Artículo respuesta #1

Betty Louis Q2

Senorita Manuel


Apuñalan a una mujer embarazada mientras hacía "FaceTime" con su esposo
Este artículo es sobre un hombre quien apuñalada brutalmente una mujer embarazada en la cara y el vientre mientras ella hablaba en “FaceTime” con su marido. El artículo dice que el hombre apuñalada brutalmente la mujer embarazada porque su marido debía dinero por la reparación de vehículos. El nombre de el criminal es Corey Bernard Moss y el tiene diecinueve años. Ahora él es en el Centro de Detención Penal del Condado de El Paso por intento de asesinato y se le fijó una fianza de 60,000 dólares. Me sentí mal cuando yo leí este artículo. ¿Por que apuñalada brutalmente una mujer con niño? ¿Quién podría hacer algo así? Un persona con no corazón. Fue él que enojado? O fue él que loco?  Afortunadamente, el artículo dijo que la mujer se encuentra en estado crítico en el Centro Médico Universitario y su hijo, aún en el vientre, está en buenas condiciones. Si el bebé murió yo lloraría. Me encanta niños! Yo espero el marido aprendió su lección. Vida no es un juego. La mujer no deberían tener que sufrir para qué su marido hizo. Yo espero el bebé nace con no problemas y la vida de la familia es normal otra vez.

Word count: 203

Source:
"Apuñalan a Una Mujer Embarazada Mientras Hacía "FaceTime" Con Su Esposo." CNN En Espaol Ultimas Noticias De Estados Unidos Latinoamrica Y El Mundo Opinin Y Videos RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. <http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2013/11/01/apunalan-a-una-mujer-embarazada-mientras-hacia-facetime-con-su-esposo/>.

The Innocent Man Review

Some books you read can be good or not good and sometimes you would judge it by its cover saying “its going to be bad” or “not even going to read it”. That was my first impression of “The Innocent Man” but I began to read it and I changed my mind on my opinion about the book. I like about the story about how injustice in a small town in Oklahoma was changed by one murder and how one person statement can change a case.

The book tells the story of Ron Williams and how this affected him and how bad injustice can get. The story starts with a very brutal and disgusting murder of a girl that had made a small peaceful town where people everywhere knew each other was turn into fear, anger and rage, as the town was wondering about who could have done the murder and what the outcomes could happen to the townspeople if the killer is not caught.

This book is mostly about how the investigation went down, how the police made few mistakes and what they did wrong.  Ron Williams, a former minor league baseball player from the Oakland Athletics and famous in the town is one of the suspects in the investigation. He had been seen at the bar where the woman was at hours before she was found dead and he also had a drinking problem. So that made him very interesting to the police because of that.

He was tried for murder but had trouble being tried.  He and his friend were found guilty of murder and both were given their death penalty. Ron Williams story is a different one than you think he was a star in his town before the murder he was a baseball star and got drafted by the Oakland Athletes and firsted started in Class-A and also played in Major League Baseball but never made his dream of being an all-star player or winning a world series. This book is show more on how the american justice system can make mistakes and how it affects people. also when reading the book I felt what America could have done with this murder case and how it changes one persons life and the people around them.

The case was done by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) to solve the case they were pressured to solve the case so they even used very little evidence to back up the case that never was part of Ron being guilty. there was very little to go on so they went on any lead they got to the case and they got very little from the leads only that it talked about Ron Williams and his friend. The case was filled with corruption and injustice and was tried unfairly and found an innocent man of murder.

The book had a few tricks in the pages its was a little hard to understand what was going on sometimes and sometimes it was not described well but still it showed how good the book is with photos of the trail and a lot of things. I thought that putting photos into a book helps to support describe about what the writer is trying to say. Also it is very describing about what's going on and about the scene, feel and smell. If you're a person who like very describing writing and visual photos in books then this is the book for you.

I read the book and I liked how they took this story about Ron and showed what happened and the injustice that happened. This book really shows how justice can be taken too far with no fair trial not enough evidence to back up the case or a witness to see the crime take place or DNA samples or blood samples. Even though the evidence was very week they were able to covent him of murder in the first degreg and sentenced to death and the thought what the OSBI could have done wrong did they convicted an innocent man. The book has very done a good job at getting the readers attention and keeps them interested in the book and keeping balance for both.

Overall I think the book the book is very good but some places in there are confusing but I would recommend this to people who like stories that target american justice system and what the effects can do of injustice to a person.
TIM2

Reflection #7: “Orlando Bloom y Miranda Kerr se separan”

Audrey Pham

Q1

Melanie Manuel

Word Count: 201

Orlando Bloom y Miranda Kerr se separan”


Miranda Kerr es superestrella famosa modela desde australia. Kerr trabaja para Victoria’s Secret compañía y otro modela los compañías, las revistas y sesión de fotos para diseñador de la moda. Ella tuvo poco los novios en el pasado excepto con Orlando Bloom. Orlando Bloom es muy muy  superestrello famoso actor en Hollywood. Él es en mundo famoso el cines. Bloom es popular para su famoso actúa habilidad. Guapo Orlando Bloom y Miranda Kerr tuvieron parearon para tres años y se casaron para tres años tambien. La paraje tuvieron un bebé, Flynn. Flynn estuvo nacido dos años hace. Tristemente, la paraje anunciaron ellos están se divorcian después tres años de matrimonio. Elegí este artículo porque me gusta Miranda Kerr. Yo pienso ella es muy guapa. Y no puedo creer Miranda Kerr y Orlando Bloom es se divorciaron.. Yo pensé ellos estaban feliz juntos. Mi opinión es yo jamás quero obtener se divorcian porque mis hijos estar triste. Yo quiero casar alguien yo no lamento porque vida es vivo y amar es raro. Divorciarse es terrible y triste. Yo no quiero la basura mucho dinero para una boda y separa con ello. Aprendo voy a casar un chico me encanta con no lamentas.


"Orlando Bloom Y Miranda Kerr Se Separan." CNN En Espaol Ultimas Noticias De Estados Unidos Latinoamrica Y El Mundo Opinin Y Videos RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

Reflection #8

http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1968905/0/depresion/causa-segunda/discapacidad/


Un estudio demuestra que la depresión puede causar disablility. La depresión es una enfermedad mental que causa tristeza en las personas. La depresión afecta a todo tipo de personas, pero la mayoría de las personas durante sus años de trabajo. Los estudios muestran que más mujeres tienen depresión, y los hombres tienen menos depresión. La depresión hace que la gente esté cansado, no dormir lo suficiente, tener dolores de cabeza y otros malestares o dolores. Los signos de la depresión también son más dramáticos en las mujeres debido al hecho de que las mujeres tienden a ser más emocional.


Reflection #7

http://spanish.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=spanish&cdn=education&tm=192&f=10&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.abc.es/


El Mona Lisa por Leonardo de Vinci es una famosa pintura. Un hospital en Italia muestra la pintura sin pelo. Ellos están mostrando su sin cabello para aumentar la conciencia del cáncer. Las personas con cáncer que normalmente pierden su cabello. El hospital se siga usando esta imagen hasta el año 2014. Es popular en las redes sociales, en los carteles, y otros lugares en línea. Esta imagen es de toda Italia. También están utilizando otras pinturas famosas. Ellos son la eliminación de todo el vello de otras piezas de arte italiano. Dado que Italia es famosa por su arte, esta campaña es especially poderosa en la sensibilización para el tratamiento del cáncer y la investigación todas throughout Italia.  


Code-Switching in Society

In today’s society people and their social groups are widely identified by language. There are many parts to a type of language, and some are easier to identify than others. There are different pronunciations throughout the world, and even just throughout certain countries. There is a also a difference in the actual language spoken throughout certain social groups across the world, these specific words or phrases can only typically be identified by the group or multiple groups that created the term along with many of the local groups that interact with them. These terms are called slang and are an integral part of the different dialects throughout the world. Today there is a term called code-switching. Code-switching is when a person changes how they speak based on who they are around. Code-switching is becoming more and more common and has an influence on communities everywhere. People use it to feel more comfortable throughout different societies in their lives, and they use it to stay connected to all of these parties at once.

Today code-switching has become very popular. It is an integral part of society, because it pertains to so many different people in society. To understand code-switching, it is important to understand language and the role that it plays in society today. Language is something that connects people to their groups of friends, and their communities. There are many parts of language, and these parts can be used to identify a person, who they are, and where they are from. The pronunciation of speech is an important part, and also is possibly the most distinguishing part of language. Different pronunciations can be found because of your location (Philadelphia; Boston; Texas; etc.), or your background (Black; White; Jewish; etc.). Another factor in understanding speech, is dialect. This can also differ based on location or background. A component of dialect is slang. Slang is when different communities and social groups create or change the meaning of certain words. These words can seem well known to the group of origin, but to someone across the country or even across the state, can make no sense at all. In the documentary “American Tongues”, language is analyzed to better determine what types of language are spoken where, and what kind of Slang exists in these places. Throughout the documentary it becomes evident that some people truly have no idea of the definitions of certain words created by certain groups. Code-switching is when someone changes their language based on who they are with, typically to fit in better with that group.

There are many reasons why people code-switch. People switch their pronunciations of words and their dialects around to better fit in with a certain group. An example of this would be if someone is at work and needs to talk professionally around their co-workers, but later after work when they meet up with their friends, they change their speech. In this situation the person may change their grammar so that it less professional. Another reason a person might code-switch is not for themselves or their personal security at all. There are times when people code-switch to make the people that they are with feel more comfortable about being around them. For example a person would typically change their language when around children so as not to scare them, and also so as not to teach them bad or vulgar language.

Since code-switching is becoming more and more of a popular thing to do in today’s society, it is being incorporated into many parts of our society. This is because code-switching is becoming more and more practical. While many people in society today agree that it is a beneficial idea, many disagree. Jacomine Nortier of Multilingual Living writes, “People who switch back and forth from one language to the other are considered careless, thoughtless, clumsy, not interested or disrespectful towards their languages”. (http://www.multilingualliving. com/2011/05/19/codeswitching-much-more-than-careless-mixing-multilingual-bilingual-know-rules/). While this may be true in certain circumstances, it is important to understand that people do not necessarily switch languages because they are being careless. They may have a very good reason to switch their language around. This is because people respond better to what is familiar. One man who understands this is current president of the United States, Barack Obama. Back in January of 2009, president elect Barack Obama went to get lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl. Ben’s Chili Bowl, is a famous restaurant in a historically black neighborhood. After paying for his food, the cashier asked the President if he would like his change, to which he replied “Nah, we straight”. Even a man famous for his politically correct speech and grammar, the same man who was trusted enough to be given power over our entire country, understands the importance of code-switching and making people feel comfortable around you.

I code-switch, on a daily basis. I can even remember when it began. After my first summer at overnight camp, when my language began its transformation from a younger language to a more teenage language, I had started using more words that I had not used in the past. Some of these words were more vulgar than accepted today in public on a regular basis. So, my first experience with code-switching was hiding my newfound language from my parents and teachers. Now I have many different ways of speaking. I speak different ways with my parents; teachers; boss; school friends; school acquaintances; outside of school friends; boy friends; girl friends; strangers; and many more. My language, as with most kids my age, changes at least a little bit with almost everyone I talk to. The comfort level with that person changes. It does not matter whether I am the one that is uncomfortable or they are, but language is something that is meant to be manipulated for the best communication possible.

Furthermore, I believe that code-switching is a fundamental and even vital component of the human language. There are both social and professional benefits to changing the way in which you speak based on who you are speaking with. This is why code-switching is becoming more common throughout the world. It is important for people to feel comfortable throughout all of the different groups in their lives, and code-switching is they a way to stay connected to all of these groups at once.


Works Cited

Alvarez, Louis, and Andrew Kolker. "POV - PBS American Tongues." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Dem, Gene. "How Code-Switching Explains The World." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Nortier, Jacomine. "Code-switching Is Much More than Careless Mixing: Multilinguals Know the Rules!" Multilingual Living RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Thompson, Matt. "Five Reasons Why People Code-Switch." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Greta Haskell Short Story

“I don't want to move! This is so stupid I don't care what you say, I’m staying here with my friends. I'm almost eighteen I can take care of myself!” I don't like yelling at my parents, but this is an exception. They want me to move to Denmark. Sure, Denmark is pretty and I guess it would be fun for like, tourists but I don't want to move there! Permanently. I don't speak Danish. Or German. Or anything close. I'm a seventeen year old white girl. I speak english and spoiled brat on occasion. Now is one of those times.

I don't want to sound spoiled but I just can't go there. I have plans for college, I have friends, I have a boyfriend, I just got my drivers license and a car. There's just too much here for me to leave. I can't just pack up my life and bring everything with me.

The worst thing about moving is that my parents speak Dutch but never bothered to teach me when I was little because they thought “It would never be useful”. Well guess what? They were wrong. Now i'm going to be the only one in this stupid country who can't speak their language and everyone is going to laugh at me.

After a long, worthless fight with mom and dad, I didn’t get my way. I was moving to Denmark and they didn't care what I said. They tried to compromise with me as much as they could but nothing can make me feel better. “We’ll move your car by boat! We’ll homeschool you!” But I don't want any of that. I want to be a normal teenager, in America.

After a month of saying goodbye to my friends and a couple of failed Dutch lessons, it's time to get on the plane for Denmark. After a ten hour flight we finally arrived. The minute we stepped out of the plane I felt out of place. The airport employees were greeting me in their weird language that I didn’t understand. Even my parents started babbling in Dutch. I felt like the smallest person in the world.

It was like a totally different world. There was different fashion, different smells, and obviously, the different language. “Mom, I’m really hungry.” I tried to tell my mom but she wasn't listening, she was too busy soaking up all the amazing sights. “Mom!” I yelled louder.

