Sumptuous. Perceptive. Consequential. If you did not understand most of these words it may be because there is a major loss in vocabulary among Americans. Studies trace this to television, movies and other types of media.

The biggest drop in vocabulary is in teens and pre-teens. In just the last 50 years the working vocabulary of a 14-year-old has dropped from 25,000 words to 10,000 words. These days, high school graduates have only 20,000 to 25,000 words in their vocabulary. This is also related to teens not reading as often.

Dave Cooper, a high school honors teacher who has been at Helena High since 1979, said, "Anything that takes away from verbal communication takes away from our students' vocabulary."

It is no coincidence that in the same half century students can recognize over 1,000 corporate logos, but can now recognize fewer than 10 plants and animals native to our location. This subject gets worse, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English language has more than 500,000 words, but Germany has less than one-third as much and France has less than one-sixth.

Americans have a smaller working vocabulary than the people in these countries, but have more than three times as many words in the language.

Teens can increase their vocabulary by doing simple things like crossword puzzles and Scrabble games. Learning word prefixes, roots and suffixes can also help them learn and understand many new words.

The problem with language is not just in the United States, but is also worldwide. There are 6,800 global languages, but in 2100 Dr. David W. Orr predicts that only 160 languages will survive. Just in our own country there is an Apache language that has only three native speakers left.

Some people say that this is a good thing and that it will unify the people, but others say it is a loss of our history and culture. What do you think?