Grokking into the Future - Language Change

[Brent Scarcliff]

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Hi!  My name is Ryan Scarcliff.  I'm in the 5th grade at Jefferson
Elementary School in Redondo Beach, California.  As part of a unit called
"Grokking into the Future", my assignment is to survey a group of experts
about "LANGUAGE CHANGE".  I would really appreciate it if you could answer
some of the following questions:
 
1.  Some day, I would like to learn a lot of languages so I can communicate
with people all over the world.  In order to do that, I will need to learn
the most commonly used languages. How should I learn them and what
languages should I learn?
 
2.  Some people don't realize that there have been so many changes in
languages. How much do we really know about why languages change?
 
3.  This year I did my science project on the Polynesian sound changes.
Although most people found it really interesting, a lot of them asked, "How
is linguistics a science?" How should I answer them?
 
4.  I don't know about you, but I like to use my imagination. I was
wondering, what do you think English will look like in the 21st Century?
Will it be the world's common language?
 
5.  If you had to guess, what really important discovery about language
change will be made by the time I go to college?
 
6.  Sometimes, I think about  the beginning of languages. Could you tell
me, why are there so many languages? Do you think we'll eventually find out
that all languages are related?
 
7.  Because I think of the beginning of languages, I think of the end of
them. Why do languages disappear? What languages are in danger of becoming
extinct and why should we care ?
 
8.  When I get into high school, I want to study linguistics. I soon found
out that there was no such class. How come?
 
9.  What's the etymology of "grok"?  My teacher told me it means "to see,"
but it's not in my dictionary.
 
10.  Are there any other big questions I should be asking you about
language change?  Anything else I should know?
 
Thank you for your time and help. Please contact me care of my father's
e-mail address, brent_scarcliff at cch.com.  I will post a summary of your
answers to the list.