“Oh, sorry sweetie. I didn't hear you the first time. What did you need?” she said. I could tell she was not too enthusiastic though.

‘“I’m hungry.” I was annoyed but I just wanted to get some food in my stomach.

“Oh lets go to that hot dog cart over there!” my mom always talked about how good the hotdogs in Denmark are so good. I guess it can’t be any worse than an american one. Mom and dad had to order for me because I obviously couldn’t read the menu. I felt like a three year old. I was so oblivious to what was going on around me. I couldn’t understand anyone, speak to anyone or get any of my points across. I really felt like an idiot.

In america I could have ordered whatever I wanted. I would have no trouble at all. I didn't even like what mom and dad got me. It was gross so I just gave it to dad. We got into a taxi to take us to our new house. I didn't even know what it looked like yet.

We pulled up in front of a little row house. It was cute I guess but I want to go back home. I just can't imagine myself living here. As soon as college comes, I'm going home. The rest of the night consisted of me unpacking and not talking to my parents. Who, by the way, still sounded like weirdos speaking in Dutch. I was so used to being home and seeing tourists and not understanding what they're saying. Now I was the one out of place.

I stayed at the house, it's not home, for a couple of days but on Monday I was enrolled in the closest Danish high school. I am definitely not excited. Danish school is different than american school, we get there earlier and leave earlier. I still had a little bit of jet lag so waking up at 5:30 was not an easy task. I always wake up an hour earlier than i have to leave so that I can get ready. The school was really close so I just walked a couple of blocks and I was there just on time. I went to the office and they didn't speak very good english so they just wrote down the room number i had to go to on a piece of paper.

When I got to the room everything was strange. I felt like the ugly duckling in the room. I found a seat in the back corner and sat there alone. When I looked around no one was talking they were just reading their books. they all looked like weirdos to me. None of them were wearing makeup or cute outfits. Like, does appearance mean anything to them here? I had all my makeup and stuff on, I looked so out of place.

The teacher finally came in and acknowledged me so I guess he knew I was here. He pointed at me and everyone looked while he started speaking in Danish. Introducing me I guess. But here comes the worst part. When he introduced me he said my name like “Kahreen”. “It’s Karen.” I didn't have the patience for this. But I don't think he understood me because he still said “Kahreen”. Whatever I can't speak Danish so I’ll just fail all of my classes and become an american loser who lives in Denmark with her parents for the rest of her life.

After a couple of days of hell at my new Danish school I couldn't do it anymore. I felt so alone I couldn't communicate with anyone, my parents spoke in Danish, the people in school spoke in Danish and my friends from home were in a different timezone than me. I had no friends and no one to talk to. Home wasn't even comforting since my parents didn't even seem american anymore. I felt like an exchange student instead of their daughter. I gave up trying to be a rebel and started to take lessons on speaking Danish.

After a couple lessons with my tutor, Koenraad, I was getting a little better. He was pretty nice and kind of cute so I guess the lessons aren't that bad. I guess once I get better I’ll feel more at home in Denmark. I guess spoiled brat wasn't working out for me, so I have to replace it with something else.


Short Story from TJay

It had always been that way for as long as I could remember. Until that day the U Haul truck was outside of our house which it had then set in my head that this was actually happening. I let my backpack hang from one shoulder in disbelief. My dad came to the door carrying moms’ dresser along with four other movers. “Ray! Ray! … Ray!” I had started day dreaming until I heard my friend calling me from his next door window. “Hey David”  I said looking down as I sighed. “What’s going on ; I didn’t know you were moving” he said. I thought to myself while he was talking about how different this move to Filthadelphia might be. I had been there once for a Flyers game when we went to the East Coast two years ago. It was over run with drunk people with strange accents and there were tons of Italians more than I had ever seen. “Ray! Ray! … Ray!” David said. “Hey man are you alright” he said , no my life is over I thought I just nodded and said I was okay.

Ten days later we took the long flight to our new home. Our stuff was sent to Philly ahead of us so it’d be there when we arrived. The whole flight I just sat there as my parents sat there watching movies under a blanket on their laptops. I took like four naps on that flight, the stewardess came by three times and offered some  us some pretzels and peanuts I just said no until she came back with cranberry juice I drank that. I dozed off again; when I woke up we were making our final descent into Killadelphia. I pulled the blanket over my eyes when we landed I wasn’t ready to be there yet. I left behind all my friends and even this girl I liked she said we could never be together because I wore sweater vests. *fasten seat belt sign goes off* we were officially in our new home.

We caught a cab to West Philly, the most I ever heard about this part of Philly was from Will Smith on re-runs of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The cab driver was telling my dad about everything there was to see on our way to our new home. We pulled up and I went into the vacant house our things were in thepod out front they had just been delivered. They were row homes, they looked like George Washington’s house very old. I walked in I heard voices out back so I went on the deck. There were two thuggish looking kids out there one was on the balcony and one was in the driveway below. Their accents were weird.

“Yo Tyrel!, wassup cous?” Yo bro I screamed back from my balcony as I spit on to the concrete down below. “We on the block today?” Rick screamed back while still walking. “ Yeah dawg we out here.”  

The two guys names were Tyrell and Rick they didn’t see me peeking out the sliding door. The one kid spit on to the driveway below and he was blasting some rap music out of his back pocket, his pants were sagging they looked like real scum to me nothing like my friends back home.

 “Yo Tyrell who’s that moving in next door?”  “Probably some old head who’s probably gonna try to take over the block again.” I’m bout to slide over there to my steps to see what’s popping said Tyrell”  Tyrell and Rick sat on Tyrell's front steps watching as Ray and Ray’s parents carried in leftover boxes.

Tyrell and Rick looked over at Ray and laughed at him as they said “sweater vest”

Ray just glanced up and carried the box in the house.

Later that evening he went back out front to watch everything that was going on in his new neighborhood.

I swear I hate it here and all the people imagine when school starts.

The two “new neighbors “ emerge from the next door house and pull their marijuana and lit it. They offered Ray some but he kindly said no.

 

They laughed and whispered to each other.

“Oh you looked like you don’t want no smoke” said Tyrell - in urban Philadelphia this would mean Ray doesn’t want any conflict.

“I have no idea what that means bro but I’m new here so could you just umm how do I say this so you could understand.. just you know , chill?” said Ray.

*laughter from the tandem breaks the silence of the quite street*

“Where are you from dawg?” said Rick to Ray.

“West Side” said Ray

“West Side of what cous?!” said Tyrell in an annoyed tone

“Of Long Beach” said Ray

“Yeah well be more specific next time youngboul” said Rick

“What on earth is a youngboul?” said Ray

How do I say this so you can understand, umm a scrub” said Tyrell

Tyrell and Rick both laughed simultaneously again and said Squad.

In Philadelphia squad is something said in urban communities normally at the end of sentences by two or more people who are friends most commonly used after a punch line in a joke between them.

Ray removes himself and goes into the house where his mom is sitting on the couch he storms up the steps she asks how he likes his new friends. He replies back saying that they are not his friends.

The next morning through the wall Ray hears more of that loud rap music he bangs on the wall and the music doesn’t stop.

The music even sounds like a foreign language to me. All I hear is obscenities I miss Long Beach where it was nice outside I didn’t hear sirens all night. I went to turn on the news and all I saw was murder it was so different even the news people had accents. In the next few weeks I had my first cheesesteak and water-ice. Pronounced wooder-ice here. I even became cooler as they say with Rick and Tyrell. I even gave their music a shot. They didn’t like my pop music too much but theyheld me down. Which in Philly meant they watched after me to make sure I was okay.

I will say that I prejudged this whole city as a whole and especially their accents which I still despise. Philadelphia has been good to me thus far. I’m chilling.

What a Philly Accent Means To Me

Jamie Turner



Philly Accents

     A Philly accent is an accent you earn.  

I grew up in Philadelphia and have always been told how distinctive our accents are.  The rest of the world says “water” while we say “wooter”. We also say our “Os” from the back of our throat.  We have many other different accents on different letters and words but that is not the point.  My point is that in order to really have an accent you must earn it.

For some odd reason I have heard people I know don’t have a Philly accent try to fake one and it has really been annoying me lately.  

Recently I was at a family event with my mom’s side of the family.  One of my cousins started talking in a Philly/ Italian accent literally in the middle of a sentence.  Since I am close with my family I knew that my cousin had not just magically developed an accent.  But this story does go along side with my argument that People take pride in a Philadelphian accent.   My cousin obviously wanted to have a Philadelphian accent so people would notice that he has strong roots in Philadelphia.  I think it is quite strange that my cousin tried to do this but it is understandable.

You can’t just wake up one day and say “You know what, I want to have a philly accent this morning and maybe a New York accent a little later.  You either are born with a specific accent or you develop one from being in that area or around people with that accent for a long time.  In order to even say you have an accent you have to just say words how you would say and pronounce words however you feel comfortable saying them.

To earn an accent is to learn what is like to be from or represent your city, neighborhood, or country.  I think anyone who has developed any type of accent should be proud of it.  I think Philadelphia accents represent people who are hard workers.  People with a Philly accent come from city filled with places and things that helped make this country what it is today.  In my opinion I believe a lot of people imagine that growing up in the city is cooler or maybe people think you are a strong person because I know many suburban people think that Philadelphia is a horrible place where you can’t even get out of your car to get into your house.  Yes there are certain place in the city of Brotherly Love that some may feel uncomfortable walking around in the public and things of that nature, but there are neighborhoods like that all over the country.  Anyway having a noticeable characteristic that clearly shows that you have been living in the city makes mislead people from rural or suburban areas think you are tougher or maybe more mature in a sense because of growing up in the city.

Though I feel comfortable in my city some people may not and that could because of a Philadelphia accent.  Someone who is not familiar with the area could hear someone with a Philadelphian dialect speak and think “What a trashy accent.”  A lot of people nowadays have the tendency to judge others as soon as they see that person.  People hear or see something that they aren’t used to seeing or have never heard wherever they are from and automatically decide that they would not  want to associate themselves with those things.  I think that is really a shame because most if not all people I know who live in the city of Philadelphia love it.  There is a vast majority of different cultures, people, places to see. and many more likeable details.  I feel as though everybody or everything deserves a chance before it is shut down.  So to any people who have never been to Philadelphia or any other urban area for that matter, you should really give the people and the community a chance.

Now while I have been doing this project I have been wondering “Where and how was our accent developed?’  There is no way to tell how or when an accent was developed.  But I can tell you that from farther research Philadelphians have a similar accent to New York and places like Reading, Pa. Baltimore, Md. and Wilmington, De.  These dialects are referred to as “The Mid- Atlantic Dialect”.  It would only make sense that these places are very close to each other compared to other places in the country or even the world.  My theory is that European immigrants brought their home dialects to America and they got all mixed- matched together.  All of the place I listed are also on the East Coast.  Another thing to note about the East Coast is where the majority of our Country’s pioneers came from.  I think that also explains why there is no particular West Coast dialect or accent.  These accents were thrown into a melting pot and made into their own individual accent.  That is what makes them what they are today.  

So these are some things that I think make up our city’s accent.  These are just

my views on all of these topics unless something is proven or a fact.  I love my city

and I love the people in my city.  One thing I love so much about Philadelphia is that

we have one of the strongest accents in the country.  In my opinion your city hasn’t

truly established itself until it has it’s own accent.  That is why most if not all suburban

areas have no accent.  I strongly believe that our community plays a big role on how

our accent and our community are looked at by others.  You must take pride in who

you are and how you have gotten to be this person through outer influences around

you.  So this sums up why I think you should represent your city with pride and

dignity.


Sources:
"The Philly Accent." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Jan. 2011. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.


Loviglio, Joann. "The Big Story." The Big Story. N.p., 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.

Q1 Benchmark : Code Switching

The role of the individual in systems is to understand their surrounding how to act accordingly.


The definition of code switching according to Dictionary.com is “ the alternate use of two or more languages or varieties of language, especially within the same discourse“ Code switching is when you change the way you talk based on the atmosphere of people around you. Code switching can be done by anyone without you even knowing. When you introduce yourself to someone the first thing you look at is how they address themselves or how they present themselves to you. For some people code switching is a social thing. Meaning they feel obligated to do so without being judged  based or misunderstood.


Saturday mornings I take a STEM - Program called Urban Youth Naval Engine Program. This is a 22 week program for students from grade 9 -12, encouraging students to pursue a career in the science, technology, engineering and or mathematics field. Within my 22 weeks of attending this program, I met a person by the name of Mr. Chuck. He looked liked a normal man, about 5’7½’’, mid 50’s. He was a laid back, cool guy. When he introduced his self he said “ Hey what’s up my name is Chuck Williams! “ No big fancy title just plain old Mr.Chuck. As he began to talk he told the class about his childhood. He would talk he would use the words “ yo” and “yea”, informal language.


Informal language can be described as abbreviated language,  such as “slang”. Your informal language is spoken around the people you know and are comfortable with. At  times when you code switch you  catch yourself doing it without even knowing it because you are a custom too it. For example when you talk to your friends you greet each other with a “hey”, “wassup” or even “yo”. When you ask for something you “say pass me the...“ or “get me this and that.” Its like you’re asking for something but you’re not really asking, you’re telling.

The definition of language according to Dictionary.com is “ a body of words and the systems for their use common to people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition.” Language is a form of communication. No matter where you are around the world, there will always be a language you have to adapt to. When you are born one of the first things you are taught is a language. Whether it is formal language or informal language.


Formal language is proper english.  You tend to speak formal language when you are talking to someone of high power, like a teacher or principal.  When you are in school you tend to be accustom to using formal language. Your formal language is a form of politeness. Words such as “please” and “thank you” would be an example.


