Do you feel the need to fit in?

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

At one point or another we have all felt the need to fit in. Whether it be in our childhood, teenage years or even more recently conforming is the easy thing to do. Going along with the crowd is easy, standing against the crowd can be impossibly difficult to do.

Each generation has changing attitudes, some for good and some for bad. Often generations clash over their attitudinal differences. Yet it is very possible that we may disagree with our peers but go along with them just to fit in. 

Back in the 1500s a young man called William Tyndale disagreed with the church leaders at that time. The established church would read the Bible and address their congregations. The Bibles that they read were written in Latin and although literacy levels were low, those that could read certainly could not read Latin. 

William Tyndale could read, in fact he was a clever linguist and understood Latin, Hebrew and Greek. He read the old Bible manuscripts and the more he read the more perturbed he became. He understood that the priests did not always teach what the Bible stated. He wanted the Bible translated into English so that those that were able to read, could read it and decide for themselves if what they were being taught was the truth. 

Language

Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash

Photo by Lavi Perchik on Unsplash

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

It is estimated that there are between 5,000 and 7,000 languages throughout the world. Each language has its own alphabet, the majority of them have 26 letters in their alphabet but there are some that differ for example, Hebrew has 22, Arabic has 28, Scandinavian languages have 29, Russian has 33 and so on. As children in primary school we were taught the alphabet of our native tongue but most children have the ability to speak their native language before they go to school.

At the United Nations the representatives for each nation sit at their desks in the debating chamber.  There is a room overlooking the chamber that houses the interpreters who can translate what is being said into the language of their representative country. This reveals to us the importance of having the correct understanding of any communication being made, accuracy is of prime importance. The two main languages spoken in the United Nations building are English and French. Most notices around the building are written in these two languages.