Reflective Essay 3 (draft)
The language that I will be discussing in this paper is going to be French, the so called language of love. I have chosen to explore this language more because of the simple fact that growing up my father told me to learn another language other than Spanish, which was spoken at home. Throughout middle school, high school, and my two years in college, I studied French and become fond of it. French is one of the five most widely-spoken Romance languages, each descended from Latin. French itself is an evolution of Gallo-Romance dialects – with a rich history well worth exploring. (Rosetta Stone) It is stated from Rosetta Stone, that French is said to be the official language, or one of the official languages of 33 countries.
Within the French language, different variations and dialects exist. In France and Corsica about 60 million individuals use French as their first language, in Canada more than 7.3 million, in Belgium more than 3.9 million, in Switzerland more than 1.8 million, in Monaco some 80,000, in Italy some 100,000, and in the United States especially Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, some 1.3 million. Furthermore, more than 49 million Africans—in such countries as Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia—use French as a first or second language, and millions of inhabitants of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia use it as their principal international language. Many creole French speakers too use standard French in formal situations. (Encyclopedia) Outside France, the French of Canada, originally probably of northwestern dialect type, has developed the most individual features.
An interesting fact about the French language is that the French people are very eager and keen to learn new languages, even so that there is a movement in France to protect the French language. For example, the word cd-rom was quickly converted and absorbed into the French language as “cederom.” (bbc news) Minister Toubon brought upon a law that requires radio stations to play French music 40% of the time and that foreign film titles must be translated into French. Attitudes that people have towards the language would mainly be that it is the language of love. Just like any other language, an attitude that I first had, for instance, was that it was difficult and requires a lot of phlegm for certain words such as, heureux meaning happy.
References:
-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3143464.stm
-https://www.rosettastone.com/lp/french/history-of-the-french-language/
-French language. (2018). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from
https://academic-eb-com.rpa.laguardia.edu/levels/collegiate/article/French-
language/35353
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The language/dialect I have chosen to write about is Haitian Creole. This particular kind of Creole is spoken in the beautiful region of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The entire population of Haiti (7 million people) speak Haitian Creole. There about 10 to 12 million people on earth who speak this language. This language is French-based with influences from Portuguese, Spanish, English, Taino and West African Languages. Haitian Creole was first spoken by African slaves and French settlers during the Atlantic slave trade in the French colony of Saint-Domingue which is now known as Haiti. Today, Haitians are the largest creole-speaking community in the world. It is also spoken in the Bahamas, Canada, Cayman Islands, France, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. (Ethnologue).
Because Haitian Creole is a French-based language, over 90% of the Haitian Creole vocabulary is of French origin. They share similar pronunciations and share many lexical items but there are still many differences between the languages. For example, the word for “frequent” in French is fréquent; however, its cognate in Haitian Creole frekan means ‘insolent, rude, and impertinent’ and usually refers to a person. Using certain terms like this can lead to people being misjudged and misunderstood depending on how they interpret the use of the terms.
Both French and Haitian Creole are official spoken languages in Haiti. Like in most civilizations there is a social class in Haiti. French is mostly spoken by the people in the higher class of the society and people who speak the language of Haitian Creole are considered to be a part of the lower class.
Based on my own knowledge and experiences, the people of Dominican Republic look down on Haitians for many reasons. Haitians are perceived as immigrants in DR who have “invaded’ many neighborhoods and have taken over many job opportunities in the nation. For these reasons, Dominicans don’t usually tend to get along with Haitians. The way I see it, Haitians are to Dominican Republic just like Mexicans are to the United States of America. Haitians, like Mexicans, traveled to another country seeking great opportunities, employment, hope for their future, to escape poverty in their homeland and basically to help find the resolutions to all of their issues and worries. There are more than 2 million Haitians living in the Dominican Republic as of the year 2010, most of which are undocumented. Some Dominicans have learned to get along and compromise with Haitians with the little Spanish/Haitian Creole they know. They get to work with each other, live next to each other and spend time together -they usually offer Haitians work because Haitians don’t really ask for high wages. It’s sad to say that there are other Dominicans who treat them as if they were inhuman. I believe that shouldn’t be allowed, even if they are considered to be “aliens”, everyone should be treated with the same respect.
No matter where you choose to live, you will be judged and categorized based on how you speak, the words you choose to use, how you use them, the way you look, the color of your skin, your clothes, your accent, your quietness, your loudness, ect.
Works Cited
“Dominican Republic – Spanish Language and Culture.” Learn Spanish Online for Free with VeinteMundos RSS, www.veintemundos.com/en/spanish/dominican-republic/.