While listening to Mr. Chuck, he then formally introduced himself as Dr. Charles “Chuck” Williams. Ph.D. I was highly surprised because of how he presented his self. This man dressed with jean shorts, a hoodie, and a fitted hat cocked to the side would be a doctor. He told his how he struggled being in a single parent home.


Is code switching good or bad ?

When you are in a professional setting, you code switch. When you apply for a job you have to go to a interview so they can evaluate you in person. When you introduce yourself as any individual, you say “Hello my name is..”, you wouldn’t say “Wassup my name is ..”. Your goal is to set a good impression on the person who is interviewing you so you show that you are qualified for the job. By a person code switching there are able to change their way of language to have effect one person. Code switching is not a bad thing, because you’re goal is to leave abbreviate impression about your self.


The average teenager I would say code switches like I do. Text message “language” is almost code switching. You abbreviate formal words to make them short and easy to understand.  The way we speak to our friends will never be the way we speak to our parents. If we did it, it would be to a certain point but never go overboard with the way we lead into a conversation.



What is the relationship between language and power?

The relationship between language and power is strong. You could know every language in the word and have to power. You could have all the power and only know one language. The objective is to have your voice be heard and understood through many of languages. It is ideal to learn more than one language in life. Throughout Pennsylvania every high schooler in the Philadelphia School District has to take a mandatory two years of spanish. I think this is encouraged because as you grow older and mature you begin to meet new people from all over. The key lesson that is being too here is communication. As long as you can communicate with someone in some shape or form that is the power to your language between one another.  


What might the language you use say about yourself ?

The language I use would say about me is that I code switch when needed. A conversation between a friend and I would be informal because we are kids we see each other as a equal level of authority. We value each other the same because we are equal. However  if I were to be texting my mom it would be in a different mind state because she is of higher authority than I am. I believe I code switch because in general the way you talk is how people will identify you. If you ever go into a line up room when you under arrest, you are identified by appearance and voice.



In conclusion to this personal essay I would agree that every person sometime in there life has code switched before. You will never know you do so unless someone is telling you that you did it or you have someone record you.



Work Cited




Quarter 1 Benchmark- Adowa Mohamed

Arabic or “Arabic”


My friends and I came into our fourth grade class and we couldn’t help but notice a new kid. I asked my friend if she knew who the new kid was but she was just as clueless as I was.

“I dare you to go up to her and say hi,” said one of my friends while laughing.

So I walk up to the girl,  said hi and introduced myself, but she sat at her desk with a blank look and finally responded in Arabic saying, “Ante ba tihikee arabi?” (Do you speak Arabic?)  

At that moment I responded saying, “Ayi, salam.” (Yeah, Hi.)

She asked me what my name was and where I was from, then told me her name was Abeer and she moved here from Iraq. I then went back to my friend, after this little exchange.

“So what did she say?” she asked all excitedly.

I translated the conversation to my friend that was exchanged between me and Abeer. I felt so eager and proud of myself for being able to talk to someone who only spoke Arabic, then being able to translate to my friend.

Eventually, my 4th grade teacher ended up sitting me next to Abeer to help her with her English but I started to notice that her Arabic wasn’t the same as mine. I mean I understood her but the way she worded her sentences and the words she used were different. It felt as though I wasn’t making sense to her. Sometimes I would find myself asking her to repeat things over and over, trying my best to grasp the familiar words I understood. Then one day we got into an argument and she told me that she doesn’t even understand me half the time and that I spoke some other type of Arabic. This was not the first time I came to the realization that not all Arabic I knew, was the same as everybody else’s Arabic.

I felt really bad and it had me thinking in frustration, it took me some time to realize that the type of Arabic she was speaking wasn’t the type of Arabic as I was familiar to. The way she combined words when she spoke and how the words were pronounced with a strong thick accent. After a couple of weeks I went home and asked my mom what kind of arabic we spoke. She told me that all Arabic was the same, but I still didn’t get it. Was the type of Arabic i’ve been speaking all my life fake? My dad came home from work and I paid close attention to how he spoke Arabic. It was no different than how I was speaking to Abeer. I remember asking him why my Arabic sounded so weird. He would tell me that it was no different from his but the dialect. Every Arab country has a different dialect. Yemeni people talk different than people from Iraq or Sudan would.

I remember going to Arabic school since I was three years old. I’ve been to eight different Arabic schools over my lifetime. One day I came to school and I had a bit of a cold and one of my teachers noticed and asked,

“Ya bintee ante ayana?” (Sweetheart are you sick?)

I was a bit startled by what she asked because I thought the teacher said, “iryan,” which means naked because I’ve never heard of the word “ayan” so I quickly responded saying

“La.” (No.)

Then shaking my head in disbelief and shock.

At the end of the day my teacher was talking to my mom telling her how I was doing in class, then mentioned that I might have a little cold. When we got in the car to go home I told my mom, “Hakee moo alima sal atnee lo ana iryana.” (My teacher asked me if I was naked.) I was a bit confused so she explained that my teacher thought I was coming down with a little cold  and that she didn’t ask if I was “iryna” but if I was “ayana” which meant sick in the Sudanese Arabic dialect. Ever since, I started to notice the different types of words that people around me would use compared to the ones I used. Little things like pronunciation and words that have different meanings in different cultures.

As the oldest child my mom relied on me a lot when it came to translating because my dad would be at work for most of the day. Everywhere she went, I went. I would be that little girl who would stand by my mom translating and explaining every word that was said to her. I was her mini personal translator. I remember once when I was around the age of ten, I went to the hospital and had badly injured my arm after being pushed in a soccer game. My mom’s english was slowly improving over time but her accent was a bit of a problem because it was pretty thick and broken. Then when it came time to give your information and answer questions, it took awhile for the nurses to gather the information needed, but they later on found a translator. Me. It’s these little scenarios that got me thinking about how much language was important in society. Without it, going about daily tasks in our everyday lives would become a bit more challenging.

There are different scenarios and situations where dialects are found and can cause some confusions like in “All American Tongues,” the people in the movie all spoke english but each and every person had some sort of different dialect and pronunciation. Some of the accents were so deep that it was a bit of a struggle to understand what the person was saying. Our brains play a role in this by catching different speech patterns we're familiar to at a young age. For me that meant learning different dialects over time because as a child I was accustomed to one type of Arabic. Slowly over time I began to recognize them more and more.  In the Arabic language there are many many different types of dialects, just like the English language, and every other language out there. Today I can fluently speak and understand almost every type of dialect the arabic language has to offer.


Felix d'Hermillon Creative Language Essay

Felix d’Hermillon

English

English BM Rough Draft

“Repeat after me Alex, ‘you’. Say it with me Alex,” said the therapist for the third time this session. 

He repeated that sentence every time after he explained what Alex was doing wrong and how he should fix it. The therapist was a simple man. He was 39 years old, lived in Shepard's bush, just outside of London and made $120,000 a year. His father died 6 years ago. His mother moved in with him a year after he died because she fell down the stairs. He went to school for 6 years to get his medical degree in vocal therapy. This mans name was Winston Howard , named after his great Grandfather. People often times called him Winny. 

“You, You, You.... Yooooouuuuu,” they repeated over and over.

“Really suck in those O’s Alex, You.” replied Winny.

“You, You, Yoooouu,” said Alex.

“That was it Alex, now try the whole sentence,” Winny yelps with joy. They were working on “You” for the past 20 minutes. 

Alex was not his average customer. Alex turner was the most famous person that he has ever worked with. Alex Turner was the lead singer and guitarist for the arctic monkeys. Of course Winston loved the arctic monkeys with a passion but he hated Alex Turner. Alex Turner was the reason that his father died. Winston several years ago followed the arctic monkeys all across Europe. Winston knew everything about Alex Turner, and that was how he knew that Alex Turner killed his father. Alex Turner had a 1970 Triumph Spitfire. It was in a British Racing Green. It was in perfect condition, until that fatal night. Winny was at one of their concerts. They played at the Rubber Ducky in Central London. Winny’s dad was coming to pick him up. Winny had, quite a bit to drink, but so did Alex Turner. His dad was helping Winny cross the street, he helped him walk to the passenger side. A car comes flying down the road. His dad shut the door and was about to His dad was already at his door about to get in the car. He gets plowed through by the Spitfire. It had been declared a hit and run by those stupid pigs. They would barely investigate the crime, but he had known who it was. He told them over and over “Alex Turner, it was Alex Turner!!!” he sobbed. The pigs went to see his car but there wasn’t a scratch on it. 

“Are you mine.” Alex says perfectly.

“That was perfect Alex try singing it now.” he says masking his true tone of voice. 

“Are you miiiiiiine” Alex sang.

“That was brilliant Alex”  he says as he lied straight through his teeth. The “you” was perfect but he hated Alex. Winny was the only one that knew he had two Spitfires. Winny stalked Alex a while ago, tapped his phone lines and he heard him say that he had two spitfire models with the same license plate and the same serial number. 

“Can you sing me the song from the beginning” he grudged. Alex sensed that he had a grudge over something but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He knew that it had to do with him but he had no idea what it was that made Winston so angry.


“I'm a puppet on a string... Are you mine?” Alex sang the song perfectly with his new accent. He had hit all the notes perfectly and perfected his “You’s”. It was at this moment in time that Winny decided that he was going to kill Alex turner. He had to start planning it all out. He had to plan where he was going to do it, how he was going to do it and where to dispose of the body. He knew that he had to wear gloves, and had to be ready to leave the city or even country if the fuzz caught his sent. He knew what he had to do to end Alex Turner.

“Nice work today Alex, thank you so much for coming in. I’ll see you tomorrow at four o’clock, correct. Cheerio.” Winny said.

“Cheerio, see you tomorrow mate.” he replied exactly the way that Winny taught him.

As soon as Winny got home  he went straight to his basemsent. He was going to murder Alex Turner tomorrow. His mom yelled down the stairs “Winny, dinners ready.”

“Shut Up Ma’!!!!! I’m doin’ somethin’!!!! Bloody Hell!!!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. 


He went in the next day thinking only of Alex. He had 5 appointments before he saw Alex at 5. He knew that only one of them was going to leave from that office. Alex was his last patient and then Winny would finally have the weight of his fathers death off of his shoulders. His first customer went by extremely slow. It was only an hour and a half but it felt like four hours. Winny was anxious. He was getting sloppy only in his first customer. He kept saying words that were off topic like “Kill” and “Shoot” and “Death”. He spaced out frequently during the sessions. After the first patient, he pulled himself over to the side and got a grip. He went outside to have a smoke and came back a loose and relaxed man, prepared for what he was going to do at 5. Every other patient went by much quicker. All of them were very bland.  3 o’clock, 4 o’clock, next he knew, it was time for him to call Alex into the office.  

“Alex... Dr. Howard will see you now.”, the secretary said

“Thank you Elanor. Come with me Alex, shall you?”, said Winny

“Hows it going Doctor” was the last thing that anybody has heard from Alex Turner. 


Don’t forget to Cite some websites that you use.

Etherington, Mike. "The very Best of British." n.pag. the very best of british. Web. 4 Nov 2013. <http://www.effingpot.com/slang.shtml>.

Lost in Language

“Ni hao ma?” I said. 

“Wo hen hao!”  My grandma replied. 

“Lei ho ma?” I said. 

“Wo ho!” My grandma replied. 

My parents came here to America at a very young age. Even though they had both spoken different languages they learned English quite fast. Now my parents speak English more, but they're losing their language they had known before arriving to the United States. Then there's me an American born Chinese. My first language was English. Unlike other Chinese kids nowadays who actually know how to speak, read, and write in Chinese. I'm probably one of the few who barely know any Chinese. At a very young age just before I entered kindergarten, my grandparents taught me words and phrases in the Chinese language. On my mom side of the family, I learned Mandarin Chinese. On my dad side of the family I learned Cantonese Chinese. Mandarin and Cantonese are some of the very many dialects of the Chinese language. I knew phrases here and there and I was able to use them in sentences. As I got older my parents did not speak Chinese to me as much and I lost the language. Now that I think about it now from watching home videos and seeing how it effects me. I feel really terrible for not knowing as much Chinese as I could have known now.

When I was about five years old, my parents entered me in Chinese school. The Chinese school taught Mandarin Chinese. It went from the grades Kindergarten to Sixth Grade. If you failed a grade you would repeat it. In the beginning I actually enjoyed going there.

“Mom, I don’t feel like going to Chinese school today, do I really have to go?”

“Yes, you need to go and learn some Chinese.”

“I already know how to have a basic conversation, and besides the weekend is  suppose to be school free.”

“Well, when you’re finished 6th grade, then you can stop going, okay?”

“Ugh.. Yeah, I guess so.”

  Along the years I dreaded going there. Most of the time I felt as if I wasn't actually learning anything. Sometimes I felt like my parents where just wasting money because no matter how much I repeated a grade to learn something, as it went in one ear it went out the other. I thought it was always the teachers fault. Or perhaps maybe it was my fault because I just lost interest in learning the language. I did later on ended up not going anymore because I went to the highest level which was 6th grade. I went through 8 years of Chinese school, but in the end I felt like I didn’t learn much. I still couldn’t really have a fluent conversation in Mandarin. I think I did not really care much about learning Chinese when I was younger. Looking back I know that I wasted time and money for almost nothing. 

At my middle, FACTS Charter School, we learned Mandarin as a second language. I had to learn Mandarin from 2-8 grade. We had a heritage class and non heritage class based on if you spoke Chinese in your family. I was in on heritage for the longest time, but eventually it got too easy for me. So I moved to the heritage class. I felt like an outsider sometimes because my Chinese wasn’t as good as everyone else in the class. The things that we were learning in my Chinese class in 8th grade was like the things I learned in 4th grade at Chinese school. It should’ve been easy because I had already learned it, but it was the total opposite. 

“You can still read Chinese,”  he said cocking his head at the newspaper.

