Language Autobiography

Introduction/Reflection:

I enjoyed this project because I was able to use personal experiences to write it as apposed to having to research to find evidence of my point of view. This essay was much easier to write then those I've done in the past. I think I was able to put together a very solid idea in my language autobiography. I talked about how each person has a specific view of the world, and this view is influenced by the language(s) that they speak. The area's that I struggled in this essay were the descriptive scenes. Both were memories from a long time ago, so it was hard to remember the specific details. Despite this, I was able to remember the details well enough to get the point across. I enjoyed this project because it is a more personal essay, I feel directly connected to the subject so this essay has a lot of meaning for me.

Language Autobiography

The human race is a way for the universe to examine and understand itself. We are all made from small things put together in the center of stars, so the previous statement is a fact. Through this perspective, language becomes much more important and exciting than the trivial everyday occurrence that we usually perceive it to be. Language is a way for us to describe our existence and reality; it is our way of expressing our analysis of the universe and ourselves. However, the human race – like the rest of the universe – is a very complicated and diverse thing. From this we get many languages and dialects within each language, the way we speak is as unique as each individual’s view of the world.

The profound nature of different dialects and points of view is most easily seen when examining two ways of speaking that sound the same to a foreigner, but totally different on the ears of two native speakers. For example, Southern American English (Florida) as opposed Northern American English (Philadelphia).

A few years ago, my sister, my mom, my grandfather and I all went to Florida to visit and learn about my grandfather’s past. While there we went through the daily life of the average person from Florida, we ate their food and drank their sweet tea, we visited their neighborhoods, and we learned about their lives. Their speech was slow and intentional. In the beginning when we left the airport, conversation would have my sister and I exchanging silent looks of amusement. But towards the end, when we had been dipped fully into the culture, we understood everyone perfectly. When we finally left, we practiced our “cowboy” accent saying “Let’s git sum sweet tea” and “Hurrey up, the plane’s ‘bout to leave”. We’d adapted to a viewpoint and lifestyle that we mocked before finally accepting.

By being immersed in the culture, we understood the local dialect. We understood the concerns and lives of the people, so we could speak English from their perspective. We saw the universe from their perspective.

There are more obvious ways to see the diversity of language. For examples,  just look around the world. There are roughly 6,500 individually named languages in the world. Many of these have subgroups, such as the Northern and Southern American English examples above. Each of these languages describes a viewpoint and a need of a particular group of people, learning these languages exposes you to the culture of the region. Being multilingual turns people into bridges that cultures can cross and mix together.

Two years ago I went on a trip to Kenya with my Family. We went to expose ourselves to the culture, and while we were there our bridge into their culture was my mother’s cousin and her family. Stepping off of the plane into Kenya was our first of many unforgettable experiences; tired and aching we got off the plane to see an angry looking guard in a green beret waving around a large shinny gun and telling us to “Kindly proceed towards the doorway”.

Many of the Native Kenyans spoke English like they were sucking on a lemon. Their lips pursed and eyes squinting. As if the sound in their mouth tasted funny to them.