A Letter To My Past Self English Language Essay

A Letter To My Past Self English Language Essay I might find yourself a bit taken back by reading reader from your future. I assure you are not being watch by a hidden camera and the but of a joke. I think you will agree with me, or rather yourself that education is very important to your, our future. For that reason you are preparing yourself for college. I could tell you who you are going to meet and what classes you shouldnt take, but that wouldnt fair. What I will tell you is that your field of vision will widen. Your brain will hurt and you will have many all righters. To truth of the matter is that you have the tools to be successful already. These tools will need to be sharped and taken care of a like any other tool in your garage. Of these tools writing is very important, maybe the most important of them all. To understand how to write is a key that will propel in on the road you will begin on. Through its process and constant evolution, one must embrace writing as an art form and not a chore. Language is a multifaceted tool which we use to communicate to one another. Its defined as a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meaning. As the definition suggests its more than just spoken words. Its a head nod, a thumbs up, a smile, braille, hand movements, etc. Pediatricians describe children as sponges to indicate their ability to learn from their environment. Those of us lucky enough to be raised in a household with multiple cultures can have an advantage or disadvantage depending on what we are taught. Institutions such as schools, churches, and the military have their own set of governing rules and behaviors which shape our minds and therefore also shape our usage of language. The experiences Ive had in life shaped my relationship with language, through empowering and undermining my search for self-actualization. Growing up in a bilingual family affected my speech development as a child, which lead me to mix the two languages instead of mastering them one at a time. The United States is a melting pot of difficult cultures, peoples, religions; I believe its what makes this country so great. Even though the United States does not have an official language, English is predominately used. Of course some might argue that in Florida or Texas, Spanish is more widely used, but thats another topic for another day. Being of Spanish decent can be hard and confusing at times. I am of Puerto Rican decedent and was born here in America. My mother being Puerto Rican and my step-father being Guatemalan had issues with what language I was supposed to be taught first toddler. My step-father said I should learn English first because we lived in America and everyone speaks English. My mother on the other hand wanted me to learn Spanish so that I wouldnt forget my roots. As a child hearing my mother speaking Span ish and my father speaking English hindered my communicational development. Thus the language of Spanglish was born. Im sure that Spanglish was being used before I was born, but the fact that I was combining both languages to communicate held me back in some areas. I would start a sentence in English and finish my thought in Spanish. It wasnt that I was doing it on purpose, but my mind took the easy route to finish my thought. If I couldnt find a word in English for something I wanted to say, I would just find one in Spanish and vice versus. That may have worked at home, but it didnt work so well when my Jewish pre-kindergarten teacher couldnt understand me completely. It wasnt that I was not smart enough to be in her class, or develop enough to be in pre-kindergarten. I knew my ABCs, could count to ten and knew the colors of the rainbow. The Hindering factor was that I knew them in Spanish. My inability to use the English language at that age was going to hold me back in school. I was possibly looking at a disadvantage from the start. My mother was so afraid of the school not accepting me in to kindergarten that a summer of hell awaited me. She stopped talking to me in Spanish and English became the predominate language in my home. Being that I was young and a sponge, t didnt take me long to learn the English language for my age. I was able to understand and be understood by my English speaking only teachers. That decision that my mom made resulted in another dilemma in my life which I now still deal with. Growing up in a multicultural environment confused me at times and let me to think and believe I was rootless. Am I an American or am I Puerto Rican? Do I feel comfortable speaking Spanish or English? Everyone at school spoke English, my mother once schooled started talking to talk to me in only English and no one really talked to me in Spanish besides my cheek grabbing aunts no came to visit everyone once in a while. I believed that my roots as my mother put it were slipping away from me. I felt ashamed for a long time because I think I wasnt Hispanic enough or Puerto Rican enough. Having to switch on language the way I did when I was younger put bump in my road for success. To this day I hate spelling and I rather do math. You could say a some people dont like to spell. That is a true statement, but my inability to master one language at time was very confusing. One question that my grandfather asked me repeatedly when I was younger was, How do you say that in Spanish. One instant that I remember, he was referring to my uncles Nintendo. I had asked him if it was alright if I could use the Nintendo in English. Even though he understood what I asking, he was playing a mean trick on me and proofing a point to my parents. He told me that if I could tell him how to say Nintendo in Spanish, then I was allowed to play. I had to ran to my father ask him and he told me Nintendo in English is Nintendo (with a Spanish accent) in Spanish. I felt a bit dumb, but I didnt care at the time because all I wanted to do was play Nintendo. Thinking about that time it was