A small world, after all, benefits us all

Starbucks in remote corners of Mexico and boba drinks in
Westwood, Nelly playing in a McDonald’s in Paris and hookah
bars in Los Angeles. We are knee deep in global interaction and the
level is constantly rising.

We found a way to circumnavigate the Earth, to predict its
weather patterns, to take pictures of it from space and now we are
shrinking it. There has been a growing sentiment of suspicion in
regard to globalization, but personally, I couldn’t be
happier about it.

We live in a society where the ability to communicate
effectively across borders is viewed as a plus, where average
citizens are regularly exposed to events and ideas from thousands
of miles away, but some are attacking that very concept.

New York Times columnist David Brooks declared in August that
the mixing of economies is causing world cultures to segregate in
fear of losing their identities.

Many express worse fears including the loss of individual
cultures due to economic domination and a homogenous, uniform
planet on par with comatose sloths in terms of lack of
character.

But as I look around, that is not how I see globalization
affecting the individual. Twenty years ago in the United States, a
kid named Jason Robinson would not be learning Mandarin in
preparation for the future ““ but he is now.

A third-year communication studies student, Robinson views
learning Mandarin as a necessity. He is not only attracted by the
challenge and the novelty of the language and culture, but is also
very aware of its necessity in the job market.

“The world is flattening,” he said. “Learning
Mandarin will give me that competitive edge when I go into
international business.”

Nikhil Vijaykar, a third-year microbiology, immunology and
molecular genetics student and Ashwin Nirmalkumar, a second-year
business economics student, both of Indian backgrounds, are also
enrolled in Chinese 1 this quarter.

Vijaykar spoke of growing up surrounded by Chinese culture:
“Around 60 percent of my high school was Asian; my best
friends growing up were Asian and that got me interested in the
language.”

Chris Pickering, a second-year political science student started
Arabic classes last year in preparation for going into the Army.
“It would be a useful skill that could save my or somebody
else’s life,” he said.

This is about as far from the disappearance of culture as we can
get.

According to Professor Michael Fishbein of the UCLA Department
of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, there were two sections of
beginning Arabic four years ago; now there are three sections and
many students have had to be turned away.

By looking at the roster of his Arabic 1 classes and speaking
with his students, he determined that only a third of them are
Arabic or have Muslim heritage.

When asked why this might be so, he explained that it is most
likely not business related: “The main export of the Middle
East is oil and the oil industry operates in English.”

Arabic is more useful in a cultural or political setting, he
said. He spoke of the language as having the possibility to bridge
gaps between cultures and humanize an adversary.

Looking into this more extensively, Professor Michelle Fu, who
teaches Chinese 1, compiled a research report on the composition of
her classes last year. She discovered 357 motivational factors
prompting enrollment in her class. Last year 144 of her 243
students were of Chinese heritage, still leaving 99 students who
were learning the language without any direct connection to it.

“Last year was the big jump,” she said, speaking of
the increase in the sections from eight students to 13.

Recently racing through our country (and others), this notion of
globalization can seem like a domineering movement, but harnessed
in the correct manner it has the power to turn you into a polyglot.
You’re probably already on your way to assuming this identity
by being bilingual, making runs to BobaLoca, putting culture
classes under your belt or even consuming Nutella (which by the way
is Italian, not American).

The fear of a homogenous planet comes from the assumption of one
power dominating all others, but this point of view has an
expiration date. The scene is set to move away from the extreme
nationalism of the early 1800s, as language proliferates across the
globe on par with economic globalization. In fact, countries were
pushing their languages more extensively before globalization in a
postmodern world, an example of that being Francophone Africa.

Reversely, now that we are learning to dabble in each
other’s economies, we are also learning each other’s
languages.

From bilingual to businessman to peacemaker, the links
aren’t as irrelevant as they are made out to be.

Send worldly thoughts to [email protected].