Tupac's "Changes"

            The daily racial injustice that African American’s were faced with is reflected in Tupac’s “Changes”. Rap became a popular platform through which African American’s were able to express themselves and bring awareness to these everlasting issues. These common racial injustices included subjects such as poverty, racism and police brutality. “Racist faces” and “disgrace to races” advocate the strong barrier between whites and blacks, possibly relating to the segregated lifestyle in the early 1990's. Life was 'color coordinated' and the rights this race had were limited. Interpreted from the country’s racial division, he felt that the citizens “[weren’t] ready to see a black president” and should wait for more accepting times. “I’m tired of bein poor and even worse I’m white” expresses the social issue of high poverty rates within the community. Resulting from these high poverty rates followed crime and violence; “war on the streets”. Police brutality followed this abundance of violence, eith their negligence voiced through “pull the trigger kill a …” and “cops give a damn about a …”. “[I] never did a crime I ain’t have to do” represented the extent they had to reach in order to attain a financial standing. “Penitentiary’s […] filled with blacks” resulted from high violence rates. Throughout the piece, Tupac addresses the African-American community through the use of “we”, encouraging people to “start makin’ some changes”. It could be assumed that he believed that in order for change to be evoked, the black community must unite, as he addresses others of the community as “brothers”. Although this song relates to events which occurred in the US, other countries similarly were faced with numerous issues surrounding racism. Tupac spent many years in hopes of creating change, and his strong personal connection and desire for equality can be deprived from this song. 

Language Memoir- Second Language Becomes Home

Growing up in Colorado, I adapted to the American English language culture quickly. Although my family spoke only Finnish at home, I soon began to prefer English over my mother tongue. My English has always been stronger, as I have academically practiced this language my whole life. However; it does not feel natural to speak this language at home, even though my brother and I speak better English than Finnish. Even to speak this language with my brother alone would feel strange, as we’ve fell custom to speaking Finnish to one another. Since I can remember, I have always had an English voice inside my head. This said, I think things through in English then translate them into Finnish when speaking to my family.

            I have had to practice code-switching my whole life, as I have constantly had to switch between the two languages. In a sense, I do speak a form of ‘broken Finnish’, as I lack the ability to express emotions/ideas from English to Finnish. I mix the two languages around quite a lot, without noticing me doing so. As well, when speaking fluently, I forget some words and make grammatical errors. However, growing up, I never thought much about this in-ability to speak perfect Finnish, as my family was always forgiving about these language mistakes. I never had to use the language with anybody outside of my family, as we were residing in an English speaking area. Therefore, it never got practiced outside of the house or with anybody else. Even when we visited extended family in Finland during the summers, I never lost my confidence with my version of the language as they were all understanding of my Finnish abilities.

            It wasn’t until the summer of 2016 that I started to lose confidence with my language use. Even though we had spent countless summers in Finland, hearing countless numbers of people my age speaking the language better than I could, it never affected me personally as I was not associated to them. However, the summer of 2016 I joined a summer camp through which I gained a lot of friends, all living in Finland. Being an international and national camp, there were people my age of all Finnish language abilities. The people I began be-friending all had better language abilities than me, as they preferred Finnish. One girl that soon became my best friend had lived internationally but had moved back to Finland a few years ago. Even her speaking abilities surpassed mine, and was able to converse well with the other natives. During the camp, my friends would code-switch between English and Finnish, and even though I could understand everything that was spoken, I lacked the confidence to contribute in Finnish as their language levels exceeded mine.   

            I often felt embarrassed when speaking the language with my native friends next to me, as I knew I didn’t speak it to their level. Sometimes my friends and I would joke about my poor language abilities, but ultimately it took away my confidence that I once had speaking the language when I was younger.
           I noticed myself in more difficult situations when I began meeting more and more people through my friends in Finland. It was the first time I had felt excluded from a language that had always felt like home. From slang words that I couldn’t keep up with, national jokes, spelling and grammar, to text message abbreviations; it was a world that was swallowing my sureness. At a point, I completely stopped using the language, as I felt that everything that I said was incorrect. I began to invade my home country with a foreign language; the one I was sure about, English. The language that had felt wrong to be spoken at home was now my source of re-assurance in my home country.

Stereotypes of non-English speakers- Opinion Column

            Stereotypes made of non-English speakers are commonly seen and heard of. This type of linguistic discrimination can be commonly seen in work and school environments, healthcare, social circles, etc. Many view those with broken English as un-educated, and are un-able to view them from a professional stance, as people are “less likely to believe something if it’s said with a foreign accent”, according to psycholinguistic Lev Ari. These stereotypes are often made by those not as culturally-aware, as they may reside in regions with less of an international demographic. Linguistic differences can often lead to inability to access jobs, education or healthcare due to downgrading stereotypes. People are “easy to make judgment’s about a person’s cultural affiliation or education” due to the way they speak a language, even if the speaker is well educated and knowledgeable, as said by sociolinguist Ingrid Piller. From personal experience, having to master two languages is a hard task. Creating stereotypes about people solely based on their ability to speak the preferred language of the local culture is wrong. The individual could be able to excel in understanding the language, but just lack the ability to speak it back. A person’s ability to speak the language should not create any societal limits for them, as they are still valuable human beings just like the rest of the native speakers in that society.

