|![20220616_212910_0000.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmfAA5jFWyJ8iF6D4NztAxtPZNN6hLHAp3wvxNB71ewTkn/20220616_212910_0000.png)image credits: Canva| |-| ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) Greetings to all Readers, I welcome you all to my 2nd Steemit Engagement Challenge for this week. Today's topic would be quite the perculiar one as we would be looking at language and how it matters in the society, how it brings us together and what it is all about. There are a lot of things to talk about here so I would be brief and avoid revolving around the same thing for too long. ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) WHAT IS LANGUAGE AND HOW DOES IT CONNECT AN INDIVIDUAL TO SOCIETY ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) Language is simply a form of speech used by a particular group of people. It is a means of speech that enables one to communicate with someone else as long as they share similar language. There are so many types of languages in the world today and let's not leave English language out of it. There are so many languages spoken in the world today in Nigeria there are over 500 languages and over a thousand in Indonesia so imagine how many are around the world in total. The language of a particular group of people brings them together by making them have something in common and making them understand each other. If I go to America and I meet a complete stranger who speaks my language, I would want to know them and we would instantly have things to talk about and something in common. ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) MY MOTHER'S TONGUE AND LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN MY HOME ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) When one hears the word "Mother's tongue" the first thing that should come to mind is the language you were born into from birth. If you parents are Spanish and you are born, your mother's tongue is automatically Spanish. As for me, my native language/ mother's tongue is Igbo language. A very popular language in Nigeria and very common among the Christians. Well in my home, asides my mother's tongue, we speak Hausa and English languages although we the children only hear Hausa but do not speak but my parents are really fluent so we hope to sharpen our speaking skills. I currently know 2 languages and I learnt more than one by interacting with people and trying to understand them in their native language. By asking questions when you didn't understand something they spoke and so on. By constant interaction with people and trying to understand them, you can learn their language. The language I studied in school is English and strictly English as my school ban the speaking of other languages because not everyone understands them plus some people insulted others in languages they didn't understand. I prefer each and every one to be thought their native language atleast because in Nigeria now, some people feel that language is old school and that English is the only thing that matters so I want each and everyone to be taught there native language so they would not forget their roots and their cultural heritage won't die off. ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) IMPORTANT ROLE PLAYED BY LANGUAGE AND HOW CULTURE RELATES TO LANGUAGE ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) It gives us a sense of oneness as we are united by a means of speech. It gives one a sense of relief that there are people around who understand their native language there is this feeling of brotherhood. It tells people who we are and tells them about of tradition and culture. If you hear someone speaking Hausa, you would know how Hausa people are, how they relate, what they tolerate and so on. More than one Language is really helpful because some people are not familiar with English and so they speak mainly their native language and inorder to communicate with them, one would need to speak to them native language to native language. Culture and language go hand in hand as one's culture can be traced by the language they speak. If one speaks Hausa, you can already picture his beliefs and cultural heritage. If one speaks Igbo, you would know how the Igbos are and their culture and traditions. I wouldn't writing this post in any other language except English because I want something that anyone on here can read without having to use translation plus my language has two versions which is the written Igbo and the spoken Igbo which are a bit different. If. I end up making a post on Steemit using spoken Igbo and one uses Google translate to change it, it would appear with so many errors. ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) LANGUAGE PROMOTION AND SUCCESS SO FAR ![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYZ7YwvJ7FAMuHgBBCHFhHv7y8F5kpuf9Pcn8dts5m53b/image.png) In order to effectively promote my language, I would need to do it in other places aside my country as it's already the top 3 most popularly spoken language in Nigeria so my target would be people outside Nigeria. I would start by speaking the language on all social media platforms especially on places like Whatsapp, discord, twitter and Facebook. When people see this, they would be interested in knowing the translation to the words I used so they would look it up and see the language. From there they would be getting to know more and more words from my language until they handful of knowledge on how to speak. I have not promoted it yet so I don't have any success story or progress so far but I hope to start soon. Thanks for reading _{*I invite @chiabertrand @ronindboss and @anzaksen to participate in this contest*}