To be completely honest, looking deeper into the way outsiders perceive Ecuador and the way my own people perceive each other is completely unnecessary and most importantly rude. Language is unique to a country and the way civilians choose to express and demonstrate their ability to speak it is more than awarding.
Is my essay detailed and fluent enough to understand?
What examples would preferred to be included?
]]>September 28, 2018
Professor Ines Vano Garcia
Reflective Essay #1
New York City is a gathering of different cultures, and along with it comes different forms of languages. Since the United States has no official language, everyone is free to speak their own language in which the choose. However, the most commonly used language in the United States, and to narrow it down, New York City, is english. Though english is the most commonly used language spoken in New York City, it’s english, or to be more precise, the way it is spoken in the city has its own style of english. It is common that each city has their own speaking style, and residents can notice when someone is out of state by the way their english is pronounced which includes dialect as well. And even within New York City, some areas have their unique way of speaking english in New York City.
It’s pretty easy to notice in New York City who is from which of the five boroughs and where in the economic class system they’re in. Leaving aside the dressing style, New York City has its own dialects. For example, there are certain areas in the city what people refer to as “The Hood”. The Hood, in short, is just a nicer way of saying a community where people of low economic class live in. The people who reside in those areas have a more “rougher” way of speaking. Generally people view it as more of a “ghetto” and “ratchet” way of speaking, and is often viewed negatively from an outsider’s point of view.
In Long Island, the way of speaking is more refined and clean, akin to something more proper. The other 3 boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx) generally think of that area where people who have a higher stable financial income reside in. When people listen to people who talk more refined and proper-like, the first place that comes to mind is the previously said Long Island, and what comes in second is Manhattan. The reason behind it is because Manhattan is the big business part of New York City. Places like Wall Street and the such are locations where english in a more refined and clean way of speaking is required in order to maintain a respectable image with other people such as business partners and customers.
Should I further describe the use of english in the economic class system(Low,Middle, High class)?
Does NYC have its own style and use of english?
]]>Professor Garcia
ELL 101
October 1, 2018
Reflective Essay #1
I was born in the in the Middle East and I went to America when I was about 2 years old. I grew up learning 2 languages which were Arabic and English. For me, Arabic was my first language and English was my second. I was pretty familiar with both languages but it was harder for me to learn English at a young age because I only used to speak Arabic in my household. Although I used to go to school to learn how to read and write in English. I felt like learning 2 languages at a young age wasn’t as hard because I was learning them consistently at the same time. As I grew up, I began to understand both languages better and the dialects of the Arabic and English languages.
I feel like I use both languages equally. I speak Arabic when I am talking to my parents but I speak to my siblings in English. My siblings and I grew up with the same level of the English language so I feel like we had a better connection when talking in English rather than when we spoke in Arabic. So in general I speak both languages in my house, I speak Arabic my with parents and speak English with my siblings. The dialect I use when speaking to my parents is different when speaking to my friends. The reason for that is because when speaking to my parents it’s a different language and its more professional. The dialect when speaking with my friends is different is because were speaking in English and I feel like there is more slang in our tone and language.
Q1- what should I include in my body paragraphs?
Q2- what information should I give when speaking about the 2 languages that I learned?
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I grew up in a hispanic household that ment all i would hear at home is spanish. My parents new that if i learned spanish at home i could also learn english in school with no problem. When i was younger i had a more colombian accent because i had picked it up from the way my parents talked. During high school i picked up a more dominican accent because i would always be around dominicans. I use a lot of there slang too like how i am always saying “ cono ” and that is a really big dominican thing. I work in a supermarket and if i talk spanish to a customer sometimes they do ask me if i am dominican.
When i talk i feel like people would say it is more of a stigmatized form i dont really use big words. I am always talking with friends and family and it’s more regular with them i don’t have to watch what i say and i don’t have to think before i speak. I feel like the way i talk really differs depending on who i am talking with if i know the person i am more laid back. For example when i am at work i am really serious with the customers because i don’t know them.
My language is perceived in different ways just because if i am talking to my sister and she gets me annoyed i will give her attitude. Or if i am talking to my dad and he says something dumb or funny i will laugh or look at him funny. In both occasions i could say the same thing for example like “ stop talking to me.” For my sister it would be in a mean way and for my dad it would be more like me laughing. I guess this is because it just depends who i am talking to and what we are talking about.
I have never really been put in a position where someone had a bad attitude towards my language just because i don’t really go around talking to random people i guess. When i am outside i manly only talk english and you really can’t tell if i talk spanish unless i say it i have actually been asked a few times if i am Filipino because of my eyes. I guess when i am at work spanish people tend to come to my line because they know it will be easier to communicate with me instead of my co worker that doesn’t speak any type of spanish. Another thing can be spanish speaking customers tend to feel more comfortable asking me a question about something even though they speak english and they can ask any other cashier.
