Cole Lewis

University of Kentucky
9/26/14
Cultural Coffee Hour Essay

I attended the cultural coffee today, 9/26/14. It was an interesting, eye

opening experience. I had thought briefly of, but never discussed, the language
divide in detail. So often we assume that one language parallels to another just with
different words. This is not the case.
Languages vary on a greater scale than rojo to red. Certain languages can
do things our native English cannot. Just as English does things other languages
cannot. What makes language so interesting isnt their definition; its their
ambiguity. Its their ability to mean different things in different contexts.
This is what makes a language so hard to master. One can learn the literal
definition for every word in the Webster dictionary and still be confused on seventyfive percent of a conversation between two Americans. We take for granted our
learned ability to read into situations and draw meaning from others words.
When we understand our language, and any other language for that matter, is
more complicated than a few carefully orchestrated grunts or symbols we begin to
realize the divide it presents itself as. There was a young man at the coffee hour that
said cats dont say meow in his homeland, they say me-ev. Anther could not wrap
his head around the classic American idiom, You know the drill.
I talked with my friend about this and what he thought it meant. He said that
it represented a cultural divide. He said that it was probably a strong indication of
the early and therefor present cultures of those who spoke it. Whether or not
language was created by culture or culture was created by language we will never
know. If I had to make a guess though, I would say it is a little bit of both.
To think of how different countries would be if they spoke a different
language is something I ponder routinely. I am a firm believer in the butterfly affect:
the idea that small changes create vast differences in future occurrences. This
ideology only comes from those whom have a true understanding of the
connectedness of the world around.
We do not often think that someones actions in other places of the world
could directly impact our own, but they do. People have a tendency to build walls to
shield them off from the rest of the world. It makes us feel strong, and therefore safe
to think that we have all the power over our own life. This is an ignorant, closeminded fallacy- a fallacy that constitutes anti-diversity groups, and political
extremists around the world.
This is our current dilemma. At first I was apprehensive of experiencing
something like the coffee hour. I am occasionally shy and was not too excited about
being confronted with various people from with whom I did not share the cultural
norms to bond with. We must fight to understand the gaps language has placed on
us. We must bridge the barriers and understand there will be misunderstandings.
And we must never use our misunderstanding to justify cruelties.

References:
The University of Kentuckys Cultural Coffee Hour