I nodded, I didn’t even mention is was all I could read. 

“I forgot everything. We’ve been in America for five years now.” This quote from Jean Kwok’s Girl In Translation, shows how a boy who is Chinese, has lived in America for five years, forgot almost about every little bit of Chinese he use to know. I feel like I can connect to the character, because growing up as a kid I spoke more Chinese than English. Ever since I started speaking more English, that’s when I stopped speaking Chinese. So the character in the story probably encountered the same problem because once he moved to America, he forgot how to speak Chinese. 

It’s not easy learning Chinese. Certain things are not said directly.” I feel like sometimes that’s why I gave up learning Chinese. It was just such a difficult language and if you didn’t have the patience to learn, then it was hard for you. 

When I talked to my grandparents I feel as if when speak I can’t remember how to say certain words and I just end up saying it in English. Sometimes I code switch between using Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese. If I forgot how it in one language then I say it in one Chinese dialect, I say it in the other. I think that also my grandparents make it somewhat easier for me to speak to them now because I speak Chinese but not as much when I talk to them because they know a little bit of English. My grandparents on both sides of my family enable me in a way because instead of me speaking in Chinese to them, they speak English to me. Sometimes I felt like there was always a language barrier between my grandparents and I. I feel like we have conversations, but their not deep conversations. For example, if I wanted to interview them for a school project, I couldn’t interview them. I had to ask my mom or dad, what they knew from what they were told. Also, I think that the fact my grandparents didn’t know English puts them in language barrier with them, and me.

Over the summer of 2009, I went to California to visit my family. Over the summer of 2009, I went to California to visit my family. I went with my grandparents from my dad’s side. I stayed in California for a whole month. My English before I went wasn’t too good, I would admit. I had to speak a lot of Chinese when I was there because most of my family there spoke Cantonese fluently. The TV shows, dinner conversations we would have were all in Cantonese. At the beginning of the trip I felt like there was not enough English being spoken, and I actually really missed talking to my parents. It was not at all that bad after a while.  Slowly I adjusted to speaking Chinese more often. I noticed that my Cantonese got better. I started having conversations and they were pretty fluent. Being around people who spoke Cantonese influenced me to speak more Chinese. When I got home after that month, I realized that I stopped speaking in Chinese. I feel like if I care about the Chinese language then I could try to speak it more often.

My parents have felt the same way because looking back at my old videos from when I was younger, my parents and I did speak more Chinese than we do now. My mom said that she is now going to try to speak Chinese more often as us. I think that even if it is a phrase or sentences overtime, if we keep communicating and speaking more in Chinese then we could be more fluent. Sometimes I feel as though I am losing apart of who I am, because I am Chinese. I know people who are Chinese and barely know any Chinese. Then there are people who know it fluently and they make me feel bad that I barely know any. I’m stuck between two languages.  

Works Cited: 

Kwok, Jean “Girl In Translation

“You can still read Chinese,”  he said cocking his head at the newspaper. I nodded, I didn’t even mention is was all I could read. “I forgot everything. We’ve been in America for five years now.”

It’s not easy learning Chinese. Certain things are not said directly.”

Sean Morris Q1 English Benchmark

“Are you British?”

This question has followed me through my years on this planet even though I was born in Philadelphia and lived there for all of my life and only went outside of the country twice. I never noticed the voice myself, at least until, if I remember correctly, people who I have known for years starting asking me “Are you, like, British?”

(Insert sassiest deep voice)  “Yes because I’ve been British all along and I’m revealing it to all you now so I can have a coup to overthrow the United States government and reclaim the colonies for our Mother England.”

While I might not have exactly thought that; it was a bit of an annoyance. But even after I seemed to explain to everyone of my fellow students in Middle School/ elementary school (it was a shared school)  it seemed to follow me everywhere I went.

South Carolina: “Are you British?”

Harrisburg: “Are you British?”

Karate class: “Are you British?”,

People to People: “Are you British?”,

Britain: “Are you British?”

Ok, I’m not sure they asked me that everywhere but it sure did feel like it. I’m not entirely sure when it began although my guess would be somewhere between the 4th and 6th grade. Mostly because I remember an experience in the fourth grade but I think I started getting asked it more frequently in the 6th grade and onwards.

So why is it British? I’ve never even been to Britain until last summer, if anything I might chalk it up to my watching of British programming like “Doctor Who”, “Miss Marple”, “Inspector Poirot” any number of old movies and eventually “Sherlock”, “Being Human” and many more. It could have a sort of similar effect of the Key and Peele skit and how when we are around a similar group of people we start- either unknowingly or consciously sounding like them (Key).  It also could be the fault of the infamous and world known voice changer known as puberty. Yes, thank you puberty for all your delights, including- but not limited to- the inescapable red mountains on our faces, awkwardness to seemly every situation- particularly social and the constant asking about any perceived “what is my life” even if the question makes no sense at all. Even then I ask what is a “British voice” within the whole of Great Britain there are multiple countries- including England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales- who each have various accents on their own that people can narrow down and identify to a single town.

So where does this notion of a single “British” accent come from? Well for starters I believe that when they say “British”- rather than having be some odd daunting mixture of Scottish, Welsh, English and Irish accents together are some type of super accent- I think that they mean an English accent. And when they say English, I would guess it was the same deep and sophisticated voice that people like Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, The Royal Family or any of the like. Not to make myself a gloater or anything like that- I just imagine that when Americans or other cultures think of the ‘standard’ accent from England thats what’s comes to mind. I wonder why I seem to make such an impression though, its not like I ask somebody about their accent every single time they talk.

I can roughly remember a time when I first started to become aware of my change of voice. I think it was in fourth or sixth grade and my father was in a parent teacher conference. I attended the conference- not because of bad scores or anything of the sort, students could just come to the conference. So at one point I think the teacher had acknowledged the apparent ‘fact’ of my British accent. This took my father aback for in all his years as my parent he never saw my voice as British- it was just his son’s natural voice. And the fact of the matter is that despite all first impressions I’m not ‘impersonating anything or anyone’ I just talk in the same voice I have since the beginning of my life. And if someone was to ask if I could do a ‘normal’ accent then what am I supposed to do. I am talking normally and I always have been. My mother didn’t even notice until a restaurant waitress asked about my voice about three to five years ago.

I think I can remember another event which was when I first met my advisory at the Science Leadership Academy. It was mid May 2012 and the weather fitted the time of month. Never the less I dressed in my black suit with a grey shirt and tie to give off a good first impression. We all entered the library and sat around in a circle to all meet, greet and see each other. As we all introduced ourselves, if I remember correctly, when I first presented I had actually surprised people when I first spoke. Most likely not due to my introduction; if that was the case I’d very much like to know what in the seven hells I said that shocked everyone in that room. I suspect it was due more to my apparent accent if anything. I’ll bet their minds were racing think “Yooooo, we got a British kid!, That’s what’s up!, Turn up!” or whatever is the way in bloody hell 8th grade students process information.

So at this point I’m sure you're wondering “Does he even want this voice?” well the truth is- I do. I’ve always thought that the English had a very nice, very eloquent and sophisticated voice. It normally comes off well and to be thought having a similar voice is quite a privilege and its lovely when people give me compliments about it. Besides it might  even open me up to career opportunities perhaps. For example, just the other day a former student at our school, who works as a DJ offered me a rather large sum of money if I was able to speak at a event and say a few things like “turn it up”. I was quite flabbergasted, I didn’t believe him at first (even now I’m still a bit hesitant of the believability) but he assured me that he earns six times more than what offered me at a single event. I sat there in my white suit for picture day, perplexed at what just transpired. Here I was using the voice that I have had all my life and suddenly I was offered the opportunity at a financial bonus. Naturally, like any reasonable human I told him I was interested but at this time I have not heard further details about it but when I do I shall try my best to make it.

I may not be British born, if I have a voice that people are willing to pay me for then by golly I'll wear a Union Jack tie. And I don’t find it particularly degrading to do that, I think it’d be rather fun to be honest. I am a person that likes to entertain others, in fact I think I’d like to go into the entertainment industry anyway to become an actor. (As well as other things like writer and possibly director, but for now lets talk about acting.) Additionally it seems that would work in my benefit as it appears every actor and actress and their mother are some way foreign. While I might be American, I’ve found in my life that it doesn’t really matter in the world of first impressions- if you talk it- for all people know, you are it. So if my voice is going to be a career booster in any way then I’ll English-it-up more if need be. While it could be potentially annoying to constantly clear up the fact I am not British, it's certainly a bit of an honor and potentially fortuatius to be thought as one. In the end I wouldn’t change my voice for an “American”, but if I did change my voice in anyway, I would probably make it deeper- that way it comes off as even more English.


Works cited:


"Purrr"

Have you ever had something you couldn’t do? Something you couldn’t say? That’s me, that’s who I..... or at least who I was. Ever since I got my braces, the things I used to say, I say no more. One time during Freshman year, I said a word that I hadn’t used in a while. This word was so simple, and the fact that I couldn’t say it made me livid. It was so embarrassing. I tried, tried, and I tried again, but I couldn’t pronounce it correctly. It got to the point where my entire class made fun of me. God, I hated these braces. Eventually it got better, but until that happened, I was the butt of the joke.

One day, a couple of my friends and I were having a conversation. I don’t remember what it was about, but I went to say this word and all I got in response was a room full of laughter.

“WHAT? Can you say that again?”

“What are you talking about?” I uttered with a face of confusion. I was so lost as to what they were talking about. Thinking to myself, What are they talking about?

“Repeat your sentence,” another said.

“When you get married you should be......,” and then I knew what they were talking about. I knew my braces had changed the way I spoke, but not to the point where it was noticeable. So I said it.

“Purr.”

I said it again just to be sure that this is what they were laughing at. As soon as the word left my lips, the room erupted again. At first it was a little funny, but then it got annoying. Every time I said something, someone else would end up asking me to say the word again.

“Can you say ‘purr’ again?”

It really got to the point where I just eliminated it from my vocabulary. Clearly that wasn’t the word I was trying to say, but everyone wouldn’t listen to that part. Not having someone to listen to me, and to have everyone laugh at me, caused me to cry. I wasn’t crying because they were laughing; it was because I felt defeated.

When I went home,  I told my mom about the situation. After hearing what I had to say, she just told me that sometimes there are certain challenges people have to overcome. Everyone can’t be perfect at everything. I knew that my mom knew the struggle I was going through because she has had similar situations occur in her life.

Although I got to talk to my mom about it, I still felt some type of way because she wasn’t in my predicament. I felt lonely because I thought I did not have anyone my age to relate to. I understand that she could understand, but I wanted to not feel the way I did. I felt upset and defeated. I hate not knowing how to do something. Knowing that I couldn’t say, the word, not only affected my speech, but the way I was thinking.

After realizing that I couldn’t say the word, I got upset. “Upset” is really an understatement. Sometimes I cried, but that was in the comfort of my home. Then I started to think, I’m just like a baby, so why not learn to say it and adjust to my braces. So when I was alone I would concentrate on saying that one word.

“Purr. No! Peerrr. No.”

Sometimes I even got mad with myself and would go days without trying to practice. But I knew that if I wanted to say that word again, I would have to continue to try. After a while I got better and I felt confident about it. So I had a conversation with a friend and she decided to bring oiiup that topic.

She said,“......hahaha that’s why you can’t say.....”

Knowing that I could actually say the word without much effort, I laughed and said, “Why can’t I? Pure.”

When I said that, it shut her up and she was surprised. I was a little surprised, too. Not only that, but I was proud that I could actually do it. Knowing that I could say the word, “pure,” I felt some confidence coming back. I was strengthening my resilience to bounce back from that situation, and obstacles like that.

Now that I am a sophomore, I can relate this situation to a clip that I recently watched. The clip is titled, “American Tongues,” by James Baldwin. The clip talks about the different ways that Americans speak. James Baldwin traveled across the country and got different individuals to say certain things. When my peers heard me say the word, “pure” wrong, they didn’t realize that my braces caused an accent. The way I spoke was because of the complications that I have had. That is how the different Americans in the clip portrayed one another. They said each other was wrong, but didn't realize they were all correct, but had different ways expressing it.

Looking back on freshmen year, I feel as though the incident was a barrier that I broke through. Now that I know that it’s okay to fail, just as long as you can come back from it, makes me a better person. This has helped me for situations to come and has helped me have a better outlook on obstacles. Adjusting to my braces was not easy, but I am glad to have them. At first they got me upset because I could not say what I wanted, but later on it showed that even with the circumstances that I have, I could make the best out of it.


My Linguistic Identities

Often times, people will say, “you say ‘to-may-to’, I say ‘to-mah-to’!” but you could argue something similar about the way different groups of people use phrases and words to mean different things.  When I think of language, and linking it to the question of an individual’s role in society, I am most interested in looking at identity along with it.  In my daily life, I see how my own identities are expressed through my language.

When I’m with my friends at School of Rock, I use an extra set of vocabulary to talk with them about music.  While we all are totally comfortable with casually using the words “key”, “chord progression”, “pinch harmonics”, and “bars” when discussing the songs we’re on, or the songs we are helping each other learn, our musical language may be incomprehensible to people who do not play music.  A few months ago, I was sitting at the dinner table with my parents, and somehow my dad (also a musician) and I started talking about harmonics, and their placement on the neck of the guitar/bass.  Although to us we seemed to be having a common conversation, at one point we turned to my mom, and her only words were, “What in the world are you talking about?”  I think experiences like this have helped me realize how many different “linguistic identities” I have, all based on my environment and who I am with.  If I had been having that same conversation with someone at School of Rock, nobody would have thought twice about it, much less paid any attention to it.  However, as soon as I was removed from the environment of School of Rock and being with my friends there, the nature of the conversation in relation to my surroundings was completely changed.  I have my own identity that goes with my friends at School of Rock, but also connects me with other musicians in general through the language I have the knowledge to use.    

