Shannon Kennedy’s blog, Eurolinguiste, is one of those diamonds that you find by accident, but are glad you did. After I stumbled upon her blog, I followed and added it to my side bar of blogs I recommend you follow. When I asked Shannon to write a guest post, she mentioned that her expertise was in sociolinguistics. That sounded so interesting to me that I asked her to write about that. Though the concept may sound very academic, it is a very practical concept that all of us language learners should apply. So with out further ado, take it away Shannon:When learning a new language, it is often only the language itself that is looked at and studied rather than the context in which the language belongs. Ultimately, if you are learning the language to use it, then the appropriate place(s) and culture(s) of the language should be taken into consideration in addition to the language itself. So much of actual communication is beyond knowing just words and grammar, and without considering communication in its entirety, you’ll never really be “fluent” in another language. Each language is used within different contexts, by different people and for different reasons and when learning a language, it is important to consider those factors to effectively communicate with others, which is presumably the ultimate goal. What reason is there to learn another language if you do not have the intention to use it?
In essence, the study of language and its relationship Continue reading