Growing up I was always around my grandparents. My grandmother didn’t speak English at all and my grandfather spoke English but he chose to speak mainly Spanish. He only spoke English when necessary. But his preference was Spanish. Although he knew English he still spoke to me in Spanish at all times. I been speaking both languages since a young girl. I believe I acquired speaking Spanish from being around my grandparents. My Spanish is very fluent I can speak it very well only problem I have is writing it sometimes.
when I’m at home I still speak both languages. I live with my grandmother who still doesn’t know English. At times I’ll talk to her in “Spanglish”. What I mean by that is their will be times I’ll talk to her in Spanish and I’ll throw some English words in our conversation. I do the same thing when speaking English as well. For example when eating something and I want to know if its spicy I would say “does this pica”? Then people around me who doesn’t know Spanish would look at me as if I’m crazy. Then I’ll realize what I have said and I will restate what I said.
i feel like knowing both languages English and Spanish is something really good but tricky as well. It’s a good thing because when being bilingual their are more opportunities for individuals. The reason why I feel like it is also tricky is because when you been somewhere speaking one Language for a long time then having to step out and transition into speaking another one can be some what hard.
Questions:
1.what do you think I need to improve on or add on
2. Did I stay on topic?
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I was raised bilingually because my grandparents only speak Spanish and the only way I could communicate with them was to learn Spanish. I learned the traditional Spanish but I also picked up on the “Cuban slang” words as well. Learning Spanish at such a young age I was able to become more confident the older I got when speaking it. When speaking to other Spanish speakers in my dialect, not all of them always understand the words that are specific to my family’s Spanish. In my house we more slang words and more “relaxed” Spanish whereas if I am speaking to my grandmother’s friends, for example, I speak very proper Spanish.
As a woman who appears as a Caucasian woman, I have encountered times where people are taken back by the fact I speak Spanish. They automatically judge that I don’t speak Spanish because I don’t meet the stereotypical qualifications of a Spanish woman. For instance, when I’m with friend who carries the traits of a stereotypical Spanish woman and a Spanish speaker is in need of assistance, they’re more inclined to ask her before asking me. Being so used to speaking Spanish, I get taken back when others don’t see me as Hispanic just based off my looks.
We are so conditioned to look at life through a stereotyped lens that we use their appearance and the way people speak to affect our perception. People will usually view others as lower class if they speak with profanity and/or slang, when in all reality it could just be, what they see as, a dialect of their language. People like to stay with what they’re comfortable with and they tend to judge people who are not of their norm. Being a multi-language speaker, I feel that people should be more open-minded with language. Language is used however people like and want to express themselves.
The main problem is that my parent didn’t really teach me Chinese when I was little so I had to figure most of it by myself. So whenever I wanted to know the meaning of a word, I would need to find out through the context. Especially in the Chinese language, context is a big part of the language. I also was not taught how to read or write but I was able to learn a little bit of the easy words through subtitles of television shows. And at that time, I had a shy personality so I usually don’t ask my parents when I wanted to know something. So now I have some difficulties speaking with my family with the problem being not being able to speak as fluent.
Then, I had to start going to school where I eventually learned English. I can say for sure that it’s really hard to learn English if it’s not the first language. It’s probably the same for every language and I was not able to keep up with the class. No one in the class spoke Chinese so I was kind of isolated from everyone. But I remember when I was able to pick up English when I was repeating letters and words when the whole class was repeating after the teacher. Even today, I feel like I speak English better than Chinese even though my English is not that good either.
When I started to go to middle school and high school, I noticed people would know my bad accent and try stay away from me. Even at home, I talk really little to my family because whenever I speak it sounds and feels different from people who can speak Chinese fluently. So, I was stuck in this spot where I can’t speak either languages without a problem. Then, I practiced English to get rid of some my accent but couldn’t do the same for Chinese since I can’t read or write. For Chinese, now I’m taking a Chinese 101 course in college so I can speak better with my family.
There are always difficulties if your different than the usual and that’s why some people might find to hard speak with people who speak differently. Most people try to find people who speaks in a similar way as them and this makes it hard for people who have accents. It’s hard to get other people to change so I tried hard myself to practice English. Even though I might still not be able to speak English as well as others, I do feels not as isolated compared to when I had a heavy accent.
Questions:
However, within this everyday norm, due to the overall rudeness that is associated with the New York language/dialect of American-English. Both the prestige and stigmatized forms of the language can both be described as rude as well. The only difference is an individuals choice use of words that comes to them unconsciously due to perhaps their financial status or upbringing being born and raised in New York, with the exception of being of a different nationality/ethnicity outside of American, such as Japanese, Indian, or Brazilian. The general public sees it this way because, as previously stated, New York City has a very fast paced lifestyle. And as a result, this leads to the majority of it’s residents in a highly stressed and irritated state of being when confronted by another individual, who may, by chance, also most likely be in a highly stressed and irritated state of being.
