My relationship with language is deeply rooted in my culture but who I am. For me, language is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties. Language can be called a system of signs which helps us to identify ourselves and others (A.L. Kroeber (1923),); therefore it is a cultural value. Different ideas stem from differing language use within one’s culture and the whole intertwining of these relationships started for me at birth. I use language as a mean to direct my social lives along with my culture ties. It helps me to express everything in my life facts, ideas, emotions, opinion, and attitude and even to create a new experience by choosing the right medium to communicate with.

With only the use of words, I can create virtual images to my readers and or listeners. If “the eyes are the window to your soul” then language is the window to our way of life. Language is a part of every single object in or around my life; it is the conduit that connects every rock, tree, animal, and person together. This is what makes language so powerful: it is the window from which we not only view the world but create our outlook on the world. The written or spoken word is indispensible to civilization.

The statement that “Language is Culture and Culture is Language” implies that there is a complex homologous relationship between language and culture. Franz Boas argued that one could not really understand another culture without having direct access to its language because of the intimate connection between culture and language. Language is so complexly intertwined with culture that language and culture must have evolved together, influencing one another in the process and ultimately shaping what it means to be human. According to A.L. Kroeber (1923), “Culture, then, began when speech was present; and from then on, the enrichment of either means the further development of the other.”For me the whole point of or reason for linguists study language stems from the realization that language reflects patterns of thought. Therefore, to study language from this perspective is to study patterns of conceptualization. Language offers a window into cognitive function, providing insights into the nature, structure and organization of thoughts and ideas. Language is assumed to reflect certain fundamental properties and design features of the human mind.

We take language for granted, yet we rely upon it throughout our lives in order to perform a range of functions. Imagine how you would accomplish all the things you many do, even in a single day, without language: buying an item in a shop, providing or requesting information, passing the time of day, expressing an opinion, declaring undying love, agreeing or disagreeing, signaling displeasure or happiness, arguing, someone, and so on. Imagine how other forms of behavior would be accomplished in the absence of language: rituals like marriage, business meetings, using the Internet, the telephone, and so forth.

I often wonder what it means to know a language. Does the way we approach the question and the answer we come up with will reveal a lot about the approach, perspective and assumptions of language within our culture?

There's a powerful connection between language and self; this relationship is prevalent not only within my life but among all of us. Language is the definition of what it means to be human – the mind and the experience.