As most of my friends already know, I am obsessed with National Geographic. Ever since I saw the now-iconic photo of the "Afghan Girl", I've been hooked. If someone asks me what my dream job is, I will always say "being a photojournalist for NatGeo." Since my magazine subscription is sent to my parents' house, I'm often found searching nationalgeographic.com for interesting articles or pictures to feed my obsession.

Last week, while surfing the website, I stumbled across an article titled "Disappearing Languages: Enduring Voices- Documenting the World's Endangered Languages." In many of my writing classes, as well as my French classes, my professors always teach me how important language is. In reality, language is essential in all aspects of life. It's not only how we communicate with each other, but it is a symbol of our heritage; language is a key element to our culture. In many ways, language defines us as a people.

Knowing this, I was surprised to learn in this article that throughout the world, a language dies every 14 days. What's even more shocking is that it is estimated that more than half of the world's 7,000 languages are expected to disappear by the year 2100.

Often times, words or phrases in a certain languages cannot be properly translated into other languages. Also, some cultures rely solely on oral communication; customs, traditions, history, and overall knowledge are only passed from generation to generation in oral form. With no written form, when languages become extinct, an entire culture may be lost.

In an interview with K. David Harrison on The Economist website, the reporter asks Harrison what we lose when we lose a language. He answers with a quote from his 2007 book "When Languages Die": "When we lose a language, we lose centuries of human thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown and the everyday."

Language allows freedom, creativity and individuality. Each language has it's own unique aspects. For me, language is a way to express myself. The meaning and the placement of words help me to relate my thoughts and feelings to others in my own way. I believe that language brings people together.

Harrison goes on to make an interesting analogy. He says, "We would be outraged if Notre Dame Cathedral or the Great Pyramid of Giza were demolished to make way for modern buildings. We should be similarly appalled when languages—monuments to human genius far more ancient and complex than anything we have built with our hands—erode."

Why are we only willing fight for the history that is tangible? Language is the basic element of every culture. Not to sound cheesy, but "variety is the spice of life." Diversity is what keeps the world interesting. If everyone everywhere spoke the same language, life would be pretty lame. Although we may not be able to physically touch a language, that doesn't mean that it's not worth fighting for. Language is a part of a person's identity. Sadly, at this rate, many people and their cultures are bound to be lost forever.