“Haitian Creole.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Dec. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Creole.
“Haitians in the Dominican Republic.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitians_in_the_Dominican_Republic.
Questions:
Quebec French is the predominant Variety of the French language in Canada. In an article called “The Differences Between French in quebec and France” it states ” The French that was brought to the colony was also isolated, during this time the noticeable differences between the French varieties began to appear. Standard European French developed with European influences, while Canadian French were infused with significant influences from the English language.” This shows where the language has come from and even thought canadian French is an umbrella term it still means that Quebec french was created during that time too. In 1977, the charter of the French language was drafted by the Parti Quebecois and it was to protect the French language which was known as Quebecois. This charter made Quebec French the primary Language used in business in Quebec. Now Quebec french is the primary language spoken in Quebec and is used in Ontario and New Brunswick.
Quebec French which is native to many places such as New Brunswick, Ontario, western Canada, and New England but the main place is obviously Quebec. There are 7 million native speakers in Quebec and 700,000 speakers elsewhere in Canada and the unidted states. There are so many people speaking this language and others that speak French that is very similar and they might have some views on this, but not only them. Quebec French shows a coherent and standard system. The office Quebecois de la langue francaise think that standardizing this French could lead to reduced mutual intelligibility with other communities that speak French. This can possibly cause the extinction of the French language. This causes quebeckers to have negative perception to their own language and want to improve it.
Quebec French which is the predominant variety of the french language in Canada, which is used in everyday communication, education, the media and government can sound very different from other french dialects in that same region. It is spoken in many places and by so many people not only in Quebec. Even till this day it’s not fully intact but they are trying to improve it.
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The language I chose to research about is Arabic. To be more specific about the Arabic language which would be South Levantine Arabic. Levantine Arabic is mostly spoken in Palestine and Jordan. One main location this language is used in is in a city in Jordan called Amman. Arabic is a common language spoken in the Middle East, an example would be Egyptian Arabic. The dialect and accent for the South Levantine Arabic and the Egyptian Arabic differ from each other. Before speaking or learning a language, it is important to learn the history of where the language came from and the location. The reason I am interested in researching this language is because I have been speaking it since I was a kid and I would like to learn more about it as well.
Arabic has many different dialects and accents depending on where it originated from and how the language evolved in different areas. In the middle east, Arabic is known to be the main language. In the history of the South Levantine Arabic language, it’s been published in some parts of the bible in the 1940s. South Levantine was spread and accepted during the Roman and Byzantine periods as well. Levantine Arabic was a dominant spoken language in Palestine.
Arabic has influenced many languages around the world throughout its history. Some examples of languages being influenced by Arabic would be Turkish, Bosnian, Bengali, Indonesian, and Persian. Arabic is known as the holy language for the 1.8 billion Muslims across the world. It is the fifth most spoken language in the world. the reason for that is because different ways of speaking such as 422 million ways.
]]>There are several different attitudes when comes to Castilian dialect in Spain. It is said that Castilian dialect is the most purest kind of Spanish accent. It is also said that a person who speaks this Castilian, speaks it in the most “proper”, “best”, “purest” or “original form”. Another attitude towards this language accent is that it is the easiest kind to understand. This is simply because every letter and sound is carefully pronounced.
People who speak with a Castilian accent have their own way of saying things. Their use of words are way different than American Spanish. For example, a Carro is a shopping cart rather than a car. Another example will be a trunk of a car is a maletero rather than a baul or cajuela. Castilian Spanish also has its own slang and sayings. According to the Language trainer article when someone who speaks Castilian Spanish tells you not to “dar la lata”, which in English means “give the can”, what they really mean is to not bother or irritate.
People who don’t speak Castilian Spanish might not take the accent serious and clown other individuals who do speak it. Then, there might be others like me who would find it an interesting topic to look into. This might be because they are open minded to learning about other culture and languages. Also because they might want to know what other sayings and phrases they use in their life mean in a different country.
Questions:
As the name implies, Jeju Island is an island located far south off of the mainland of South Korea. Most of it’s residents speak in their native dialect that is Jeju Korean and are the only people of their kind to speak this dialect. This is because the island is an exclusive location all on it’s own away from the mainland of both North and South Korea. The only people who would happen to speak this dialect are the natives or, perhaps, foreigners who have moved there and became accustomed to the dialect. It goes without saying that this dialect is mainly and most commonly used on Jeju Island. However, If residents decide to relocate off of the island, this dialect can rarely and sparsely be used elsewhere in the most southern parts of South Korea and as a second manner of speech at best. This is because both North and South Korea already have their own standardized version of the Korean language that is recommended to be used, although it is not enforced.