hard for me to have a full conversation with my grandparents without being frustrated. To a degree with was like Malcolm X writing is letters in jail, I know what I wanted say, but I had a hard time saying it in the right language. I eventually took Spanish classes to improve my Spanish speaking skills and talked more with my parents in Spanish to not lose touch with that side of myself. My enlistment in the military was not only culturally shocking, but linguistically shocking as well. Ive recently closed a chapter in life, titled The Marine Corps. It was a life altering experience which I befitted from tremendously. It was a culture shock to say the least. I mention this because there were expectations of me which I had no clue of. I was supposed to know these things, about those things, and all that overnight. One of the craziest issues I had was the language. All of my life the floor had been the floor and all of a sudden floor was now the deck. The walls were bulkheads, the windows were portholes and my shirt became my blouse. Now back on my neighborhood if you were a guy and you wore a blouse that you played for the other team, by that I mean homosexual. I slowly realized that the Marine Corps was rooted in Naval traditional and the terminology date back to ship life. After a while verything started to make sense, but that doesnt mean it became easier. I was st ill being yelled at for referring to the deck as the floor while I cleaned it. Another issue in the Marine Corps I had was speaking in the third person. Now that only last for the three months of boot camp if you ever met a Marine and asked him about the longest time of his life, he or she will problem say Marine boot camp seemed to never end. I just couldnt understand why I needed to say This recruit or recruit Perez needs to use the head instead of saying Hey I need to use the bathroom. Again those were just traditions that fitted a purpose. Whenever you spoke incorrectly the Drill Instructors made it a point to correct you with physical fitness, with that being said I was one tough and lean recruit by the end. Besides being expected to perform in boot camp and being held to a standard. The rest of my Marine Corps life was one learning experience after another. I learned that you dont address a Colonial the way you would you home boy back at home in an e-mail. Professionalism is s omething you need a lot of if you going to survived the arm forces. You are a cut about the rest; cream of the crop so that meant if you half ass work wasnt tolerated. Incomplete work, or work poorly accomplish is the same as not doing it at all. Writing professionally wasnt something I was taught, but I learned under fire. I would write an e-mail or a respond to question 3 to 5 times and had my peers look it over so I wouldnt get in trouble. That would hinder my workload output, but I wasnt being yelled at anymore for not being professional, not it was about not working fast enough. It used to scare me to know that I would have to write an e-mail and 1000 people would read it. I dreaded replies on incorrect grammar or my use of Spanglish. Yes I did use Spanish on a couple of occasion and that they go over so well. With time everything can be accomplished, and my writing skills became better, I do still try to review my work/email/face-book status updates before hitting enter, it ju st a habit now. My experience with my own culture and cultural language (Spanish), allowed me the understanding needed to embrace the Japanese culture and language. My Marine Corps life has let me different place around the world and Okinawa, Japan is included in that list. I still remember being picked up from the airport by my superiors and the long drive to base. Its a humbling experience driving around in a different country and seeing a different set of people you arent used to seeing. I was trying to read billboards, street signs, and even the menu off of the McDonalds drive through, but everything was Latin to me. Well it wasnt Latin most likely the signs were in Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji. Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji are 3 forms of writing that the Japanese use. My friends and I would go and interact with the people of Okinawa; we didnt like staying on base so we explored the island and what it had to offer. It wasnt easy at first, but the Okinawan people were very accepting of us becaus e we at least tried to learn the language. I carried a Romanized dictionary, to be able to say what we were trying to convey. Even though I know that I was order chicken in English, but the Japanese waitress only knew Japanese. My friend, Wesley would come to the rescue on occasion such as those if I took too long in my dictionary. He had a pocket picture book, which travelers used in different countries to express what that want. He pointed to a picture of chicken and the waitress new exactly what I wanted to order. It amazed me that images can be used to communicate the basic of thoughts. My patience in knowing that I was guest in Okinawa and that I was the one that couldnt be understood helped me better understand the people and culture of Okinawa, Japan. Language has been my double edge sword and that if I used correctly and I acknowledged and understood, but if I am careless and foolish with it and it cut you deep than anything known to man. Of course language isnt something you can pick up and slick through the air, but you can master this invisible tool. I practice when I speak, read, write, sign, and even nodding my head. It is what I do with my experiences; it is what I do with I practices that shape my mastery of it. To quote smarter man than I He who controls the language, controls the word. I believe the word word in his quote means my inner being, my inner self. To become my best self, I must be fully aware of who I am and realize I can be more. I will not be a prisoner of my own mind, for it is I that hold myself back or lets myself fly.

