2 Elements of Literacy

My teacher Nevine Michaan, the founder of Katonah Yoga, teaches about the power of learning how to break the codes.

Breaking codes is the essence of literacy.

Literacy is the portal to freedom.

To someone who doesn’t know how to read, a word is a code. It contains a meaning that an illiterate person can’t decipher.

The first time you can read a word on a menu and know that the letters spell “chicken,” you gain a feeling of empowerment. Suddenly you know what your options are without relying on someone else to tell you what they are.

Sitting at the table in a restaurant, you’re not surprised by what the server brings you, because you read the menu and you ordered it.

The more codes you can break, the more equipped you become to navigate the world without the trauma of shock and surprise. Breaking codes gives you insight and foresight.

Thus, literacy in any area is a pre-requisite to freedom.

In considering Nevine’s teachings, I came up with my own framework for how to think about language and literacy.

2 Elements of Literacy

Literacy in any realm requires mastering two different languages.

(1) Language of Dialect

Every language has its own “language:” the dialects and sub-cultures of that language.

I call this the Language of Dialect.

For example, English is different in the United States versus the United Kingdom, Australia, or Canada. Even within one dialect there are sub-dialects and sub-cultures. Different parts of the U.S. have different dialects of English. Different groups have different slangs.

Sometimes these get imported into the larger context of a language.

(2) Language of Discipline

Every field of study, discipline, or activity has its own language.

I call this the Language of Discipline.

Coding. Law. Real estate. Fitness. Astrology. Cooking. CrossFit. Journalism. Marketing. Medicine. Football. Flying trapeze. Baseball. Writing. Productivity. Yoga. Music.

Pick any hobby or topic of interest and think about how you speak about it with people who engage in it versus people who have no experience with it.

Imagine an outsider listening to your conversation. They likely would get lost because they don’t know the language.

Even if they know the dialect language, such as English, they don’t know the language of that discipline.

Literacy Requires Mastering Dialect and Discipline

If you’re literate in English and don’t know much about cooking, you might be able to read a recipe but you won’t be able to decode it to create the dish that the recipe is designed to create.

You may not know, for example, what it means to fold egg whites or sauté vegetables.

On the other hand, you can be literate in cooking to know all of those things and still not be able to decode the recipe if it’s written in French and you aren’t literate in French.

To decode the recipe you must be literate in both the dialect of the recipe and the discipline of cooking.

The power of freedom comes when you become fluent in the language of dialect and the language of discipline.