Because of this, it can easily be assumed that this dialect is the most distinct and distinguishable dialect compared to the others of South Korea solely because of it’s location. Because it is isolated and located off of the mainland, furthest from Seoul, news of language change and “correction” can play a vital role along with no supervision of adhering to the South Korean standard. According to the article by Lisa Jeon, she states, “the Jeju dialect is often referred to as the most divergent dialect in Korea, and many people in the mainland claim it as unintelligible” (22). This is because of the lexical and grammatical variations that are considerably different from their mainland counterparts.
The social factor that is associated with this is the extreme isolation of Jeju Island in comparison to the rest of South Korea. In fact, in the article by Lisa Jeon, she states, “the mainland respondents often commented that Jeju was a nice vacation destination but not a place where educated Koreans would live and work” (40). This statement alone gives deep insight as to how mainland Koreans perceive the dialect and people of Jeju Island. Because of the views towards the dialect and the habitat of Jeju Island, mainland Koreans think that the inhabitants of Jeju Island are below them in terms of intellect and feel that they are too educated, or, “overqualified” to live there. From that perspective, it can be assumed that the people of Jeju Island are simple, old-fashioned, laid-back, or even “country” in a way that it provides an escape for the “busy, educated, tech-savvy, forward-thinking” working Koreans. Therefore, Jeju Islanders are perceived as the lowest of the socioeconomic class.
To conclude, it is easy for other people to judge and perceive you based off of how you present yourself. All the way down to what you wear, what you like, where you live, and how you talk. And because these things all happen to be different from the other person, it becomes easy to discriminate and assume what is right and what is wrong for whatever reason. However, the steps to preventing such prejudice and discrimination is rather simple. It’s called understanding. And one should at least try to get to know a specific background, culture, or way of life before blindly making accusations because you are not used to it or do not like it. Perhaps there is reason behind it, and once you understand that reason, you can accept it, respect it, or even contribute to it. If not, at least you can then understand enough as to make a conscious decision as to why instead of blindly hate and not participate.
Works Cited
Jeon, Lisa; Patricia Cukor-Avila. “”One country, one language”?: mapping perceptions of dialects in South Korea.” Dialectologia: revista electrònica [en línia], 2015,, Núm. 14 , p. 17-46. https://www.raco.cat/index.php/Dialectologia/article/view/293349/381871
Questions:
Professor Ines Vano Garcia
ELL 101
November/27/2018
Language Attitudes of Haitian Creole speakers as perceived by Dominicans
Haitian Creole also known as (kreyòl ayisyen) comes from 18th century French with influences from Spanish, Taino, Portuguese, English, and West African languages. Haitian Creole was made by African slaves when they came into contact with French settlers during the Atlantic slave trade. This slave trade took place In the French colony of Saint-Domingue now known as Haiti. Haitian Creole is spoken by 10-12 million people internationally. Haitian Creole is the most popular language in Haiti more than 8.5 million Haitians are fluent but every region has its own different touches to it. Haitian creole is in many different countries including Canada, the USA, France, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Bahamas and other Caribbean countries. Haitian Creole is the second most spoken language in Cuba after Spanish, there is even a creole radio station in Havana Cuba. Over 300,000 Haitian immigrants speak Haitian creole in Cuba. It is a minority language in Cuba and a significant number of Cubans speak it fluently as a second language. Most of these Cubans that speak Haitian Creole have never been to Haiti and do not have any Haitian ancestry, but learned it in their neighborhood.
In Dominican Republic Haitians are not really welcome. I found an article on the website of CNN by Mariano Castillo called “Faces of a divided island.” According to the article hundreds of thousands of Dominicans with Haitian decent have been stripped of their citizenship and forced to prove they were born in the Dominican Republic. There are also undocumented immigrants that are forced to register with the government. Castillo stated that “The more common situation, I learned through dozens of interviews, is that children of immigrants are not recorded in the civil registry at birth.” that was because most immigrants were scared that if they were found then they would be deported.
I also found another article on seeker by Julia Wilde called “Why Dominican Republic hates Haiti.” the Article mentions how in Santiago there was a crowd of people burning a Haitian flag which was a symbolic act to protest against the “invasion” of Haitian migration into the country. They also had anti-Haitian graffiti throughout the capital city of Santo Domingo.
In the Commisceo Global there was a page titled “Dominican Republic Guide Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette.” It states the upper class are descended from the European settlers and have lighter skin than the lower class who are darker skinned and descended from African slaves or Haitians. Status is defined by family background not by wealth and there is little social mobility
I feel like in Dominican Republic the social factor that associated with the attitudes to the language is the fact that Dominicans just don’t like anything about Haitians in general. Dominicans are racist towered the Haitians.