            Take Stephen Hawking for example; he is a mastermind although he lacks the ability to express his thoughts verbally. Although his inability is due to a terminal condition, this relates to the idea of one having brilliant ideas, but not being able to express them through the ‘wanted’ language. I believe that what one has to offer to the table is much more important than how they communicate it. It is understandable that some professions require excelling English due to reliability issues, however this means there are a plethora of job opportunities left that do not necessarily have this requirement. Having ‘broken’ English usually concludes that the speaker excels at their home language, which may be much harder to learn than English itself. As well, the individual is still able to learn and better their English language. Ones ability to speak a language does not reflect their interest in it, as they may have started learning it at a later stage in life. It should be respected that the person took the time to learn any English, and are trying to use it to the best of their ability, instead of creating negative stereotypes around it. The reality is that more foreign dialects are to be seen in workplaces, healthcare centers, etc. as cities are growing with international people. It is up to one’s ability to accept others from different cultures, and not judge/associate them to existing negative stereotypes, in order to create accepting societies.

How to Pay for a Baby: Analysis of Language

"How to Pay for a Baby", written by parenting columnist Kool A.D, shows a distinct combination of colloquial and slang sociolect. This use of modern and relatable language is used to create a connection between the author and reader, essentially being able to better attain the reader's attention and establish trust. By writing in such grammatically relaxed language, the writer is able to create comic remarks targeted at other young parents who connect with this specific use of language. Several jokes are added throughout the text, making it unique from commonly posted formal baby-care/finance columns. The language used within the text is pop-culture/internet deprived slang, promoted by the use of abbreviations such as "hella", "I'mma" and "outa". From this, one can depict that the author originates from a region where informal diction dominates formal diction. The region influencing the author's writing might be a 'hip' site as he mentions popular internet personnels such as Kehlani, jokes about the rising trend of B-list rappers, comments on binge ordering popular shoes and watching Netflix. Starting off the column with "I'mma keep it 100 with ya'll", the reader is informed with the realism that the author is trying to share, creating an author-reader connection. Constant use of profanity as well promotes the idea of realism, as young adults are prone to informal dialect. The author contradicts the purpose and functionality of everyday points, as he has become more financially aware since having a child. The author's "craz[y]" point of "need[ing] money to live indoors", relates to the author's view on rent, attaining salary, grocery shopping, etc. "Money is wild fake", "fake-a** currency" and "worthless tiny pieces of paper" show the author's passive-aggressive relationship with money. The author is presented as knowledgeable on the subject, as he has a wide array of topics to comment on. Although his use of informal diction may suggest otherwise, he has managed to communicate valuable financial tips through comical and relatable language, adding a refreshing use of language that is not commonly seen when discussing topics of this matter. 

A picture that represents me

This picture I found on the internet best represents me as it shows a beautiful view and a hiker, which shows my love for the Earth/nature and being active. As well, having alone time to reflect is another thing I highly value. 

Goal Setting

Goal Setting is always an motivating event personally, as it is an organized way of laying out what I want to achieve. If goal setting is done right, the goal that is trying to be achieved can be better reached than if it were not to be well planned out. "Something new" that I would like to achieve this year related to language, is to learn to project my language skills on different platforms, as well as richen my vocabulary use. It want to be able to write text that has deeper meaning, so that it can be portrayed differently by each reader.

The material that we go over in class will promote my language use as it will help keep my practice of the language consistent. As well, as we go over different material, this will expose a variety of different language uses, and overall build upon my skills. By reading and analyzing different sources, this richen my vocabulary use, as well as become confident with varying stylistic choices used on different platforms. Over the next two years, I hope to learn the difference between the language used on different platforms, and the power that comes with using it right. 

Background Information

Welcome to my first blog post. My name is Laura, and I am currently in the English Language and Literature HL class. As I am a very curious person who likes learning new things and always needs to know the answer to "why?", this has resulted in many personal interests. Some of these interests include health and fitness; which includes my passion for sports such as football, as well as healthy cooking and nutrition. As well, I am passionate about videography and photography, as I try to practice both equally. This passion has grown from my love to travel, as I love capturing great moments. I am interested in fashion, as the whole industry amazes me. When asked what I care about, a lot of things come to mind. I care about understanding the world and space, as this enriches my desire to always need to know why something is happening. I care about my friends and family, which is an obvious statement as these connections are always the most important, personally.

Language plays a very important part in my life, as it is everywhere. Language is a very powerful tool which can spread positive and negative emotions, and can be used to communicate strong messages if used properly. Language use is as well complex, as most of the time the text has deeper value and meaning, which is up to the readers ability to analyze to fully understand the piece. Beneficial communication relies on the individuals language skills, therefore language is arguably one of the most important components of everyday life.

Personally, I believe that it is important to study language as it enriches our vocabulary use, and promotes sufficient communication. Communication skills are another key element of everyday life, therefore the basis of this skill needs to be well nourished. As well, by studying language, it helps us better understand written work, which comes in a plethora of formats (seen everyday). There are so many ways of using the powerful tool of language, therefore it is important that it is practiced.

Although english is not my mother tongue, I feel that it is my stronger language as I have practiced it more. I have felt excluded from language barriers surrounding my mother tongue (Finnish), as I am not as confident with the language. This meaning; some phrases and words are hard to understand. Even in the English language, I have felt excluded at times due to the use of harder to understand vocabulary words.