1. Topic: Language Introduction
Aim: How is language an essential element of culture?
Do Now: List 5 words that you know in a different language in your notebook, along with how you know each of these words (who taught you?)
The Seris (Sonora MX) have more than 50 terms for kinship relationships, such as between these two cousins, many specific to the gender and birth order of the relative. A woman uses a different word for father than a man does.

2. Discussion: How many of you…
Speak another language fluently?
Understand but don’t speak another language?
Can write fluently in another language?
Actually think in a different language at times?
Why would someone want to speak another language?

3. What is Language?
A mutually agreed upon system of symbolic communication
Has a spoken expression
Usually has a written expression

4. Geographers’ Perspective on Language
“Language is the essence of culture, and culture is the epoxy of society.” - Harm deBlij
Possibly the most important medium by which culture is transmitted
Languages structure the perceptions of their speakers
Attitudes, understandings, and responses are partly determined by the words available.
“How Language Influences Emotion”
Languages are a hallmark of cultural diversity with distinctive regional distributions 4

5. Going by native speakers (people who speak it as a first language), what are the top 10 spoken languages (by number of speakers) in the world today? (If you know why, even better!)

6. World’s Top 10 Languages (via Ethnologue)
Mandarin Chinese 848 Million
Spanish Million
English Million
Hindi Million
Arabic Million
Portuguese Million
Bengali Million
Russian Million
Japanese Million
Lahnda Million

7. Cool infographic!

8. World Languages 7000+ languages spoken today, not including dialects
in Sub-Saharan Africa alone
400+ in New Guinea alone
100+ in Europe
However, this diversity is diminishing:
2000+ threatened or endangered languages
As many as 1/2 8

10. Language distribution indicates:
History and conquest
Isolation or integration of cultures
Migration of peoples
Economic domination of certain cultures
Influence of wealth and technology
Political divisions (country boundaries)
Physical geography barriers (mountains, deserts, etc.)

11. How Language Influences Culture
Character and sounds of a culture
Visual landscapes of signs
script, letters, ideograms

12. How Language Indicates Cultural Values
class structure
gender differences in vocabulary
environmentally specific vocabulary
formal and informal relationships
technology of a culture