CGIE Blog

Recently there was a tragic accident of a bus crashing in Phoenix Arizona the headline read: Paramedics hail 4th-grader’s heroism in deadly bus crash.    BY Meredith Kolodner DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Monday, March 8th 2010, 4:00 AM Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03

Oscar Rodriguez, 11, lay on an ambulance stretcher with three broken ribs, and translated between English-speaking rescue workers and Spanish-speaking bus riders after a predawn crash Friday killed six people and injured more than a dozen others in Arizona.

A friend who has survived the recent Chilean earthquake writes about some unfortunate facts about lack of communication and miscommunication to understand the coming of the tsunami and protection of the victims of this disaster. He writes:

Here are some unfortunate facts; an officer from the US Geological Survey called the Chilean Navy on the telephone to warn Chile of the threat and the possibility of a massive tsunami, immediately after the quake hit. The Chilean navy officer who received the call did not speak English and the US officer did not speak Spanish; consequently the message did not go through and it was not understood in time.

So NO warning was issued, and you know the rest of this story! Do we need a universal language?

What is becoming more and more apparent  is that the global village is physically jam packed but humanity who lives in it is not fully equipped to make this one organic entity operate as one. The oneness of all humanity is a spiritual principle and for that we need to go beyond physical proximity. Amongst missing tools to materialize the spiritual reality of oneness, is our inability to communicate with each other. Language is a unique gift given to human beings and a most essential ingredient for forwarding human civilization, for sharing information and also connection.

Language is not just knowledge of words but becoming acquainted with the spirit of a culture and being prepared to build bridges of understanding, love, harmony, peace and unity. Integrated education cannot be fully appreciated and effective while the residents of our small village earth are separated and disconnected in heart and soul but in and out of each others backyard. Never mind the missed opportunities of reaching out to one another and grieving over each other. Those who take the chance and time and want to reach out, cannot fully be useful if there are language barriers.

Integrated education encourages the parents and educators to make the need for an auxiliary universal language other than one’s mother tongue an essential and integrated part of the children’s education all over the world.

The global village sooner or later must address the need and means of choosing the auxiliary universal language we all need so desperately to function universally and effectively. Wikipedia gives us an indication that in some sense English seems to be operating for the most part as an informal universal, global language thus far.

As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of the United States since the mid 20th century, it has become the lingua franca in many parts of the world, and the most prominent language in international business and science. It is used extensively as a second language and as an official language in the European Union and many Commonwealth countries, as well as many international organizations.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/English+Language#ixzz0hh2FGrTa

We might want to take yet another lesson from a country which is called by a great teacher in early 1900s as the “country of the future”. A Chinese entrepreneur by the name of Li Yang gathers crowds of thousands of Chinese to yell out English phrases to facilitate their learning of English. He advocates every Chinese to take every opportunity to approach an English speaker for a conversation.

While visiting China, I myself was witness to many young Chinese approaching me and speaking English in which ever way they could manage. If for nothing else, this one realization of the importance of learning a universal language can make China the country of the future!

We all need an integrated global education for our global village that is farsighted and about the future of all humanity.

Keyvan