The English Language: A Dying Art

Emails, text messages, and letters - one of those things is not like the other. Many have forgotten the ways of the past, the intimacies of a letter. Today, letters are deemed old-fashioned and are only remembered by those who had experienced them in their youth. However, letters are a form of communication that has withstood the test of time. Although electronic methods of communication have made life easier and are extremely helpful in times of distress, letters portray a warmth that is absent in a typed message. One can keep a letter forever; whether they are from a family member or a friend, they are intimate words that will be appreciated every time they are read.

Letters have been used for centuries as the only practical form of communication. They have been used throughout wars to maintain the connection between loved ones despite the oceans that may separate them. In World War II, letters filled planes and boats every day, attempting to reach their destinations.

Victory Mail, or V-Mail, was created to expedite letters and reduce the amount of space used to transport them overseas. During World War I, the British Postal Service delivered two billion letters. Afterward, in World War II, the average soldier sent six letters a week (Sarah Sundin). These impressive numbers show the sheer impact of letters on our society as they kept our world together in a time of uncertainty.

“A letter always arrives from the past” (The Guardian); it is a piece of a memory that is encapsulated by the sender. Receiving a letter is like receiving that package from Amazon that you doubted would ever arrive; you are excited and surprised! We have forgotten the impact that our words can hold. By just sitting down for ten minutes and writing a letter to anyone, even those that you see every day, shows that you were thinking of them and took the time to reach out. Although text messages and emails are vital to our world today, they will never carry the same profound sentiment that a letter does. The world today must look to the past and understand that we can still make an impact on others with just paper and a pen.