Another “linguistic identity” of mine comes out when I am with my friends in and from school.  While some of our casual vocabulary would be easily understandable by most kids our age, it still would be cryptic to many adults.  I had never even thought of the language I used with my friends as being different from what I used in the rest of my daily life, until I started writing this piece.  This kind of late realization shows how different someone can seem to people in a larger community, when in a small community they are seen as normal, and see themselves as normal.  Two good examples of the kinds of phrases that are used frequently by high school students that may seem to make no sense to adults are “on point” (means something is good) and “out of pocket” (means something/someone is behaving too crazily, and should stop).  When I asked my mom what she thought “on point” and “out of pocket” meant, her responses were, “hit the nail on the head,” and “out of money.”  Although both phrases do mean something to adults like my mom, both mean completely different things to my peers and I.  The identity I use with my peers versus my superiors might be undetectable, if it weren’t for the linguistic differences between the two identities.  

My third “linguistic identity” is a good demonstration of a mixture between one I use with peers and one I use with adults––the one I use with my parents.  Parents, if you think about it, hold a very unique place in most teenagers’ lives.  Of course, they are my elders, and they have authority over me.  But I have also lived with them for 15 years, and therefore am more comfortable speaking casually around them than any other authority figure in my life.  Being this comfortable would usually mean using all of the same jargon I use with my peers, but there is also the age gap, bringing with it a vast cultural difference.  While I feel just as comfortable cursing around them as I do around my peers, I wouldn’t use the phrase “out of pocket” in a conversation with my parents, because–as is shown above–it wouldn’t make any sense to them in the context I would use it in.  I think this identity is very important to me, because it has drastically evolved and changed throughout my life along with the level of the language I use, even though I’ve been living with my parents the whole time.  

The last main “linguistic identity” in my life is the one I use when I’m speaking to adults that I’m less comfortable with–teachers, family friends, and people I’ve just recently met.  With them, I never use any of the jargon I do with my friends, and I certainly wouldn’t even consider cursing around them.  Around these adults, I am almost a completely different person, unfortunately one with less character.  Within my friend group, my schtick is being jokingly irritable, which is often really fun.  However, around adults I have just met I will usually have a big smile on my face, and try to politely agree with most of what they say.  When I text my friends, it’s often very informally structured, and most of the time I’m talking about something funny.  However, when I email one of my teachers it is often about something somewhat serious, and I can make myself sound like a graduate student emailing her professor about something.  I always use a more sophisticated vocabulary when communicating with my teachers through emails, though I use a pretty average vocabulary in person.

Thinking about one’s separate “linguistic identities” can really help you realize how well humans are at adapting to different types of situations.  Usually when people think about our abilities to adapt they think of physical evolution and survival instincts, but there is a much faster and everyday type of human adaptation, which you can see through paying attention to those different identities.  Language and identity is an extremely interesting issue, and one that authors and people in general have struggled with for a long time.  Thinking about language as something that directly connects to identity really helped me see another side of the life I live every day.

Don't Tell Me How To Talk!

Don’t Tell Me How to Talk!



Scene 1 

Talking to best friend Mercedes.


Cianni (Phone Rings) 

Wassup, who this be?


Mercedes 

Girl its Mercedes, what you doing tonight?


Cianni 

Nothing, moms got me up here doing my homework. Why wassup?


Mercedes (putting on mascara, mouth open)

Well theres this frat party, trying to slide? 


Cianni 

Nah man I can’t, moms not going to let me. 


Mercedes 

Dallas gonna be there.


Cianni (sits up in bed)

I’m see what I can do?


Mercedes (cianni puts her on hold) 

Hurry up girl!


Cianni (cianni walks down the steps into the living room where her mom was ) 

Mom can I go over Mercedes? 


Mom

Who is Mercedes & why did you ask so late ? 


Cianni

Mercedes is my friend mom come on, we talked about her before. 


Mom (her mom eyes got wide) 

The girl from the projects?


Cianni

Yes... 


Mom 

Baby I don’t know if I want you to go over there, too many things are happening in the world right now. 


Cianni

Mom please, we’re going to be in the house the whole time. Her mom is just as strict as you are. 


Mom

You better be in the house the whole time, I will be calling you and you better answer. Need any money?


Cianni

Yeah, not a lot though. 


(Cianni walks back to her room and picks up the phone) Cianni

Cedes, you still there?


Mercedes

Yeah, girl what took you so long?


Cianni

Well I did have to convince moms into sleepover your house. 


Mercedes

And?


Cianni

She said yes! I can’t wait to see my baby!


Mercedes

You know I’m a little hurt, you didn’t even want to go if I didn’t mention Dallas. I thought we was better than that. 


Cianni (Laughs)

You so crazy get off my line, I’m going to call you when I get around your way. 


Mercedes

Peace.


Hours later at the frat party Cianni and Dallas are talking outside.

 Dallas

She a nobody yo come on it’s just dancing.


Cianni

The way she was dancing on you looked like sex with clothes on.


Dallas

Babe , seriously? How are you just going to disrespect me like that? That girl is ugly, she’s nothing compared to you...


Dallas 

Okay now I didn’t say you was all that.


(She playfully punched him in his arm) Cianni

Shut up boy!


Dallas

Sike naw but foreal you know I love you right?


Cianni

Yeah I know. 

Dallas

You not going to say it back? Thats cold .


(giggles) Cianni

I love you too Dallas. 


(She kissed him passionately then they went back into the party) 


Scene 2 

Cianni (Picks up phone)

Hi Sarah 


Sarah

Hey Cianni , sorry I called so late but I just wanted to talk 


Cianni

Oh okay , is everything alright?


Sarah


Yes everything fine.


Cianni 

You sure? You seem overly happy right now.


Sarah (laughs)


I am happy , the reason I really called was to see if you wanted to come to a party with me?


Cianni 

Today?


Sarah 

Yes silly!


Cianni (laughs)

I’m going to have to ask my mom, hold on.


Sarah 

Okay, take your time.


(Cianni walks downstairs to where her mom is) Cianni 


Mom Sarah wants me to go to a party with her today ...


Mom


What did I tell you about asking so late to go somewhere? Who is Sarah? Is she white?


Cianni (rolls eye)

You said not to ask so late and yes she’s white and yes she go to my school.


Mom (walks over to the pot on the stove and start stirring the rice)

Oh ... well where is the party?


Cianni 

Around her way in the burbs.


Mom (turn to face her daughter while leaning against the counter)

Are you going ‘cause you sound like you don’t want to?


Cianni 

I mean , yeah I want to get to know them but I feel like if I reveal my true self to them things will change and they will judge me.


Mom 

You can’t always worry about what people have to say about you, that’s not living life honey.


Cianni 

Yeah yeah yeah, easy for you to say.


Mom 

Don’t get smart little girl.


Mom 

Are you going?


Cianni 

I guess.


Mom

I think you should go, it’ll be something different.


Cianni 

You mean talking proper and sipping tea?


Mom 

No I mean not running the streets with that girl Mercedes and try to figure yourself out. You can’t do that stuff your whole life. No no no not in my house. Now go get dress and stop giving me side looks.


(Cianni walks up to her bedroom and retrieve her cell phone) 


Cianni 

Sarah , you still there?


Sarah 

Uh yeah ... what did she say?


Cianni 

She said yeah it was a great idea.


Sarah 

Oh that’s wonderful okay I’m going to pick you up around 7 just tell me where you live.


Cianni 

How about you just meet me around the school. 


Sarah 

Uhh... okay that’s fine. 


Cianni 

Peace.


Sarah 

Huh?


Cianni (laughs)

Oh im sorry I meant bye. 


Hours later at the party


Jonathan (walks out on to the patio)

Hey Cianni. 


Cianni 

Hi Jonathan.


Jonathan 

You looking really scrumptious tonight!




Scene 3


Cianni and Mercedes are sitting on Cianni steps.


Mercedes 

I know you had fun at the party girl, I seen you & dallas walk up the steps. Mhmm what was yall about to do? 


Cianni (rolls her eyes) 

Nothing, leave me alone. 


Mercedes 

Oh no honey child, you’re going to tell me.


Cianni (starts blushing) 



Mercedes 

Don't start holding out on me!


Cianni 

Oh my god nosy, fine we finally did it... like it. 


Mercedes (gasps) 

Why would you do that? You know he kissed shawty at the party? 


Cianni 

Why can’t you just say the girl or her name? Always talking that slang stuff, and no he didn't. He said nothing happened and it was just a dance. 


Mercedes 

I should slap you right now trying to correct me, and a KISS is not just a kiss especially that one and if you're in a relationship & the person you kissed at a FRAT PARTY isn't your girlfriend. 


Cianni

Well did you see it with your own eyes? 


Mercedes 

Dont try to play me like that of course I seen it I’m not blind. Why you think I'm telling you now? 


Cianni (turned to face Mercedes with a confused look) 

So when you seen us walking upstairs why didnt you tell me? 


Mercedes 

I thought y'all was going upstairs to go argue not make up.


Cianni 

Well we did and its all your fault. 

Mercedes 

Now hold up, back up right there that is not my fault that your man didn't tell you wassup. 


Cianni 

As my friend if you see something don't you think you should tell me? Biggest person that gossip around here but you couldn't tell me that. Did that really happen or are you just trying to break us up? Tell me wassup. 


Mercedes 

I dont have to sit here and take this because you're too blind to see that he doesn't want you, he only want one thing . Guess what else? I was the one he was making out with at the party. Peace 


Scene 4


Cianni and Sarah is having a conversation about Dallas.


Sarah 

Why are you crying?


Cianni wipes her eyes


Sarah 

Is it a boy, boyfriend, bestfriend, ex bestfriend, cramps, you ran out of chocolate? What’s wrong sweetie?


Cianni (stops crying and giggles)

Try ex boyfriend and ex bestfriend


Sarah 

She stole your man?


Cianni (eyes widen)

I didn’t know you talk... with slang?


Sarah 

I didn’t mean for it to slip out but yeah I do, its just I thought I would have to change my speaking because of the school we go to, you know people are all fancy here. When you slipped up at the party talking all this slang I knew I can open up to you. 


Cianni (laughs)

I was really drunk huh? 


Sarah (laughs)

Yes you really was.


Cianni 

Good ‘cause all this proper talking is driving me crazy!


Sarah 

Me too girl, but what happened between you and your boyfriend?


Cianni 

Well my ex best friend Mercedes invited me to this frat party and my ex boyfriend was there and we had sex but I just found out that he kissed my friend Mercedes before we did, she has the nerve throw it in my face like it was something to be proud of. 


Sarah (gasps)

Yo she a back stabber! If I was you I would... (Sarah stops talking and goes into her own thoughts)


Hour later Cianni is walking out of her last period of class.


Jonathan (running toward Cianni)

Hey Cianni wait up!


Cianni 

Hey Jon!


Jonathan 

Do you want to go grab something to eat?


Cianni (smiles)

... Sure I would love to.







 

 

 






 








Identity and my Language

“Babciu boje sie troche.”, I said to my grandma.

“Nie boj sie. Wszystko bedzie dobrze. Mama bedzie z wami caly czas. Bede za wami tesknic ale wiedz ze zawsze bede tutaj dla was jak bedziecie mnie potrzebowac. Niezapomnij polskiego, bo twoj jezyk jest twoja osobowoscia.”

These were the last words I heard my grandma saying before we left. She told me my language is my identity and I should not forget it. My language is my identity. If I did not know it, then I would not be the same person as I am now.

I am unique because I am from a different country. I have an accent and I know about a different environment in a different country. I will always speak my language with my family, or friends because if I did not do that, I feel like I would lose something inside me. I would be empty inside. Everything that has to do with my language, which is Polish, reminds me with my memories when I was little. These were my best memories because I spent them with my close family that I really love.

I was thirteen years old when I moved to the U.S. I lived with my grandparents, and my mom was already in the U.S. working. She took us here so that we have a better future. In 7th grade I went to the Catholic school “Our Lady of Port Richmond”. A lot of people said it was a good school. My mom and I thought it would be a great school for me, and they also had an ESOL class, but I did not expect some other things to happen.

“Haha look at her. She does not know any English. She is so dumb.”

“I know hahaha. She is so stupid and ugly.”

That was my first day of school. These are the only words I remember coming out from some guys’ mouths. I was really shy and did not know what is going on around me. I did not know their language. I only knew a few words. Everyone used to laugh at me just because I did not know words in their language, or just because I could not pronounce words correctly yet. It was really hard for me to pronounce words at the beginning. I had to learn how to pronounce “r” because in Polish you roll “r”, just like in Spanish. After I talked with teachers, they apologized. They knew they made a mistake because I could see it on their faces.

“We are really sorry. I know we made a mistake by calling you names when we saw you or even after school. We will not do that anymore. I guess.”

It was still confusing that they said “I guess”. This made me think a lot, but I did not care if they talked about me after school. I only cared if they talked about me at school. After school I always went home to do my homework, and learn English. It was hard for me, but I tried my best.

After this experience with students laughing at me I got really shy. I was really closed and I did not want to talk to anyone from school because I thought the same thing would happen. Almost all students laughed at me because I did not understand, or could not pronounce words. I could not understand why they did that. If they were in my place they would feel like me. Looking back now I was a really scared/shy person. You could say I was even avoiding people just not to talk to them. Right now I feel actually confident with my language and my accent. Before if someone would ask me about my accent I stopped talking because I knew they are paying attention to it. Now, I feel good with talking in English and having my accent. It actually makes people to know more about me. In 8th grade I went to McCall school where I started talking more. I did not feel confident exactly, but I opened up more. When I got to SLA I started talking a lot. When I am with my friends now, I could talk and talk. Even right now, I am mixing Polish and English together when I talk to my mom in Polish. I keep getting confused which words are which ones.

