Jalisa Smith
Introduction/Reflection:
The
project that I did was based on how I viewed the language dynamics in America.
I thought about how we use it to communicate and how we have to take time,
which is if we do not speak English, to learn Standard English. Foreigners, as
they are called, have to be understood by Americans, and vice versa. In writing
this piece I was grappling with the idea of saying the right things the wrong
way. I struggled with telling the right stories at the right time. I knew there
was a lot to say, but I didn’t want to offend anyone. Neither did I want to
offend America. So in the end, I concluded with something lighter than what I
intended on saying. Although, I still do believe I got my point across.
Story:
Jalisa Smith
Language Autobiography
Language is what
differentiates one culture from another. A language can evolve, it can morph,
it can even grow, but it will always exist. When you think about it, your
language is what makes you unique. Sometimes, I wonder what America would be
without the variety of languages. It is distinguishable because it consists of
so many different dialects, but in the end, we all eventually sound “American”.
But what is the American language? It consists of slang, cussing, standard
English, and other ethnicity’s entire accent just trying to fit in. Yet as a
society, we struggle with the barriers that language builds.
My mother and father are from Barbados. In Barbados, they speak
broken English, more British English, if anything. When my mother and father
first met my teachers, doctors and friends, they would have to repeat
themselves to be understood. I began to realize how it was either good or bad
because some people would say, “I love your accent! Say this in Bajan!” or,
“What’d you say?” Normally I thought it was ignorant, other times I brush it
off because I do the same thing when a foreigner tries talking to me. At the
same time, what type of person does that make me? This is where it becomes
confusing because I know what it feels like in their position, but now I know
what it feels like in an Americans’ position also. So what I can I conclude of
this?
I begin to wonder where my place is in this long strand of
language. I fit into both roles, (American and Foreigner) perfectly. That is,
if I wanted to. So am I wrong for being an interested outsider of another
language? I don’t think I am. Because the way I look at it, a language is so
influential upon a society. Therefore if a person joins a society that speaks a
different language than they do, everyone wants to understand them. When a
person decides to open up to you in their language, they assume you are
comfortable with the language too. I guess that’s why there are so many people
that find it easy to converse with people who speak the same way, because they
understand each other. It’s an easy way out of conflict.
I see it happening everywhere. For example, I was at the
African Hair Braiding Shop watching the women doing hair. There was a lot of
conversing and laughing. But there were two conversations happening. One
conversation was with the hair braiders and the other was with the clients. The
division between the two was very obvious but they could have been talking
about the same thing, yet everyone stuck to their own group because it’s a
comfort zone. Another time I was walking downtown with a group of diverse
friends, and we all speak Standard English and all of my Asian friends drifted
into a completely different conversation.
It’s the moments like these, which make me wonder if the variety
of languages in the United States is good. I know it’s good to be unique, but
we all have to come to some sort of understanding. The conflict occurs when
there is a frown upon those that don’t speak Standard English. It occurs when
Americans train foreign children to create a new language or when a foreigner
is speaking to some person who doesn’t understand anything they area saying.
But problems such as these are only very hard to solve because in the end we
all have to understand what we’re saying because to be successful in America,
you should know Standard English.
In the story, “this is the oppressors language / yet I need
to talk to you: Language, a place of struggle” the author, Bell Hooks was
discussing the United States and language. She said, “In the United States it
[Standard English] is the mask which hides the loss of so many tongues. (LPS,
Bell Hooks)” When I was reading this, I thought of how every day, Americans are
millions of foreigners who are gathering together to form a country. To be a
sufficiently working society, we have to have an understanding. That’s when
there is a “mask, which hides the loss of so many tongues”. It can be looked at
in a bad way, but in my opinion, it’s the only way we can survive. I do love
the word choice for that quotes the author used. She called Standard English a
mask; a mask is something that can be taken off. It’s interesting to see the
wordplay because she gives the reader a choice. What I got out of it is that
there can be a time where we all put on a mask, to hide what others won’t
understand, accept and appreciate.
America’s diversity is what makes it so hard to take into
consideration every language that it contains. Because our leaders speak
Standard English, we have to speak Standard English. It makes it easier for all
of us. Like Bell Hooks said, Standard English is a mask in the United States.
The barriers that languages build aren’t for a bad purpose. It’s because as a
society we have to come to an understanding, therefore, barriers are ways of
avoiding conflict. No one wants to lose apart of what makes them the person
they are, so we cover it up. I believe the largest problem that can come out of
the language in America is when we forget our roots, when we forget to take our
masks off.
Digital Story:
Script:
Language is what
keeps us united.
As a Country,
what would we be without a main language? (English)
As a Country,
what would we be without a main language? (Spanish)
As a Country,
what would we be without a main language? (French)
As a Country,
what would we be without a main language? (Italian)
You see, if I
didn’t have translator I wouldn’t be able to have said the things I just said.
The phrase,
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, can be very universal.
So when in
America, do as the Americans do.
Sit back, and
relax from your fast paced daily life.
Take a sip of
black coffee and make sure to have only one wife.
Traditions
shouldn’t be modified but language can tweaked a bit.
Make sure you
make the best of it.
Because there is
no way to make a living without understanding what your boss is saying because
your time is not only being wasted but it is conflicting with what he/she is
making so therefore accept ESOL classes and build a home with crystal glasses.
My mother used
to say,
That’s when we
have something to offer, make the people listen.
How do you
expect to be understood?
If there is no
understanding,
How do we expect
to be sustainable?
Community, when
one can’t understand the other.
Therefore, we
all come together.
A language.
Standard English,
is what we all use in America
It’s the way we
communicate.
Somehow, it’s
the only way we navigate,
There only
becomes a problem,
When we put down
our personal history,
When we forget
our roots.
And never look
back.
When the youth
of the next generation,
Is completely
the same.
Lets not make it
that way
Let’s enjoy
I will never
forget when,
My grandmother
told me how hard it was to talk to others.
So she made it
easier for everyone,
She began to
learn the lingo.
She spoke the
slang, but never let her accent go.
