This is my first official blog post. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, it is much appreciated. First I will tell you a little bit about myself and then start my first post on this topic of language and globalization.

I am Erika Hill. I have lived in 6 states, Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, and Hawaii. I grew up in Minnesota with a lot of diversity around me, which helped spark my interest and love for people and culture. I loved getting to know people from all over the world and talking about their languages. I started studying Spanish in 8th grade and continued on studying it all throughout high school and in college. Last summer, I was able to go to Peru for 5 weeks for a humanitarian aid trip and apply my language skills. I am still learning and many times it can be difficult. Living in multiple places, learning Spanish, being here at BYU-Hawaii in a highly diversified atmosphere, and my love for others has aided me in studying culture. I am just a student and I know that I am learning and have much to learn.

What is globalization? According to dictionary.com Globalization is "1.the act of globalizing, or extending to other or all parts of the world: the globalization of manufacturing. 2. worldwide integration and development: Globalization has resulted in the loss of some individual cultural identities." (link) One can see that our world today is very much globalized and people are interacting with others all over the place and on many levels. In my class, Anthropology of Globalization, I have learned that globalization has many different meanings and happens on all sorts of levels. We have been reading the book Globalization and Culture: Global Melange by Jan Nederveen Pieterse and in his book he discusses the different arguments of globalization. His first two chapters discuss these ideas and I have learned throughout these chapters and class that globalization has been going on from the beginning of mankind and we, as humans, have been migrating for years. It has been happening for a very long time, maybe it is just seen on multiple levels.

So what does this have to do with language? Well it has a lot to do with language. Language and culture are very much intertwined. Language is a part of one's culture and culture is a part of us. Since we have been interacting with people for so long and continue to do so on a faster level today our languages are interacting as well. There are national languages, local languages, and dialects. I think that in a globalizing (globalized) world it is important to know more that one language. Yes people can get a long with knowing one, but knowing more than one helps people be more proficient, have more opportunities, and interact with others on a unique level. Knowing Spanish is very useful to me because I can interact with many people from other cultures on an easier level and have more opportunities.

In this blog I will be posting videos and interviews of people from different areas of the world who speak two or more languages. Please feel free to comment and bring your ideas and personal stories about language and globalization.

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