A lot of people changed around me. My old friends left and I got to know new people. I kind of changed too. I am not as shy as I was three years ago. Now, I am confident about myself because of what I went through. I do not care what people think about me. If I worried, then I would just be depressed. People should be themselves and not care about what others think. We are different from each other, and that’s what matters because if we would be the same, our world would be boring.

My first day at SLA was different for me. I was really nervous because I did not know anyone besides one friend from my old school. I knew people will realize that I am not from here. I did not want to go through the same thing again. When I met my friends they realized it.

“ You have an accent? Wow, that’s so cool!”

I did not expect people to think and say they like my accent. I would think they will say I sound weird. They accepted me unlike others at my old school. My friends were surprised that I am from a different country, and thought that was really awesome. They wanted to know everything about me and how Poland looks like. I felt really good because someone accepted me the way I am. They did not make me change myself because I would not belong, or be the same as them. They wanted me to share with them my stories when I was in Poland. I also got to know them better too. I realized there are a lot more people from different countries at SLA. I did not feel left out. This school made me a better person, and I opened up to be a more confident person.

This quote is from a book called “How to Tame a Wid Tongue.” by Glona Anzaldin. “So if you want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language.” This quotes refers to my life too. I really do not like when people talk about my language, or my country in a bad way. It hurts me inside. A person that wrote this essay I could say wrote a little bit about my life. My story is really similar to this quote. Also there is this book called “Girl in Translation”. It is about a girl that is from Hong Kong. She also came to the U.S. without knowing a language. It kind of reminds me of me.

If I could compare school now and three years ago it could be completely different. Three years ago I felt really scared about it. Almost no language, and no friends here. If I had my friends with me it could be different, but I did not have them. All of them stayed and lived in Poland. I only had my sister and my mom. They were my closest friends here. Right now I feel like I am a new person. I know English and I can communicate with people. I have a lot of new friends that I can trust. My family is really helpful and they help me whenever they can. My feeling changed about it because I do not really care what people think about me. I know that even though they think I might be stupid, I am not. I worked really hard to have everything that I have now. New friends, new language, and a new environment. These were really hard three years, but right now I am really happy I live with my closest family.


Sources:

- Anzaldin, Glona “How to Tame a Wid Tongue.”

- interview with my mom and dad

- Kwok, Jean “Girl in Translation.”


A New Me

All I want to do was fit in. Not so much with the school community, but with my race. I feel like an outcast around them.

The name’s Chase. I’m mixed. My mom is African American but my dad is white. They have been together for 14 years. I didn’t come around until later in their marriage. My mom is a doctor for Ferguson Wyatt Hospital, while my dad is a lawyer for Mc Robinson law firm. They both are good at their jobs. Good enough to get bonuses and own a big mansion in the suburbs.

We live in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I like living here. It is nice and quiet. kids playing in the street, and friendly neighbors. I can’t complain.

I always went to schools out in the suburbs. My parents wanted me to have a really good education, so they sent me to the top schools. Schools where there were no fights, kids get A’s and B’s, and no one gets detentions.  When I went to middle school, I went to one of the best schools in the suburbs. Guess who sent me. My parents. Why? Because they want me to get a damn good education.

I never feel right in those schools. It feel like the teachers and student are robots. I always have to do what they tell us to do. No back talking, no retaliation. That wasn’t me. So when high school came around, I wanted to switch things up.

One Thursday night, during dinner, I asked my parents to send me to a high school in the city.

“Chase, why would you want to do that when there are high schools nearby that are extremely outstanding” my mother asked me.

“Yeah son, I think it would be best for you to keep going to school out here,” my dad chimed into the conversation.

I didn’t want to do the same thing again. “I want to try something new this time. I can’t always do the same thing in life,” I told my parents.

I wanted to go to high school in the city because I could learn so much compared to what a suburban school could teach me. There were more ethnicities, and new teaching styles. I wanted a new me. I wanted a new environment.

Days later, my parents decided to let me go into the city for high school. I was ready to try new things. After an anxious and nervous weekend, thinking about what the school would be like. The first day school started.. I had to get up at 5:00 to get ready and leave the house before 6:00 because it is a thirty minute drive to get to the city.

When we arrived to school, my mom told me, "son be careful and pay attention to your surroundings". Then she told me have a good day and drove off to work. I didn't know why she told me this. Was she warning me to watch my surroundings because I was going to a new school or because I was in the city where with so many people. But, I wasn't worried about her, I was worried about how my first day would be.

I walk in the front door only to see that it was a normal school. Kids were talking. It was peaceful. I liked it. I can tell that I was going to get along with the people there. My first class was world history. The teacher’s name was Mr. Timothy. He seemed nice. As I looked around the class to find a place to sit , there was only one seat left in the back with a group of black kids. I had no problem sitting in the back of the class. My problem was the kids. They were loud. They were all over the place. That was the first time that I was scared of the school and the kids in it. This was not like my old school. At my old school, kids were calm and knew how to act.

After Mr.Timothy’s class,I thought maybe I should take a look at how the kids acted. Maybe  fit in better in the school.

During lunch, I closely payed attention to some kids conversations. I thought talking like them, I would better fit in with them. I turned over to my right in order to hear a conversation with two girls.

One girl said, “I can’t believe he would do this to me. We have been together too long for him to do something like this”. I guess her boyfriend was cheating on her or he just broke up with her. I was surprised that she wasn’t crying much. Usually, if something like this happened to a girl at my old school, they would cry some much to fill a river just over something like this.

The other girl said to her,“It’s alright Catherine. You can’t let this put you down. If he wanted to do this then that’s what he chose to do”.

“Yeah, you’re right. I guess I can get over it,” said the girl who was crying.

I stopped listening to that conversation and I moved on. I kept on listening to other student’s conversations, but they were all the same things. Sex, grades, teachers they hate, what someone did to someone else. I can say I did pick up some words and phrases that might help me for about the first week.

It started to get bored listening to the same things. Until, the kids from the back of Mr.Timothy’s class came in the cafeteria. They were so loud and obnoxious, just like in class. They sat down not too far from me. Which was good because maybe I could learn something from them.

There were five of them. Three girls and two boys. One of the girls said, “Yo, what’s up with you and Tom, yo. I heard y’all were about to fight”.

“Naw man. I was about to fuck him up cause he wanna be talking all this shit. He know I can whoop his ass, then he will get knocked the fuck out. Real shit. I can even get my niggas from around my hood. I know people here will ride for me so I don’t give a fuck what he has to say,” one of the boys responded.

I was surprised. I have never heard so much profanity in my life. I’ve heard it maybe once or twice when my parents were arguing or when I someone in my old school hurt themselves. But no one said that much profanity in a single sentence. No one.

I turned my attention back to the conversation.

The same girl asked the boy, “So what’s good with you and Courtney? Y’all still together”?

“Man, fuck that bitch! I don’t care about her no more. All she was was a hoe.”

Now that really caught me by surprise. Never have I heard someone disrespect a woman like that. My mother taught me to respect everyone. She said to treat women the way I want to be treated. But I thought to myself, maybe he didn’t mean it. Maybe she was acting like a hoe. I don’t even know what that is. A hoe? Isn’t that a gardening tool? So she was acting like a gardening tool? Now I was really confused. This guy might help me fit in as bad as that sounds. But maybe him and his friends are my only chance for acceptance.

When school was over and my mom picked me up after school, she asked, “How was your new school Chase? Do you like it? Did you learn anything new today?”

Oh, I learned new things today. I didn’t want to tell her what I learned today so I just said, “I had fun today. I like the school.”

“Oh how wonderful! I’m glad you liked your school”.

Later that night, in my room, I practiced some of the words and phrases I heard from today.

“Chill nigga.”

“You fraudin.”

“Bitch, sit ya’ dumbass down.”

“Whatchu mean cus.”  

The grammar was hard to remember. “Your” turned out to be “ya”. “Whatchu mean” turned out to be “what do you mean.” And “cus,” from the looks of it, means “cousin.” I guess. The next day, I made an attempt to talk to them. I pretended to need help.

“Could you help me with this problem”?

“Sure. Whatchu need help with?”

I was surprised that he helped me. After he helped me, I asked him what was his name. He said his name was Antoine. I was cool with him. At lunch, I sat at the same table by myself just like yesterday. When Antoine saw me, he invited me to sit with his friends and him. I took this chance to learn more.

I learned more about Antoine and his friends. The three girls were Charise, Tiffany, and Taylor. The other guy was Freddy. Charise was the oldest and Taylor was the youngest in the group. They were very nice to me. I fit in with some kids. I knew now that I need to keep learning new words from them so I can be one of them.

As days and weeks went on, I became one of them. My grammar changed. I started saying what they said. Words changed. They weren’t proper anymore. I thought what I was doing was right. I never noticed it started to change at home.

I was talking to my mom one night. And everything I learned came out all at once. She said that I was changing. I thought she meant that in a mean way.

I said to her, “whatchu mean by that!”  

With a confused look on her face she replied, “what did you say”?

“Whatchu mean” I repeated.

“Did you mean ‘what do you mean by that’, Chase?”

I thought a minute about what I said. I remembered she doesn’t know what that meant.

“Oh. Sorry I meant ‘what do you mean about that”.

Later on during the conversation I made another mistake.

“You started fraudin. I never said that.”

“Chase, what does that mean? Are you ok? Is there something that I don’t know of?”

It was at that moment knew that I shouldn’t use that language in the house. I knew I could only say these words and phrases outside at school because my parents would not understand and think that I am crazy. From that day on, that’s how it was. In the house, I would speak proper. But at school, I was a different person. I would use slang.

I thought it was crazy how I changed. But, at least I was fitting in with people in my new school. At least I didn’t feel alone.  I started to get in trouble at home when my mother heard this slang in the house. She would tell me that I’m not ghetto and I was raised better than this stuff. She got to the point one time where she took me to therapy for this. Luckily she changed her mind. After that day, I really thought do I want to keep this talk and hurt my parents, or do I want to let this go and have my new friends have a new perspective on me and think of me as a liar? To this very day, I still don’t want to let this go.

She Smiled Today

“What’s your name?”

“Tamirwa Bell”

“Tamira Bell?”

“Yes, Tamirwa Bell”

“Oh, okay. I think it’s funny how you pronounce it!”

This happens to me way too often. Someone would ask what is my name, I’d reply, and then they’d simply laugh. They laughed because of the way that I speak.

See, it all started when I was in middle school. Those are the years when you begin to form your identity. You start to notice beauty, true friends, relationships, and etc. So while my friends were figuring out who was the cutest boy in the class or what clothes were trending, I was noticing my conflict with speech. I always knew that I had a high pitched voice, but I never knew that I had a problem with pronunciation.

In eighth grade, my school was starting a new legacy and my teachers thought that I would be the perfect candidate. So they made me the morning announcer. Every morning I would report to the office to inform the school on the day’s lunch, weather, news headlines, and etc.

“Good morning Fitler students and faculty. Today is October 3, 2011. It looks like it will be a beautiful day, with not a cloud in sight. Today’s high will be…,” I would report every morning.

I thought that I was something special because I had the opportunity to do a task that no one else in my school could do. All of the students who were in first through fourth grades, looked up to me. Everyday, they would stop me in the hallway and ask me if I was the “voice” behind the loudspeaker.

“Hey are you the one who says the announcements in the morning?!”

“Yes!”

“That’s so awesome! I hope one day I get to say the announcements on the loudspeaker,” a first grader would tell me.

I thought that everyone appreciated the job that I was doing. But little did I know how people actually felt. Although the younger students admired me, the older students dreaded the sound of my voice. Every morning when my voice was projected throughout the corridors of the school, the older students would become piqued.

“She sounds like a baby,” one student would grumble.

“It is so unnecessary for her to come on the loudspeaker every morning.”

“She doesn’t know how to talk, so why is she speaking?”

“She doesn’t pronounce her R’s correctly,” another would complain.

When those rumors spread around about me, I became discouraged. So I tried not to say words that involved the letter r. I tried not to use any words that I knew I couldn’t correctly pronounce. I also tried to speak as clearly as possible, which turned out to be embarrassing.

A famous Dutch observer of the English language by the fictitious name of Charivarius once wrote a poem about English, called The Chaos. He wrote about the difficulty of trying to speak English.

Finally, which rhymes with enough --

Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?

Hiccough has the sound of cup.

My advice is to give up!!!

So I took that advice. I chose to give up on talking. When I knew that I couldn’t live up to everyone’s expectations when it came to pronunciation, I decided not to speak at all. When I did the announcements, I said them as fast as possible. When I was in class, I stopped participating. When my friends called me on the phone, I avoided them.

 “Ding- Ding!   Ding- Ding!   Ding- Ding!

“Hello,” my sister answered the house phone.

“Can I speak to Tamira?”

“Hold on…. TAMIRA!!!! SOMEONE WANTS TO YOU SPEAK TO YOU ON THE PHONE!!!,” my sister would yell.

“Tell her I can’t talk right now. Tell her that I don’t feel well or make up something,” I whispered in the background.

Besides doing the announcements, I remained silent for a month. I thought that if I didn't speak, people would stop making fun my voice. I thought that the ridiculing would stop. I thought that I the brash looks in the hallway would stop.

But the mockery didn’t stop. It kept on going on. And it still goes on to this very day. Where ever I go, people will snicker about my voice. But when I stopped talking, I saw how it affected the lives of others. I saw how it affected my life.

One day one of the first graders stopped me in the hallway to ask me why I didn’t say the announcements like I used to. I was so confused. How did I “used” to say the announcements? He said that I used to say it with so much glee. When I came on the loudspeaker, his teacher would smile because of my joyful voice. But for the past month, she hasn’t smiled because I didn’t sound cheerful.

