Language is not just one small part of human culture, it's actually one of the biggest part of human culture...
Literature, music, film, historic documents, speeches and other uses/applications of language are a big part of many cultures. But in my estimation, language, defined as a system of arbitrary signs, by itself is only a small part of such cultures.
If you could speak Rapa Nui or Spanish, I guarantee you that you would understand more about the diet of people living in Eastern Island more than if you only understood Chinese for example...
I speak, read and write English. Not only that, I speak, read and write English probably better than average. But that does not mean that I know a lot about the diet of, say, people living in Appalachia. An anthropologist who does not speak, read or write any English but who has reviewed, in his/her own language, all of the anthropological research done in Appalachia knows more about the diet of people living in that region than a layperson like me who has very little knowledge of the concepts of biological and cultural anthropology, let alone very little knowledge of the research and findings of those sub-disciplines.
???? Wow dude. I'm uhh, not sure people are learning a second or third language to learn or be able to tell about the "diet of the people of Easter Island"...
Well, that proves my point.
If people think that simply going to Office Depot or Staples and buying language-learning software is going to make them beacons of cultural diversity they are fooling themselves, in my humble opinion.
Believing that simply being able to speak, read and write a language gives one a deep appreciation and understanding of a culture is like believing that being able to make a burrito gives one a deep appreciation and understanding of Mexican culture.
How, and more importantly why, you relate the two is beyond my capabilities to try to imagine...
I said that when people emphasize learning the basics of foreign languages they are undermining true knowledge and appreciation of cultural diversity.
If people are learning the basics of a foreign language so that they can function in certain roles in business, government, non-profit non-governmental organizations, etc. that is one thing. But when people start acting like teaching/learning such basic language skills in foreign languages is fostering awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity they are, in my humble opinion, undermining the very thing that they claim to be championing.
Taking
anything out of its cultural context and then claiming to be fostering greater awareness and appreciation of cultural diversity is absurd.
People do not claim to be champions of cultural diversity by simply showing their child how to make a burrito. Language should not be treated any differently.
Someone may learn a second or third language for any reason they choose, and for you to put limits on why and what else they should do and know while doing so is utterly rediculous...
It is not me making a big deal about language. There are people other than me who act like being monolingual makes a person intrinsically inferior. Cultural diversity seems to often be the reason given for multi-lingual people being superior.
If anybody is "putting limits" on people it is those who seem to think that monolingual = inferior. There is a lot more to understanding and appreciating human diversity than being able to use multiple languages. Furthermore, a person can be monolingual and have a greater such understanding and appreciation than most people. Alas, some people have apparently convinced themselves and others that the only true way to be a champion of cultural diversity is to start by doing something like going to Office Depot or Staples and buying some language-learning software. And you are complaining about
me limiting people?!