Here is a short essay I wrote in college on Hispanic life which shares some of my thoughts.

The Mexican Americans of this country have a history that reveals some of their struggles throughout the 19th and early 20th century. There have been past speculations about the Hispanic culture, that have lead to a misunderstanding on how they have effected the Southwest region of the United States. California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas have all been influenced by Mexican American labor.

We live in a world of opposites, for the most part separated into positive/negative.

man/woman
light/dark
love/hate
on/off
truth/lie

We are bound to these notions by language and society, but does that mean that other possibilities don't exist? Do we exist in a world of magnets, polarized to attract difference and repel equality? If we let our language and societal behavior decide, the 'simple' answer is yes.
However, when we venture out to other linguistic worlds, we find there are new connotations and denotations and words for concepts we cannot name.

Does language beget thought or does thought beget language?

I believe that learning other languages is necessary, not only to get the opportunity to interact with other cultures, but to gain further insight into the world and our part in it.

What are your thoughts?

Land Of Limited Impossibilities
By Heide AW Kaminski © 2006

I am a native German about to embark on the journey of becoming a naturalized US citizen. I have lived in this country for 22 years. I am raising three children, two of them are almost adults, and all three of them certainly are typical American kids.