America has the reputation of many of its citizens being monolingual, but one student is breaking that stereotype. Senior Dylan Thatcher has studied and practiced multiple languages for the past several years. He is currently learning French and German, but he knows bits of Spanish, Russian, and Chinese as well. He sees language as a way to reach others and experience new cultures.

This article is a continuation from an article in the previous edition of the Norseman that discussed the degrading of cultural morality and why swearing is immoral. Graphic sexuality has also escalated dramatically, particularly in movies. This not only includes actual sexual encounters but promiscuous jokes and actors wearing little to no clothing. It usually doesn’t even affect the plot but instead attempts to appeal to audiences at a gratuitous level.

It’s a classic stereotype for the oldest generation to talk about how things were in the “good old days” and how recent years have taken a turn for the worse. Though this is in many ways over-exaggerated, there is one point I definitely agree with them on: the decline of morality.

Imaginary lines create border divisions. Commodity supply and demand creates wealth and poverty. Ideas. Religions. Beliefs. Culture. Customs. All serve as possible means of division, but those barriers can be breached with language acquisition. Being able to communicate with each other is the first step to truly understanding each other.