Case Study of The Prodigy :: GCSE Projects History Music Band Essays

Case Study of The Prodigy My task in this case study is to write about a band/artist that has reached public prominence in the last 10 years within the u.k and that have also had at least one top 20 single within the u.k singles chart. Their music must be completely original and they must have produced at least 1 hit album. The band I am about to write about in this case study is the Dance/Rap band whom some people call the techno terrorists, The Prodigy. Early History The Prodigy consisted of 5 original members, 2 dancers, 1 DJ and 2 M.C.s, however before these 5 met the Prodigy didn’t exist and only was a thought inside the DJ and musical genius Liam Howlett’s head. Howlett was certainly the musical force behind the Prodigy sound. He was born in 1974 in Braintree in Essex. He was educated in music as a classical piano player. As he grew older he began to listen to early ska and punk and by secondary school Liam had become very much attracted to the hip-hop scene and listened to bands like Grand master flash and Run Dmc. Only a few years later, still very much influenced by hip-hop, Liam had saved up enough cash to by two decks or turntables and became the DJ for a rap band called â€Å"Cut to Kill†. The band eventually secured a record contract with a record company named â€Å"Tam Tam records†. Yet the record deal excluded Liam, despite the fact that the band used one of his tracks to win the contract. After this betrayal Liam left the band, started to loose faith in the rap scene and started to look for brighter more promising areas in music. While Liam was DJ-ing in the hip-hop scene, a new wave of illegal music had taken to the underground scene – Acid House. This used technology to create fast and powerful head stimulating beats that could never be simulated or created by human beings. The only way to experience this sort of music was to go to large illegal warehouse parties that eventually formed the foundation for what is now known as a rave. Liam’s first experience of this was at a place called the barn in Rayne, he thought it was the best thing he had ever been to and even begin DJ-ing at some of these illegal underground events. This was then where Liam met dancer Leroy Thornhill and singer/dancer Keith Flint.

The Diaspora Studies

In diaspora studies the major component to focus on is identity. In Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist novel mainly brought out the negative side of America. Ingredients like culture, religion, food and language are important issues to deal with identity. People always identified by their culture so the presence of culture and identity mixed with each other. In this novel cultural identity has processed the main role among the characters. The character Changez struggled to enjoy stable identity for him and for his country. The readers can comprehend that America and Pakistan have some connection in regards cultural and political aspects. He sacrificed for his real identity, his Pakistani culture and his customs to follow western culture and western identity. Being in America his dual identity did not win even though he cannot forget his hybrid culture and cannot follow only one identity. After coming back from America since he taught his students about Anti- American issues. He did not abandon American life, but trying to stay connected with it. He was not happy by sacrificing his real identity since he had witnessed bitter experience. He was not comfortable and his identity remains unstable. When Changez went to America, he did shave his beard instead he protests against American society and show his indifference against America. He did not give up the original culture for the sake of safeguarding him. His social situations molded him to turn against alien country. In the novel the kite runner by Khaled Hosseini the character Amir's immigrant experience was worse and then he understands that following one's own culture was difficult and challenging in a new country. He realized that the lives of immigrant will be changing according to the changes taking place in a new country. In the novel A passage to India by E. M. Forster readers can understand the relationship east and west. If east and west follows best relationships between them there will not be any conflicts. Through A Passage to India people understand the intermingling culture of east and west always lead into the major problem and the supremacy of the west. All the western countries have the false opinion on the east and that need be changed. The component of hybrid culture plays a prominent role in the lives of people. In the novel American Brat by Bapsi Siddwah the character Feroza was the admired and influenced by American like the character Changez. Feroza's life was totally changed after the immigration experience in the west. She was easily adapted to the culture and tradition of America. When she returned to Pakistan continued to follow American culture that was many in liberation. Changez at first admired by the American dream, but at last he erased his admiration towards America. In contrary Feroza's immigrant life changes in a positive way.

The Vampires Are Now A Metaphor Of Human Beings - 1615 Words

As one of the most attractive and enduring figures in the Gothic literature, the vampires have moved from being a peripheral element with the genre to a place near the center and are capable of generating its own massive tradition now. In the recent literary history, they have already been adapted to play a role of a rebel against the moral, social, religious, and even sexual taboos. Put simply, the vampires are now a metaphor of human beings in the modern society and life. With the publication and popularity of The Vampire Chronicles, especially that of Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice innovates the Gothic tradition in the western literature successfully, for comparatively speaking, the vampires in her novels are more sympathetic and humanized than the terrible and emotionless monsters before. As it is said by both Jan Gordon and Veronica Hollinger, the vampires also stand for some border anxieties, since they penetrate boundaries by their own special and complicated nature, that is to say, between life and death, between love and fear, between power and persecution. Furthermore, sensitive to the social issues very much, Anne Rice expresses the sentimental feelings of the vampires in great detail and by exquisite words and describes vividly the existing state of the outsiders of the modern times as well. Therefore, in the case of Interview with the Vampire, there is a quite highly rational and philosophical probe into the life and the existence of human beings. FromShow MoreRelatedEssay about Critical Analysis of Interview with the Vampire1388 Words   |  6 PagesCritical Analysis of Interview with the Vampire Charismatic. Charming. Sensual. Beautiful. Would you ever use these adjectives to describe a vampire? 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