Language and Age

From the very beginning when the first words were uttered, the ability to communicate has played an important role in our world. Words can hurt, heal, create, build and transform. Language is obviously a vital tool that unites people. Every nation has their dialect and specific slang that made them unique. The variations depend also on the age categories. In American society people of each generation have been adding new meanings and new words into the conversations in order to reflect the experiences, beliefs and values of speakers. The language people use when talk informally to friends of the same age can be totally different from the one is used in the family, work and school. Language is one of the most powerful emblems of social behavior. In the book “Language, Society and Power” Jean Stilwell Peccei discusses very interesting topic. He conveys to readers that age is a factor of language variations. Communication creates prosperity and growth between people. Slang helps to stay unique, follow traditions and meanings of specific ideals. It is a casual dialect which does not have age frame, it often used by young people and by grownups in any social group. Formal or proper English has steady assumed a global position as a powerful aspect that has an ability to change the world we live in and the society. The level of communication shows the person’s education, skills and potential. When person has a job interview, it is obvious he or she will speak proper English in order to show the level of education and professionalism. It is one of the vital elements which are always in the top of skills demanded everywhere. What occupation does not need it? At the same time each profession has vocabulary which is used and understood only by those people who work in that field. Of course the most important role plays age, because there is a difference between communication with children, young people and adults. Children or youngsters may not have the same level of vocabulary or expressions as adults, the same like adults don’t understand sometimes their children. Everyone has to choose age appropriate language which can be understand in the targeted age group. With each new generation born, they are growing up to understand the language using slang words. Today's teenagers are no different than their parents' generation in using slang in solidarity with their age-group. It is a part of our uniqueness and identity. For children especially slang is a part of growing and independence. Young people’s language is becoming more and more saturated by slang, where it has come to the point where it is unintelligible. They use slang as their main language in their “neighbor hoods”, and sometimes tend to forget how to communicate correctly with the rest of the society when needed. Teenagers of every generation have use slang to stand out, yet still be like others people of their age. Language is a living, changing thing. We are coming up with new words all the time, and new ways to use old words. Just now the abbreviations kids use in text messages are finding their way into dictionaries and serious magazine articles. Also many words computers have added to our language in the last 20 years or so. Young people use their own texting vocabulary, such as CD9 means code 9 parents are around, P911- parent emergency, PIR- parent in room and BRB- be right back. Old people speak they own confusing and grammatically incorrect dialect. It is also include many metaphors, similes, proverbs and idioms as “a red-letter day”, “to buy a hatchet”, “fine feathers make fine birds” and “ones bitten twice shy.” Words as fuddy-duddy, bashful, muckle, willy-nilly are more common for people of old generation who probably don’t familiar with meaning of lol, idk, aamof, c2 and 2mm. Another example is if we are watching old movies of 50s and 60s everyone can notice that people had completely different accent and used variety of word combinations totally different from nowadays. It can be easily explained. During that time, actors spoke in a transatlantic accent, a mix between British and American. They thought it sounded more sophisticated and elegant. People sounded more like they have a good education but no one can tell quite where one came from. It’s a clear example of how the way of communication can be beneficial to people. No two individuals use a language in exactly the same way. The vocabulary and phrases people use are linked to where they live, their age, education level, social status and sometimes to their membership in a particular group or community. Individuals of different age frames use different ways of speaking and variety of words because they want to make things more convenient, easy or sometimes to make them just a bit more personal. We talk to people in some forms every day calling parents, talking to co-workers, texting our friends. Each time we use different ways of communications. From my personal experience I use different types of communication in my life. English is my secondary language and it gives me an opportunity of increasing my vocabulary even more. Some of my friends speak Russian or Ukraine, depending on the situation and whom I talking to I can use both languages, different varieties of Russian, Ukrainian or mix slang. With my parents I speak different way as I speak with my grandparents and relatives. When I moved to America I leaned another way of communication, differentiations of language, meanings of words and slang. The way I talk to my American fried is a way different from the way I talk to my Russian-American friends and totally unlike from the language I use at work. Slang is a way in which each language reflects ideas, customs, and behavior of their society. Language propels everyday life and keeps people in touch with each other. Through many times humanity has been adopting different ways of increasing the ability to communicate - telegrams, post, telephone, e-mail, text messaging, skype and face time. The time is passing and language is changing for variety of reasons.