In conclusion I feel like a lot of people are judged on the way that they talk. For example, sometimes people think that they can tell what type of education someone else has had by the way that they talk but in reality, people can have many different dialects. When I am around my mom, I wouldn’t use slang with her I would only talk in Spanish. Someone listening in might think we don’t know English.
is there anything i should add?
is there anything i should fix?
]]>To understand Patois, it is important to know a bit of its history and how it came to be the dominant language spoken in modern Jamaica. During the time of slavery between the eighteenth and nineteenth century, slaves were sent to Jamaica to work on sugar plantations. Wanting to lower any possibility of rebellion, slave owners and other colonizers forced the slaves to speak English; hoping that any talk of escape would be caught immediately. The “broken English” over time began to stabilize into what is known as modern Jamaican Patois that is spoken throughout the island, as well as many other places in the world where Jamaicans congregate; one example of this would be Toronto Canada.
Jamaican music has a lot to do with the interest in the language among the masse. Reggae (A genre of music originating from Jamaica in the 60s that utilizes offbeat rhythms and a slow tempo to) music sung by people like Bob Marley and other popular artists brought the dialect into western eyes in countries like America and Canada as well as eastern countries like the UK and even Asian countries. Though people could not understand the lyrics of the songs, they were filled with the soul of the music. As such, despite the difference between dialects; people were able to connect to each other.
One key difference between Patois is in many phrases. A few examples of this is as follows: “Don’t go there” becomes “Nuh guh deh”. “Come here” becomes “Come yah”. “You’re a liar” becomes “You is a liad” or “You a liad”, and “Why are you lying” becomes “Wha mek you so lie”. Even short insults extend in length with “You’re an idiot” becoming “You mussi born back a cow”. Simple words, like phrases, are also different in Jamaica with examples such as “Smelly” becoming “frowsy”. Stores being called shops, Americans being called Yankees, and any overseas country is called “Foreign”. Other examples would be children being called “Pitneys”, Boys being referred to as “Byai” and girls as “Gyal”.
Though Reggae and such brought a positive interest to Patois, it still did not and does not stop people from regarding Patois as a “Ghetto” dialect. What I mean by this is that some people will hear Patois and assume that the person speaking it is uneducated or poor. This is likely due to the fact that Patois, again, can be rather difficult to understand. Another reason is that Patois is also heard in entertainment through mediums like rap music or characters in television shows who are usually stereotypical.
To conclude, Patois; like every other dialect, has its own history as well as its stereotypes. Though different attitudes exist about Patois, the only way to properly formulate your own opinion would be to go out and converse with a native speaker. You’ll find that despite speaking the same language, you’ll find yourself learning a whole new dictionary of words and phrases. There even exists wall scrolls that teach you how to speak Patois and what different Patois phrases translate to in Standard English.
1. Did I give enough information regarding the history of Patois
2. What can I do to further explain the differences between Patois and Standard English?
3. Are there too many Standard English to Patois Phrases and words? Should I add more or take some out?
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Another stereotype that is very common is that people believe that Brazilians speak Spanish and that’s their second language, but they don’t speak Spanish. Yes, it can be easy to get confused since they shared some similarities in grammar and vocabulary but this doesn’t mean that’s the same language. Both Spanish and Portuguese are two beautiful languages spoken in completely different countries and have a different history as well.
We are always creating stereotypes and this can really affect some people or even worst the country. We create boarders where there’s none, we are always making assumptions without taking our time on trying to figure out if the stereotypes are truth or not. or example if a tourist goes to Brazil with this stereotypes on their mind , maybe not necessarily the examples that I gave but there’s even worst stereotypes , but the tourist won’t be able to take a chance to enjoy the culture, the language of this beautiful country.
This doesn’t only happened in Brazil , but it happens in many minority groups. People that don’t have the “power” or the chance to speak up for themselves, those are the ones who are always being judged and they have to faced these kind of stereotypes on their day to day. Some people may see it as an innocent mistake or if the ones being attacked are just being “sensitive” , but imagine waking up and from the minute you get out of your house you were already labeled. after a while keeping up with all of these stereotypes like mistaken your language can become annoying , because is a language that is part of you, part of your culture, part of what represents you and It’s not fair for others to misinterpret your culture.
References
Posner, Rebecca( 2018,November 27). Portuguese Language.Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Portuguese-language
Questions
1) do you think I went off topic ? Do you think that there’s something that I should keep or remove ?
2) is my point of view clear ?
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