Does It Catch On?

The media has recently centered around the deaths of the 17 victims killed by a group of Islamic extremists targeting members of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly satirical French magazine. These French cartoonists created satirical images of Muhammad that had unfortunately provoked the violence of these extremists. Following this crisis, the term "Je suis Charlie" has arisen as a slogan meant to be a sentiment for the losses of these victims. The popularity and spread of these phrases have spread across the world and have even been written in their own languages. In English, it would translate to "I am Charlie". Yet, the quick spread of this slogan highlights that it could just be another trend, one in which many do not fully understand the extent of what they are saying.

One of the main topics brought up from this crisis has been the concept of freedom of speech. In saying "Je suis Charlie", one can also be supporting the basic rights to speak freely. The members of Charlie Hebdo had drawn images that were highly offensive against the Islam religion and it upset many Muslims. Despite such displease, these cartoonists were undeniably considerably respected individuals for speaking their mind, not caring about who disagreed.

The other aspect of their drawings was that it actually greatly mocked the Islamic religion by devaluing the image of their religious founder. I understand that they wanted to freely express themselves and those that didn't like it should have simply stayed silent, but there is a fine line between being expressive and indirectly insulting a religion.

Although it is important to be open about your thoughts, there must be a certain amount of moderation with your statements and the audience must be greatly considered. In this case, certain individuals reacted too greatly. The term " Je suis Charlie" supports the acts of Charlie Hebdo and is a great concept to be thinking about. Many will say, but only those that understand what it means may be able to understand the message that it holds.

How Many Languages?

 America has a great diversity of languages, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures. Of course, almost everyone speaks English here. There are also many that grow up speaking their native language along with speaking English. Students these days get to learn another language in school, allowing many to perhaps be able to speak two or three languages. Yet, learning a completely new language is no easy task. There definitely is a sense of accomplishment from being able to speak many languages  and it can be quite useful as well. Amazing as it is to know two, three, or perhaps four languages, it is incredible to know that there are people in this world that know ten or even twenty languages. 

In Africa alone, there are at least hundreds of different, unique languages and it makes me wonder how many there are total in the world. The fact that there are people that are willing to take on the task of learning so many languages is tremendously admirable. After reading the article, Adventures of a Teenage Polyglot, I was surprised to learn about Timothy Doner, a teenager, that at the age of 16 could speak more than 20 languages. It all began when he wanted to learn modern Hebrew for his bar mitzvah and from there, he took an interest in learning Arabic. Then he dived into Russian, Italian, Persian, Swahili, Indonesian, Hindi, Ojibwe, Pashto, and Turkish, just to name a few. He taught himself mostly from grammar books and flash card apps on his phone. He later more formally learned French, Latin, and Mandarin in his sophomore year of high school. 

It is a momentous feat for someone Timothy Doner's age to be able to speak so many different languages. This accomplishment not only requires hard work but also a gifted mind that can retain all of the languages learned. The practicality of knowing so many languages it quite useful. The more languages a person knows, the more diverse communication can be for them. It is also helpful for many jobs too. Although most people don't know the 20 or so languages that Timothy Doner does, learning more languages can be beneficial for yourself in many aspects.