{"id":3042,"date":"2015-03-02T09:05:18","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T09:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=3042"},"modified":"2015-03-02T10:04:54","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T10:04:54","slug":"what-makes-a-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/what-makes-a-language\/","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Language?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"speak-238488_1280\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated \u2013 okay, let\u2019s not get our wires crossed here. This is not a pining revisit to Valentine\u2019s Day and about falling in love. What we are talking about is communication<\/i> and the fact that we all do it, we all use language to communicate - even animals<\/a>.\u00a0But before we get ahead of ourselves and start pondering the complexities of how the rest of the animal kingdom stays in contact, let\u2019s define what we mean by \u2018language\u2019.<\/p>\n

According to Oxford Dictionaries<\/a>, language is \u201cthe method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The Ethnologue<\/a> lists 7,102 known living languages and these range from the well known English, Spanish and Chinese to the obscurities such as Rotokas, Khoisan and Taa. Surprisingly, English<\/a> doesn\u2019t even top the latest list of most commonly spoken languages<\/a> in the world, despite the fact that so much of our literature and our internet resources are written in it.<\/p>\n

So what actually constitutes a language?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Scholars may debate the actual criteria but the most defining factor must be that a language is the most typical method of communication. Whether this communication is within the confines of an officially recognised language or not, the important thing is that one person can \u2018speak\u2019 to another and be understood. Does it have to be something traditional like English or Latin? The quick answer is no. There is a whole other world of unusual languages out there.<\/p>\n

Language learners unite!<\/b><\/h2>\n

What if we told you that there were a language you could probably learn in the next ten minutes that only has one simple rule, where letters are pronounced how everyday English is pronounced, and that there is no grammar to fall to pieces over?<\/p>\n

Too good to be true?<\/p>\n

Have a look at 'pig latin' \u2013\u00a0straightforward<\/a>, easy to get to grips with, and there are even translation services available online, as well as trusty YouTube videos.<\/p>\n