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Multilinguism: from realizing benefits to using them

It is believed that the language we use influences our thinking in a special way because every language is unique... At the same time it must be noted that each human is likely to be using individual vocabulary and grammar structures, which are his/her individual linguistic signature.

This is a sign that we learn language/s as a result of different experiences we are going through in life (experience-based understanding shapes linguistic skills - words and grammar are labels) and a hint to the fact that we can be improving own understanding of the creation and operative capacities as a result of developing our linguistic skills (language components are elements of operative system/software, changing which can improve our productivity).

Transcript of an inteview on the subject with an American scientist (weekly BBC "Science in Action" program of October 15, 2010)

Currently linguistics operates based on the postulate that words are just tags that communicate meanings attached to them by agreement based on some relatively stable empirical associations, widely spread among its native users. Intuitive/empirical claims have been made in history of humankind that there is more to the nature of words. The research of Gainullah F. Shaikhiev on the sounds of speech disclosed the fact that they are likely to have meaning and thus every word is a specifically developed tag depicting certain qualities of the object/phenomenon as perceived by the being belonging to a specific cultural group.

The concept of the individual sounds of speech having certain elemental meaning opens up a wide range of applicable possibilities. Sounds are reflecting basic blocks of knowledge, present in the subconscious of the speakers - genes of the language. Their combinations (words) serve as anchors for more specific meanings defined in the process of human development, whilst grammar structures reflect reasoning patterns.

The discovery of Mr. Shaikhiev opens up the doors into a totally new, unexplored world where the language:
a) we use is a map to our sub/conscious experience/s,
b) we hear is affecting our sub/conscious thus shaping our further experiences.

Mr. Shaikhiev mapped the sounds of speech of various languages and did some analytical work with them, which confirmed his preliminary hypothesis and allowed him to map the road ahead. Why would scientifically-minded community might be interested in continuing research in this area?

Being familiar with language genetics would allow humans to engage more powerful associative memory/thinking to:
a) establishing new neuron links in our brains, thus improving our memory strength, speed of recalling information and operation with it, as well as preventing brain aging,
b) to identify human character, predict possible behaviors and track development progress - based on the sounds and their compositions, as well as grammar structures most often used in our speech,
c) develop further cognitive technologies.

Progress in this direction can be achieved by systemic measures on a group or individual level - through daily use of a wider variety of languages (different sounds and grammar structure) and attention to individual sounds in the words and their combinations.

Knowledge base in this regard can further be advanced by:
a) developing an all encompassing set of sample sounds with their individual meanings and formalizing their combination rules,
b) engaging speech recognition software and powerful computing equipment to automate recognition and analysis of the speech sound patterns.

The project is at the idea stage and needs further development. Any comments and proposals are welcome. Tatarstan can serve as a good platform for further research, as significant part of its population speaks both state languages (Tatar and Russian), and in light of the forward-looking statement by the First President of the Republic - its education system must be preparing the youth to mastering three languages: "Tatar, Russian and English". The latter is in part supported by Kazan English FM-Radio project.

Project idea by Farkhad Fatkullin

Email: frhdkazan@gmail.com mobile/Kazan: +79274158066 Facebook Вконтакте вОдноклассниках Мой Мир Мой Круг Skype, ICQ, Yahoo!Messenger, GoogleTalk: frhdkazan

©2009 Farkhad Fatkullin - consecutive and simultaneous interpretation.