Rita Mae Brown – Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going
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Welcome to The Daily Quote—a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, for February 21st.
Now, let’s talk about today’s national holiday. It’s Language Day—a day dedicated to celebrating the power of words, the beauty of communication and linguistic diversity.
There are over 7000 languages spoken around the world, many of which may be extinct in a few decades. Language Day and International Mother Language Day helps to bring awareness to the preservation of languages that are fading into history.
Words connect us to our culture, and, shape our thoughts.
And that brings us to today’s quote from Rita Mae Brown, who once said:
"Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going."
Think about that for a second. Language isn’t just about communication—it’s about identity, history, and even the future. Every phrase, every dialect, every little regional slang carries the weight of generations. The way we speak isn’t just about words—it’s about where we come from and where we’re headed.
If you've ever been corrected on the "proper" way to say something, you know how language evolves over time. Shakespeare’s English is practically a foreign language today, and who knows—maybe in a few hundred years, people will be studying our text messages like ancient scrolls.
Maybe ALL our words will be replaced with emoji by then.
But in all seriousness, today is a reminder that languages are fragile. When a language disappears, a unique way of seeing the world disappears with it. So whether you speak one language, two, or ten, take a moment today to appreciate the richness of words, their power, and the stories they tell.
And if you are interested in learning a new language there is a free tool I've been using recently that uses the thinking method. Go to Language Transfer Dot Org and check it out. They have several languages to choose from and they focus on all the words that are the same in English so that that you start with 3000 words you already know. Which for me makes a big difference in giving you a little more confidence in the beginning to keep plugging along.
That’s it for today’s episode. I'll be back tomorrow, same pod time, same pod station for another Daily Quote.