a message athwart tois ur mair miles.

Originally, silbo consisted in whistlin' th' vowels ay th' natife african leid used in th' islain. Efter th' invasion ay th' spaniards, th' inhabitants ay la gomera simply adapted their silbo tae spanish.

Silbo gomero served tois main purposes in th' pest, tae communicate fowk ower distances an' tae encrypt secrets frae foreigners. Wi' th' widespreid arrival ay technology an' th' democratization ay spain, silbo is nae longer a necessity an' its use has declined tae th' point ay near-extinction. however, interest in silbo is bein' renewed as th' local authorities see it as a valuable cultural trait an' hae incentivized public schools ay la gomera tae make silbo a compulsory subject.

Personally, Ah hae hud contact wi' somethin' similar tae silbo in th' colombian montes de maria, whaur every cowboy has his ain scream 'at can be heard ben th' moontains. these powerful screams ur particular tae each individual an' hearin' them is quite somethin'. also, fowk frae ootwith th' region seem tae be mechanically incapable ay producin' sic' peculiar soonds. similar things ur said abit th' bushmen’s click leid an' abit silbo gomero. some fowk see potential economic ur scientific applications fur these types ay quirky dialects. Ah jist hink they ur stoat.

Whistling Canaries

One of the key characteristics of language is that it’s constantly evolving. A human invention, language adapts to the requirements of the people who speak it.

An interesting evolution has occurred in La Gomera, a small island off the coast of Morocco. In this Canary Island plagued with geographical difficulties, Spanish was for some time transformed into Silbo Gomero, a whistled version of the Castilian language. Silbo Gomero was developed as an efficient way of communication across the mountains. With out much effort, a person using Silbo can transmit a message across two or more miles.

Originally, Silbo consisted in whistling the vowels of the native African language used in the island. After the invasion of the Spaniards, the inhabitants of La Gomera simply adapted their Silbo to Spanish.

Silbo Gomero served

Landscape of La Gomera

two main purposes in the past, to communicate people over distances and to encrypt secrets from foreigners. With the widespread arrival of technology and the democratization of Spain, Silbo is no longer a necessity and its use has declined to the point of near-extinction. However, interest in Silbo is being renewed as the local authorities see it as a valuable cultural trait and have incentivized public schools of La Gomera to make Silbo a compulsory subject.

Personally, I have had contact with something similar to Silbo in the Colombian Montes de Maria, where every cowboy has his own scream that can be heard through the mountains. These powerful screams are particular to each individual and hearing them is quite something. Also, people from outside the region seem to be mechanically incapable of producing such peculiar sounds. Similar things are said about the Bushmen’s click language and about Silbo Gomero. Some people see potential economic or scientific applications for these types of quirky dialects. I just think they are cool.

Influence through Language

The Story Of English begins by making emphasis on the importance of the English language in the 21st century. Although it is not the most spoken language in the world, most international social, political, and economic affairs go on in English, making its importance extraordinary. And with the language comes culture. An educated Hindi girls stated that “we are still very much influenced by what the British left us with, it was always English represents class, weather it really is class or not, they left us with the impression that English represents class” (The Story of English), to which her friend adds: “the influence of the western culture, especially the British culture (comes) in the music, the dances, the books, the movies” (The Story of English). The popularity of English grows exponentially because as English becomes known by more, the usefulness of speaking English increases and more people are motivated to learn. Foreign English speakers are then brought closer to the western Anglo-American culture because the language has inextricable cultural ties and because they will be exposed to content in English, usually produced by native speakers. This is why language plays such an important role in acculturation. Language has become one of the major economical advantages for native and semi-native English speaking countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Pakistan because they have an educational advantage over the rest of the world and can play globalization to their advantage. J.K Rowling

might not have been so popular if her native language had been Tamil instead of English.

Native English speakers benefit from the global importance of their language, but so do foreigners. Universal tongues, which have been present throughout history accompanied by great empires, are an extremely useful tool that had an important effect on the development of humanity in freeing the flow of information. Now that information can be painlessly shared on the Internet, a lingua franca is more useful than ever.