English as a "Secondary" Language-Not the First!

Honestly, I must admit: when I started watching this video, I wasn’t interested at all on this topic. Partly because I had little trouble in utilizing both my mother language and English whenever I wished and partly because I thought the problem being discussed on the video wasn’t as significant as it had been illustrated. Well, sure; languages vanishing worldwide are a sad thing to see, but so what? What if English really becomes the dominant language around the world along with only the languages that belong to the nations and ethnicities who TRULY VALUE their mother tongue and KNOWS HOW AND WHY TO RESPECT it? I mean, language was originally created to enable the communication between people who lived together, right? If people who were supposed to be utilizing the system of language their ancestors had invented do not practice or feel the need for the mother tongue any longer, and prefer to rather rely more on a more universal, practical language, then isn’t it perfectly natural for the tribal language to disappear? And even if it is not a natural phenomenon, do the people who own their own set of communication tools but chose not to preserve and value them even DESERVE such privileged gifts? Languages that are not being utilized, and furthermore disrespected or forgotten, SHOULD vanish away-No?
Well, in fact, as I watched the material little longer and thought more about the issue, I figured out the answer was, a kind of a “NO”. Not because language itself has the intrinsic value regarding its function of reflecting the cultural identity and ethnical spirits of its owners, therefore representing the pride of the users and bonding the people closely together-tightly as a group. And not even because the people do not have the responsibility of promoting the utilization of their own languages or they’re doing a good job at it. Rather, many of the owners of endangered languages are doing a miserable job on respecting their mother tongue and investing efforts to preserve it, although they clearly do possess the burden to sustain the legacy.
However, what I also realized was that the people who did a poor job on cherishing their language weren’t solely responsible for the catastrophic consequences they’ve encountered-the extinction of their linguistic systems; the responsibility, also laid on the English teachers and their nations, and even on the English-speaking population as a whole.
Simply think about it; without being able to speak English, a person is very likely to fall behind in the many of the intense competitions that he/she faces every day in the global society when compared to someone who is fluent at it. Along with the increase of usages of English, its importance and the value of its fluency rose concurrently. And for many of the people who now wish to participate and compete in the global market or at least become successful within the nation, especially for students and middle-aged office workers, studying and practicing English became a NECESSITY; not a choice or an option. Companies and schools require English test scores from TOEFL, TEPS, SAT, TOEIC to verify the applicant’s eligibility in English. Many of the nations include English in their school curriculums mandatorily. A substantial number of parents teach English to their children even before they get used to their mother language! The frenzy over the American language is outrageous, and it’s FORCING many of the people to be obsessed with English over many other important things. One of them is certainly the respect towards their ethnic language. The crazy pandemic is also a main cause for the phenomenon of putting the cart before the horse as well as individual negligence towards the native tongue.
Of course, as Mrs. Ryan admitted herself, English is a useful and influential language that is currently functioning as the universal tool for communication. Learning English is not only practical and beneficial for the individual, but it’s also better for the nation as a whole, as it increases the competitive power of the country. Mrs. Ryan mentions Einstein as an example of people who was brilliant and was recognized even without the assistance of English. However, the reason Einstein’s discoveries and achievements could be spread throughout the world is because it had been TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH. If it had not been understood by the majority of the people around the world, then who would have even realized the significance of his legacy? Somebody, WHO COULD USE ENGLISH FLUENTLY, was there for him to translate his papers and findings and others-so on and so forth.
However, the cart should never come before the horse. English is important, but never more than the first-hand language that rooted from the history of each nation’s. English should be respected as a “Secondary” language, but never as a devastative method that eradicates other cultural languages-“diversity”, as Mrs. Ryan puts it. And to make that happen, our change in attitudes and cognition toward the domination of the foreign language must occur as well as the increase in our individual responsibilities with our own.