When that little boy told me that, I felt so guilty. How could I be allow the opinions of disparaging children, who did even matter to me, affect the way that I lived my life? I didn’t even take it into account how I could put a smile on people’s faces every morning.

So I decided to open my mouth and speak with boldness. No longer would I allow someone to take something from me that didn’t belong to them. My voice was mine and I would use no matter what others thought.

The next morning, I walked into the office with a smile on my face and boldness in my heart. Then I picked up the phone to say the announcements.

“Good morning Fitler students and faculty. Today is November 7, 2011. It looks like today will be a delightful day. Today’s high will be 50˚F. Today for lunch, we will be having…,” I contentedly said.

I was elated to be able to overcome my fear of speech. I learned that my voice is my instrument to express my thoughts, to make a difference, and to put a smile on someone’s face.

That day, the first grader who always stopped me in the hallway, yelled at me.

“Hey you announcer girl!”

“Yes. What’s wrong?!”

“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you something amazing!”

“What is it,” I bafflingly inquired.

“My teacher smiled today!”

Works Cited Section:

Trenite, G. Nolst "Charivarius". The Chaos. New River Project, 1922. Print. <http://ncf.idallen.com/english.html>.


Never let anyone change you.

Once in a small town lived these wonderful and cheerful people. They had a great life with their leader, Dan. Dan had become their leader because everyone in the town agreed that he had fit the requirements to lead. He would always make smart choices that would benefit everyone. There was not a lot of violence in the town. Everyone got along with everyone else. If there were problems in the town, Dan would always sort it out and make everything better. Dan loved to play with the kids and he had a brother named Luke who looked up to Dan.

For three days a ruler and his army were walking around in the desert in search for settlement. While looking they came across a small town.

“This will be a great place to settle down and take over,” said Matthew, the dictator, to his men.

They walked up to the small peaceful town, and Matthew asked a stranger, “Where is your leader? I need to have a word with him.”

“I will go get him,” said the blacksmith. The blacksmith had gone to summon Dan, and he said to him, “Dan, someone wants to talk to you.”

“Who is it?”

“I do not know. Some strangers came into our town and asked to see the leader.”

“Alright, take me to them.”

“Okay, let’s go,” said the blacksmith. The blacksmith led Dan to the strangers. As they walked to the strangers, Dan was suspicious of the request to see him.  

“Who are you and why have you come here?”

“I am Matthew, and these are my men. We are on a journey to a large town up north to trade. We are in need of shelter, food, and water. Would it be okay if we stayed the night? We will leave the first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Alright, you and your men may stay here but under one condition.You have to set up your own tents and buy your own food, but we will provide you with water, that’s all.”

“Thank you,” said Matthew.

Matthew lied to Dan so that it would not seem suspicious. Dan did not know that Matthew and his men were planning to take over the town and kill him. So Matthew and his men planned a way to take out Dan early in the morning; they wanted to do it in front of everyone so that the whole town would be scared. Later that night, Dan rang the bell, which meant the whole town would meet in a secret location that no one knew except for them. When Dan felt like something was wrong, he held these meetings to protect his people and town from outsiders.

“Everyone, I have called you here tonight to tell you to be aware of the strangers who have come into our town. They have a lot of equipment with them and their leader said it was for ‘trading purposes.’ Do not let your guard down. We do not know if they are dangerous, but we will not take any chances. They are suppose to be leaving tomorrow morning, but something might come up. I am not sure. That’s all I have to say. Thank you for your time.”

They all agreed with Dan because they knew that he was usually right. They all left and went back to their homes after that speech.


“They fell for our trick. Now it’s time to plan out our movement! We have to take out their leader first; he is our main objective. Tomorrow morning, I’ll find him and start a conversation. After a few minutes, I want Mark, William, and Lewis to come up and grab him, then bring him to the bell. Everyone else surround the bell. Once we are there, I will ring the bell. Then we will kill him in front of everybody.”

Everyone witnessed the assassination and it was horrible what happen to Dan. Luke was furious and devastated about how Dan died.

“Everyone, I am your new leader. You will obey me from now on and if you choose not to, you will suffer the consequences,” commanded Matthew.

“We will not listen to you!” yelled a food sales woman.

“Lewis, grab that lady! She will suffer for disrespecting me!” Lewis brought her over to Matthew. They stoned her then cut off her head, arms, and legs. Then they tied her remaining body to the pole and left her there.

“Here is a sign to everyone not to disobey or disrespect us. Since I am now your leader, you will learn to speak my language. You may not speak English anymore; if we hear you speaking it then you will be tortured. Your new language that you will be learning is French. There will be signs to assist you in speaking the language but everyone will be taught it.”

After he was done talking, everyone went back to what they were doing before and talked about the situation. He commanded his army to put the posters and signs around the entire town. After one week, everyone was broken and torn apart. They were so scared of speaking English for the fear of getting caught. They did not know what to do now that they did not have a leader or someone to strengthen them. In that week, someone was caught speaking English and was tortured. It was not like how Matthew killed the lady. This time he burned the man to death.

“Si vous ne voulez pas suivre mes règles, vous serez punis,” said Matthew. Everyone was terrified now. Luke spread the word around to everyone to meet in the secret place that night to discuss the problem because he was afraid to ring the bell.

“We have a crisis on our hands. Matthew has changed our language and lifestyle. We need to do something about this. We will not survive if this keeps going on,” said Luke.

“What do you suggest we do?” said the blacksmith.

“We fight back for Dan, our town, and our language! Everyone will have to fight because we are doing this for ourselves and for everyone in the town! We have a better chance of defeating Matthew and his army if everyone helps.”

“YEAHH!” everyone screamed.   

“Blacksmith, go and prepare weapons for us to use.”

“When will we strike, Luke?” asked the Blacksmith.

“Tomorrow night, we will go in and kill the guards first, then make our way to their leader. Now go back to your homes before he knows something is up.”

The blacksmith worked long and hard to prepare the weapons for battle. Luke was there to help him to help speed up the process.

“Looks like we have enough weapons for everyone,” said the blacksmith.

“Yeah, this should be enough,” said Luke. Matthew’s men were walking by for their morning stroll and they walked past the blacksmith’s shop.

“Comment allez-vous?” said one of the soldiers.

“Je suis bon vous remercie.” responded Luke. The soldier carried on.  

“That was a close one,” said Luke

“Yeah, it was,” said the blacksmith.

Later that night, everybody gathered around the blacksmith’s place and received their weapons.

“Tonight is the night we take back power in our language, our town, and our lives!” said Luke.

Everyone then ran to Matthew and his men’s huts. They started killing all of his men. Cutting their heads off, arms, and stabbing them until they died. They fought for a while. When Luke and the blacksmith went to look for Matthew, they found him trying to escape so they grabbed him.

“You killed my brother. You came into our town and changed everything for us. Now you must suffer.” They started to fight. Luke was wounded, cut in his arm and leg; Matthew was wounded, cut in his arm and chest. During the fight, Luke had been knocked down to the ground.

“Say hi to your brother for me.” As Matthew was about to kill Luke, Luke took his sword and quickly pierced Matthew right through his chest. Then Luke also cut off his tongue because Matthew had done that to his brother, and it is a symbol of their ability to have power of what language they want to speak.

After the battle was finished, ten people died in the town and fifteen were injured. They tossed all of the bodies of Matthew and his men outside the town walls. They buried all of the bodies of their people next to Dan’s body. The townspeople later told Luke to be their leader because he was brave and stepped up when they were in need of help.

“I am honored to be your leader. I will follow in my brother’s footsteps. I know he is proud of what we did and he is looking over each and every one of us.”


Talk Hard.

You wouldn’t think that moving from Chicago to Philadelphia is a big move. But it really is. Especially if you lived there your whole life before you moved to Philly, so you have that Chicago accent. My first day at my new high school all the other juniors thought I got kicked out of my last school all the kids did all day was talk about me...and they were NOT quite about it.


‘Cause like- have you heard Damien talk? He sounds like a drug dealer or something. He probably got expelled and he always slurs his words together. He might even come to school high. Do you think he would get expelled for that?’


When in reality I’ve never been suspended. Another great thing about my school? Their speech department. Or at least thats what the vice principal was telling me in her office. She thought that because I was the talk (no pun intended) of the school that it might be in ‘my best interest’ to take two speech classes. One to assess if I had any other ‘setbacks’ and the other is specifically for kids with accents and slurs. So of course I agreed so that she would dismiss me. Biggest mistake of my Junior year. No my high school career.


So all my speech classes started the second week of school. My first two classes of the day on Monday and Friday. Let me just tell you- when I walked into that class I felt like an asshole. There were kids in wheelchairs and girls without hair and here I am just standing in the doorway. The least impaired looking one in the whole room. I mean, I don’t think you need to be impaired to need or be sent to speech therapy, but it was really obvious that I didn’t really belong in the room.


“So...Damien, what brings you here?”

“I was referred here by the vice principal. She said my accent was a ‘setback’ so here I am. “

“Well, I noticed you’re from Chicago. But you don't have any issues with your sentence or word structure. I’m going to send you down the hall to your next class, this one isn’t really for you, this class is for the mentally and physically disabled.  So I am not really sure why you were sent here.”


I didn’t even bother going to my next ‘therapy’ class. I left and went straight to the office. I walked past the nurses station and past the waiting chairs, then walked straight up to the secretary's desk.

“I would like to talk to vice principal Rasheed. I can wait.”


Twenty minutes later I’m admitted to her office. I just walk right around her and sit in the most comfortable chair I can find, I’m going to be here awhile. She takes note of my obviously pissy disposition and just gives me a snarky once over.


“I hope you know I am counting this as you skipping your speech classes- if you need to talk to me, I want you to do it on your lunch or between classes, plus you are just counteracting what is in your-”


“Don’t you dare say ‘my best interest’.  There is nothing wrong with the way I talk, I am not from the same city as you, therefore I have a different way of talking to people. Its how I grew up. That does not make me anymore or less than you, and I would love to know why one of the classes you sent me to was for the mentally and physically disabled.”

I didn't even have to wait for her to answer me. The head of the school walked in and escorted me out onto the school’s lawn. He told me to go home, that my parents had been called and that I was going to get into serious trouble the next time I skipped classes- for a ‘good reason’ or otherwise. So I walked my angry ass home, a thirteen mile walk. Took me two hours, but I was pretty mellow once I got home...my mother on the other hand was completely livid. They told her that I was cutting and causing a scene in the office.


“Those self righteous bastards.” That was all she could manage after hearing what actually happened to me. So then she went into full out terminator mode. She wanted the school to be publically humiliated. So she pulled me out of that school and she started researching everything she could think of to make what they did seem as incriminating as possible.  


It took about two weeks for the whole state to find out about the issue I was having. Apparently there is a small recording device in the V.P’s office, that had caught the whole thing on tape. One of the secretary's had found it very sad...so of course what did she do? Upload the video to YouTube spilling all my information in the info bar. After that people started paticians, walk outs and strikes, all under my name. So naturally I have been getting all the heat and love for this movement. Thats were I am going now, Im in a cab in New York on my way to central park to give a speech about the issues people go through, because of course a hormonal seventeen year old would know best.


So here I go, walking up the steps to the podium, about to spill my guts on the altar of sacrifice. Just because I lived in Chicago until I was sixteen.


“Hay there. This is a huge crowd...wow, well Im flattered. I just wanted to say- That no matter the language, accent, or even dialect- we are all entitled to our voices. They are a part of what makes us special and should never be ridiculed; or under appreciated. To quote my favorite movie “Pump Up The Volume”, ‘TALK HARD. THE TRUTH IS A VIRUS.’ Goodnight”









Dave Chappelle

Serge Mass

Dave Chappelle


The “Chappelle Show” written by the comedy legend Dave Chappelle, presents its characters in ways that make fun of their stereotypical speech and it influences the audience to think differently about certain groups of people.


With the show “The Chappelle show” Chappelle likes to bring out the best and worst of characters in the show through the selection of their language. With Dave being such a powerful man in the comedy strip today, he really influences people on how they view and group people. In Dave’s show, he uses a lot of stereotypes to bring out the language and tone of different races and religions to get a hook on the audience. It is as if, that is his secret weapon.  In his show, he likes to make fun of certain races speech to draw attention to his point which is to make people have a good time, but sometimes people take it too far...


For example in his most controversial skit, with the title “The Race Draft” Dave plays multiple roles. In the race draft, he plays an announcer, a black candidate, and a white candidate. With Dave being the white candidate, he spoke with a clear deep voice that is a “generic white american male voice”. When he speaks like that, the audience can hear his natural voice come out. When he is the black candidate, he just speaks with his usual voice, but with a southern tone. When he plays the announcer he is a black male, but he has a tone of voice that is very clear and contains no ebonics. When the black candidate is up to pick, his physical language is very clear that he is rooting for them. So when Chappelle uses the white voice, you can hear the black voice under it. The Audience can hear the black voice which makes Dave sound very funny. The way Dave describes the other candidates in the skit is no way that makes the audience assume that David being racist towards other races other than his own race which is black. During the skit when Dave is playing a white man he is very insensitive the other races on how he talks. For example in the skit Dave talks about trading Eminem for Tiger Woods because Eminem acts a lot more black Tiger Woods is. Dave’s definition of black is someone that wears baggy clothes and someone that listens to Hip-Hop.Then later in the skit the switches back to the African American representative and he starts talking about how Eminem is a lot blacker than the Tiger Woods, also how Tiger does not deserve to be black. Being white like me this picked up as being very racist and I'm assuming as an audience member that this could be seen as racist. In the skit when Chappelle is playing the African American candidate, towards the end of the skit when he is having his closing speech he talks with a white tone. For someone that may not understand Chappelles message, they could see it as “Black People just use ebonics and they can code switch at any point”. That is not right because the accent and the way you speak is how it will be in your roots. It may change, but it will always be what it first was.