In another area, such as another state in America, American-English can be perceived differently. The words that are spoken can be completely understood. However, how the words are spoken and uttered would obviously be noticed to be different. This can also be associated with how an individual’s posture, attitude, and pronunciation are presented that would display this drastic difference. Words that are commonly used and spoken in one area could make any outsider or tourist be noticed upon the attempt of blending in if it is not performed with the proper pronunciation, posture, and attitude, let alone the understanding of the word(s) as well.
Overall, the social factors that contribute to the attitude that people have toward American-English in America can be a plethora of reasons ranging from Cultural to Socioeconomic to Racial. However, I mostly believe it to be more of a geographical factor. And that a person’s attitude towards American English will differ depending on where they are in America. The attitude towards American-English in states such as North Carolina would be seen as friendly, while in California it can be contributed to being laid-back. And chances are, you will always hear an outsider or tourist say, “New Yorkers are so rude”.
Questions
Do you think I clearly expressed my points and presented an adequate amount of reasoning to support them?
Is there anything else I could have spoken about that would have effectively helped express my point and essay?
]]>Now I’ve got some answers to my speech regarding to my languages in English and French. The question is that how would the general public describe my language/dialects. Can it be either in a prestige form or stigmatized form. Friends who are really close to me would hear me speaking in French would say that its in a prestige form because on occasions I would blurt sometime out in French out of frustration. they ill be like she must really know French. When I’m around family especially the ones who ca’t speak any English its on a stigmatized form because when they communicate with me sometime I wouldn’t know what to say back or when I’m communication g to them back I stutter in a middle of a sentence figuring out what to say. To be honest I would say that I’m at a stigmatized form because yes I understand and yes I speak it but I;m not fluent in it and because I have used this language in many years I forgotten most of it like if the easiest word or sentences in French are the ones that I know by heart. That what I believe in my point of view see it that way. Its like when I communicate to other people they’ll hear me speak and notice the slight accent like if I’m fluent in French. But when I speak it and I stutter in the middle and then blurt the rest in English. Others will think that maybe she knows it but forgotten it because French isn’t her primary language or if she a beginner taking French classes. For example, on rare occasions my sister would test me by speaking to me in French out of random and wants to know if I mastered it like she did and would make fun of me for it. Not really a difference to me. It depends on how you were brought up into the language like i two languages were spoken through the entire years of your life non stop.
Doing this essay has made me wonder on how people tend to perceive us on how e speak into our daily routines. Like how people in France would see English as a useful tool in their everyday lives especially on traveling and teaching it as a subject in English or ESL setting. When I’m in France the people there wouldn’t know that I’m an American regardless of my French speaking struggling and they way I talk. They’ll probably think that I reside from french speaking countries like Haiti or somewhere in west Africa. That’s how people there can perceive me. Finally, I do believe that these attitudes might be another way in which in various form of discrimination to occur. One form of discrimination can be on how the persons was brought up like if the persons has receive a good education or not. But if the person is having a good education regardless of where he/she is coming from then they’ll disregard those negative vibes from others.
When I am in the calm/neutral stage, I typically speak in a calm professional and logical manner. When referring to people, I say “Sir” or “Ma’am” depending on the gender of the person in question. If I make a mistake I’m more likely to say “I apologize” or “My apologies” rather than “I’m sorry”. I make an effort to use proper grammar as well as making sure that any verbal mistakes made are quickly correct. Again, usually followed by a quick apology if needed. I’ll also make an effort to avoid the use of profanity as I personally don’t like hearing those words when I’m in that stage. Because this is the stage people see the more often then not, I’m usually told that I am a mature young man, or that I’m very professional.
When I’m Comfortable/Playful, my personality quickly changes. Rather than speaking professionally, I’m much more casual and open. I have a tendency to use expressions like “my bad” or “my guy/dude”. I’ll also refer to people by saying “Fella Fella”. Use of profanity is much more likely in this stage as I am more laid back and care less about keeping a professional attitude, rather I begin to care more about being humorous and will make a great deal of jokes and references in an attempt to get a laugh (though I still make sure these jokes are not offensive in nature. It’s kind of hard to make someone laugh if they’re irritated with you). Use of made up words and random sounds tend to take the place of real words as well, for a humorous effect. This is the stage I am in the most when I’m around friends.
The last stage is the one stage I hate being in, the Annoyed/Angry stage. In this stage I try to maintain a professional and logical attitude. However, my annoyance makes causes me to be far more candid and outspoken. I lose any interest in keeping my opinion to myself or sparing the feelings of the person who has…incurred my wrath, so to speak. My speech becomes heavily sarcastic and belittling. I speak in a manner that suggests that I don’t believe that I and the person I’m speaking to are on the same level. I make it a point to hide this aspect of my speech because it would definitely be seen is disrespectful. I would be seen as the kind of person who you don’t want to be around because they make you feel bad, or something along those lines. It’s was also brought my attention (and I have noticed this about my speech as well) that I speak much faster when annoyed. I also have the tendency to rapidly repeat the first syllable of a given word in a sort of stuttering fashion.
My questions regarding this draft are simple