Envisioning a Day When Language No Longer Divides

Envisioning a Day When Language No Longer Divides

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Language unites and separates the world at the same time. Have you ever been in a room where you are the only person who speaks a particular language? You feel like an outsider. It does not matter if the people around you have similar facial features, are of a similar height, or dress the same way. Because you don’t speak the same language, you feel like you are an outsider looking in. Everyone else has a code, a special way of communicating, that you just do not have. Regardless of all the things that you might have in common with the other people in that room, you still feel separate from them. This is how language can separate people.

Now, you are in that same room and a person who is dressed completely different than you, has completely different facial features than you, is a different height, and is from the other side of the globe and approaches you speaking the language that you understand. Instantly, there is a bond or a friendship between you and that individual. The simple fact that you are now able to communicate and someone understands you and that someone else is able to communicate and you understand them links people together.

A lot of work is being done to remove the barriers and build upon the sense of solidarity that is created by language. There are many companies that are working on their own form of the universal translator. This would be a device where a person could walk into a room and speak any language and be understood by all. It would not matter if they were talking about something common like cooking food or something complex like turnstile parts. Regardless of the theme of the conversation, everyone would be able to understand each other.

This type of universal translator device is some years in the future. However, companies are taking great strides in this direction. One can only imagine what the world will be like when language as a barrier is gone and people around the world are able to communicate with each other.