Written by Dyami Millarson
Writing articles is not the end goal, but it is a means to an end. Article-writing must therefore have a clearly thought out motivation or purpose. For us, the bigger purpose is there because we have a charitable mission, and article-writing for our blog helps us pursue that charitable mission. Our studies of language and culture are boosted by blogging which is a method of online information-sharing. Blogging inspires us profoundly and it helps us learn new skills and new ideas every day.
But, whilst our grand purpose for ensuring the continuity of minority languages and cultures needs no further elaboration here, our specific purpose of blogging in minority languages does require some explanation. So, apart from the altruistic bigger picture, what is the immediate benefit of blogging for us? What do we gain by doing so, or at least, what do we intend to gain? These essential and practical questions will be answered in the following paragraphs.
Blogging increases our fluency in minority languages and enhances our understanding of minority languages. Our not-so-secret aim is to become among the best users of the minority languages that we are studying, and that is why having a blog on WordPress is highly practical for is to practise our language skills. We want to be fluent speakers, and we hope to rapidly increase the speed with which we command vocabulary and construct sentences.
After perfecting vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, fluency depends on speed. The fact we want to be fluent means that we want to be fast, and that is why we are blogging and value high productivity. We are highly critical of ourselves because we want to guarantee the high productivity that is required for achieving our fluency aim.
Adopting traditional moral values such as respecting and learning from the elderly is also highly practical for us, because it helps us achieve our aim much faster. We have a moral message for the world, because we believe that being moral is the most practical way to achieve things. When we learn from the elderly, we increase our fluency by imitating their speed as well as their pronunciation, grammar and words.