What was the most important thing ever invented?
It was—language! With language, people can explain ideas and trade
thoughts. Communication— being able to share information—is what
made civilization possible.
Long after people learned to speak, they began to write. They had no
alphabet, so they drew pictures that stood for ideas and words. The
early Egyptians had hundreds of signs for words or parts of words.
Like other ancient people, the Egyptians often wrote on clay tablets or
stones. It was from one such stone, the Rosetta Stone, that we learned
their language.
Later inventions gave us new ways to communicate. The printing press
gave us books. With the telegraph, we could send messages over long
distances. Then came the telephone, phonograph, radio, motion pictures,
and television. Now we can talk to someone who is far away. We can watch
pictures of men walking on the moon. But sitting down and talking with a
friend is still the best kind of communication.
Actions speak louder than words
When a person in Tibet wants to say to someone, “I respect you,” he sticks his tongue out! When two people meet in Japan, they bow. And when a man in some parts of Eastern Europe wants to say, “Hi,…
We all make different sounds
When a dog barks, we all hear the same sound. But a French boy says that his dog is saying “gnaf-gnaf!” A German girl says her dog is saying “wau-wau!” And Japanese children say that their dogs are…
No words, just pictures!
In Afghanistan, there are roads for cars and trucks and roads for camels and donkeys. Even if a driver is from another country, he can tell which road is which by the picture signs. Picture signs…
Put it in writing
When you do your homework or write a letter to a friend, the marks you make on the paper stand for the sounds you make when you talk. Writing is a way of turning sounds into marks that fit…