Another example is the Clayton Bigsby skit which is also a very controversial skit in Chappelles career.  Dave Chappelle plays a blind KKK member which turns out to be black. For the skit, Chappelle has a very deep southern’ accent. For the bulk of the episode, Chappelle is in a KKK suit when he was at meetings until the end. People did not know that he was black other than the man that was visiting him from Fox’ DATELINE and his mother that fostered him. Clayton is a writer of KKK books and he goes to a book signing. No one has not seen him without his mask. The KKK members start chanting him on to take it off then he does. Peoples heads actually explode. With Chappelle acting out such a very sensitive subject, a lot of the viewers could be potentially be turned off of the show by the way he talks and some of the viewers could pick up the speech and think it is okay.


About eight years ago when the show is first broadcasted, NBC had a whole news article about the Dave Chapelle's given the wrong message that is not racist at all. Now from them saying that they obviously have not seen the show because almost every episode and most of every sketch touches on different types of racist insults and stereotypes. Then years later NBC says that Dave Chappelle is a very racist man on the way he speaks. The fact that NBC one the biggest news channels in America contradicted themselves with this outrageous claim is crazy. This is a very touchy subject in the US today about how people speak and how they're influenced by each other. Today the TV shows people want to be funny. Well sometimes they do indeed go overboard with the way stereotypes in speech are played out. There should be an equilibrium with this. There should be a board of people that can rate these television programs other than the FCC because they obviously did not catch this. If someone were to break down the way people were speaking and where they pick it up from in the United States, then about half of us would admit to picking up certain slangs from TV shows or Movies today.


Recently A show with the name of Key and Peele started getting a lot of attention. So I decided to check it out; It was an alright show, but there is one skit which made me want to do this piece. It was when this African American guy standing on the corner waiting for the light to turn green. Then another guy is walking down the street, and he is talking on the phone and he says “Yo whats up homie” and all of this stuff to make him sound like he is a gangster. Then as soon as he crosses the street he says “ oh my god, I just like almost jumped”. From this whole sketch, the audience can tell that Key and Peele are trying to make fun of the way stereotypical Gay and also Black people talk.


In conclusion, the “Chappelle Show” written by the comedy legend Dave Chappelle, presents its characters in ways that make fun of their stereotypical speech and it influences the audience to think differently about certain groups of people.



WORK CITED:

The Race Draft: http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/b224ei/chappelle-s-show-the-racial-draft

Chappelle, Dave .. "The Racial Draft." Comedy Central. Comedy Central, 10 Feb. 2008. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.


Clayton Bigsby:

http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/7nnosh/chappelle-s-show-frontline---clayton-bigsby

Cha, Dave .. "Frontline - Clayton Bigsby." Comedy Central. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2013.

Hispanic language

Ameer forte

“¿Como está?”

“What?”

“¿Como está?”

I looked at my great grandmother my eyes fixed on her strange words.

“What?”

She shook her head in disapproval but I was used to this. My great grandma and I have never been close, I mean she did live in new york but when she was here I felt more distant to her than ever. She was the only person in my family who only spoke spanish and I dreaded the days I would have to speak to her. She would only use simple spanish of course but I still felt intimidated at the age of twelve. I would wish my mom or dad or somebody would’ve taught me spanish. Why wouldn't they, it is my culture and I had as much right as any one of my brothers and sisters to learn. I’m the oldest of my two brothers and one sister and they are all being taught spanish with every passing breath whether it be at home or school but I was taught nothing not even the simplest verb, the easiest noun. I never understood why, perhaps I still don’t. Maybe it is because I was the first child, maybe I was the test subject the kid no one really knew what to do with.

“Mom, why didn’t you let dad teach me spanish.”

I’d ask that question over and over again and she would just say, “Ameer we just weren't prepared to put you or us through that besides it worked out fine right?”

But she was wrong it wasn’t fine I couldn’t have a reasonable conversation with my great grandmother because of them. I repeatedly found myself blaming my parents for everything that had to do with spanish and when I had no reason I found a reason. In the sixth grade, I had my first spanish course and I purposely came home with a D to prove that it would be different if they would have taught me themselves. This must have went on for a couple years and then when I was in 8th grade my mom picked me up from school early which was a rare notion so when this happened I figured something had to be wrong. She told me my great grandmother was in the hospital and may not have very much time left. My heart stopped. I was pretty sure she was going to have to put me in the hospital right there with my great grandmother but somehow I pulled it together and tried to stay as strong as possible.

“It’s going to be ok Ameer, hey, she is in a happier place now right?” My mom tried to comfort me as best as she could but I remember being pretty silent the whole ride. My mom wasn’t very close to my great grandma because she was my dads mother not my moms and my mom faced the same language barrier I did at the time she also didn’t know spanish very well, but she did understand how much she meant to everyone. My mom ended up picking up on some spanish after living with my dad but she didn’t need to speak the language to see how great a person my great grandma was. I interviewed my mom and dad now and asked them the same question I used to ask them when I was younger, “So why was I never taught spanish?” This was my dad’s response,

“Well it would be easy to say we didn’t know what we were doing yet, I mean it had all happened so fast. But that wouldn’t explain why we didn’t teach you while you were growing up. So honestly I don’t know why we decided not to teach you how to speak both maybe we thought it was too much work at the time, I don’t know, but looking back now I really wish we did.” This was my mom’s answer,

“Ameer I think it was really because we just didn’t really know how to work that in, now that were older we are able to teach your siblings because we learned and we didn’t want to make the mistake if not teaching them like we did with you.” I had an understanding response to both answers. I started to realize that I was the rough draft for my parents which was why they didn’t teach spanish. This thought made me feel very uncomfortable, I couldn’t understand why I was being treated so unfairly. None of it made sense.

Soon after that I started changing the way I viewed hispanic people, I started to feel like I couldn’t talk to them, something like the Key and Peele skit we watched in class. Both men acted different around eachother, thats how I acted around hispanics, I would change completely when in their presence.The language barrier I felt with my own family had widely expanded and hispanic people became like an unknown species in my life. I ignored them every time possible, made no effort to learn spanish in school, I completely abandoned spanish. I was tired of spanish. I hated spanish and the people that bore its fruit.

After what seems like such a long time I slowly started to change. There still isn’t a moment where I don’t feel uncomfortable when in the presence of a spanish speaking person. But now I just don’t really think too much of it. As the years passed by I like to believe there was a bigger reason as to why they never taught me spanish. I think it’s because my mom and dad didn’t see the importance of me having to learn at the time. They figured I would either grow into it or wouldn’t need it at all but they admit that that was wrong. I also changed my view because of being reminded of my great grandmothers death. The day she passed I was upset and confused, now years later I look at it as an opportunity to make her proud and learn the language she always wanted me too. Thats what keeps me from giving up on spanish.  









Works Cited

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzprLDmdRlc

Key and peele skit

The Switch

MAIN CHARACTERS: MIKE AND KENNY WITH APPEARANCES FROM JASMINE AND ISABEL


Scene 1


Mike’s block. Mike standing on his steps holding his beverage. A pretty girl walks by; she has on skinny jeans, and a tank top. 


Mike

YOOOOOO.

Tracy

Turns around and sees Mike flagging her to come to him. She turns around and keeps walking. Mike walks across the street and approaches her again.

Yes?

Mike

How old are you girl?

Tracy

16. How old are you?

Mike

Oh, I’m 17 turning 18 next month. Can I get your number?

Tracy

No, I have a boyfriend.

Mike

Ok? What that mean to me?

Tracy

It means, you can’t get my number. Bye.

Tracy walks away and Mike watches her walk away, eyes on her rear end.

Mike

Man, forget you then yo. You ugly anyway bitch!

Tracy hears his remark and turns around to give him the middle finger. 

Tracy

Yeah, whatever!

Mike rolls his eyes and goes back into the house. He goes in the living room and gives his grandmother a kiss on her forehead. His mother calls him into the kitchen.

Mike’s Mom

Mike! Get in here right now.

Mike

Hey mom.

Mike’s Mom

I received a phone call from your math teacher today. He said that you weren’t in class the past week and then again today but you were signed into the system as present. What you doing skipping? Then, not even that but I opened that paper on your bed, yeah your mid-term report. Why do you have two F’s Mike?!

Mike

Man, he just doesn’t like me. Mr. Andrews hated me since my junior year but yeah, I have a F in Spanish and - wait, why were you in my room looking at my stuff?

Mike’s Mom

I’m your mother! I can do whatever I want in my house. Now what’s going on with you Mike seriously.

Mike

I’ll bring the grades up, I got three weeks until grades close, I promise. 

Mike’s Mom

I’m not playing with you boy. 

Mike

Boy? Aha, I’m a grown man mom.

Mike’s Mom

Yeah okay.

Mike

But guess what? This girl just rejected me. I was all nice to her and she just gonna hit me with “I got a boyfriend” like I didn’t ask you that. Her body though was crazy!

Mike’s Mom

Mike’s mom hits him in the arm. 

Mike don’t play with me. I taught you to respect wo-

Mike

Mom, mom. I’m playing calm down. Aha, I was kidding. 

Mike wraps his arms around his mom.

Mike’s Mom

Treat women with respect, I taught you that if anything. 

Mike

I do. I treat you like a queen girl!

Mike’s Mom

Respect them girls too. 


Scene 2

Jasmine’s room. Jasmine and Isabel talking on the phone. 


Jasmine

Isabel! Guess what.

Isabel

Wassup?

Jasmine

It’s Saturday. Kenny is coming over today!

Isabel

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? YOUR parents letting a boy come over. Pastor Davis becoming more lenient? Say it ain’t so!

Jasmine 

Haha, no girl please. They going out for a few hours and I told them I had finals to study for and he believed me and left me home alone. I told Kenny to be here at 1.

Isabel

Look at you! Sneaking boys into ya house. Innocent little Jas isn’t going to be so innocent anymore huh?

Jasmine

Isabel! Imma behave myself don’t worry. 

Isabel

Yeah mhm, don’t be being grown for I come over there with my belt! And don’t forget to confront him about that heffa I seen him with!

Jasmine

*Laughs*  I gotchu, and best believe I will girl, you know I don’t play. 

Isabel

Well, call me when he leave, I want to know all the deets!

Jasmine

Aha, get off my phone crazy! I think this him texting me now, bye. 


Kenny knocks on the door. Jasmine looks at herself in the mirror and fixes her hair, then proceeds to go open the door for him.

Kenny

Hey baby.

Jasmine

Hey boo. 

The couple hugs and she flags for him to enter the living room.

I laid a couple movies out. You pick.

Kenny

Stomp the Yard, duh. Now come here. I missed you.



Jasmine places the movie in the DVD player and grabs a blanket. She covers herself and lays up under Kenny and he places his arm around her. She hits play. After an hour into the move, Kenny starts to try and slide his hand up her shirt and kisses her. 


Jasmine

Stop.

Kiss

Kenny

C’mon baby. 


Jasmine pauses the movie and leans back from him with her hand on his chest.

Jasmine

Kenny, I got to talk to you.

Kenny

What is it?

Jasmine

Ard, so I heard that you was with some girl yesterday.  Who was it? 

Kenny

Grabs her hand.

It was Kayla. C’mon Jasmine. You know you’re my only one. Those other girls you see me conversing with mean nothing to me, at the end of the day, I’m coming to you.

Jasmine

You have a weird way of showing it.

Kenny

I really don’t want to get into this right now, I love you Jasmine! I don’t care about them.

Jasmine

Love?

Kenny

Yes. Jasmine, I love you and I really don’t want to lose you over something so simple as me holding someone’s hand. I never had a girl like you before, I’m not used to this. I know I’m messing up but give me another chance please baby. I hate when you’re mad or upset with me.


Kenny leans in for a hug and kisses Jasmine.


Jasmine

*Sighs* I love you too Kenny. I don’t want to lose you either. 

Kenny

Kenny checks his phone to see he received a text message. 

That was my cousin. He’s coming over today, I gotta go. Are you okay baby? 

Jasmine

Yeah, c’mon I’ll walk you out.

Kenny

*holds Jasmine’s hands and kisses her* I’m sorry about the whole Kayla thing. It’ll never happen again. Love you.

*walks out*

Scene 3

Lunchroom. Mike and Kenny sitting together.


Mike

Yo bro, wassup with you and Jasmine? Isabel told me that Jasmine was going through it Saturday morning cause you was with Kayla or something.

Kenny

Isabel talk too much. Yeah, I was with Kayla. She told me I could slide through after school Friday to get some ass. I had to show her a little attention before she changed her mind. Aha.


Kenny puts his arm out intending on Mike to extend his arm also so they could do their handshake.

Mike

Naw Kenny. You gotta chill dog. You and Jasmine been seeing each other for too long for you to start with ya shit. Plus, Kayla let ANYBODY come over, if you know what I’m trying say.

Kenny

She a whore? 

Mike

Yo, I was in her math class last year. Trust me, you don’t want parts in that. 

Kenny

Jasmine ain’t giving up nothing though. Damn, ard bro. Good look.


The two do their handshake and Isabel and Jasmine walk over and sit down.

Scene 4

Isabel’s kitchen.


Isabel 

Hola Madre

Isabel’s Mom

Hola Jasmine. Como fue escuela hoy?

Isabel

Mas o menos, como fue tu trabajo? 

Isabel’s Mom

Muy aburrido. 

Isabel

Donde es Papá? 

Isabel’s Mom

No se, pero va a hacer tu tarea. 

Isabel

Pero Madre, Yo voy a ir la casa de Jasmine.

Isabel’s Mom

*sighs* Hasta luego.