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Culture and language difference
Culture and language difference
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Language
Language throughout the years has adapted and changed according to trends and current events. It’s always different and always changing. This raises the question, is there a correct way to speak? I think not. Language is all relative. Over the years certain words may start to mean different things. For example, the word “gay” during my grandpa’s teenage years meant something totally different than how it’s used currently. Although it’s still a word and used frequently, over the years the meaning started adapting to present day situations. Also, for a British man, “fish and chips” may refer to fried fish and French fries. Where as to an American “fish and chips” may be known as fried fish and a bag of potato chips. Language all depends
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It all depends on you surroundings. For example, I grew up in more of a southern household. So, in my house we use words like “supper” instead of dinner and “mama” instead of mom or mother. Although, my daddy is a very well educated man and uses more proper terms around us. Growing up around this sort of dialect makes me feel more comfortable or at home when hearing southern terms or more educated terms like my dad uses.
My grandma originated from Louisiana so her dialect is somewhat different from ours. It’s almost to the point that sometime I can’t understand what she’s talking about. For example, she pronounces “shrimp” like “srimp”. Also, she pronounces “fire” like “far”. It’s unusual for me to hear because I’m not from where she lived. That makes it sound foreign to me. This also applies to my papa. My papa uses words like “flipper” instead of “remote”. But, that doesn’t mean how she speaks is wrong, it’s just different to me so it sounds
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I have friends that live in all parts of the U.S. Some live as far as California. I’ve noticed that when I hang out with them, certain slang and dialect used sound particularly foreign to me. For example, one of my friends referred to my brother as “yoked”. At first I had no idea what that meant and I had to ask. He said it meant my brother looked very strong and muscular. About three months later I had heard my friend from school say “yoked” and it had accrued to me that common slang amongst the Californians had traveled all the way and made itself to
Every language has its own way of saying different things and depending on the culture,
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
The article Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan is a personal look into how language, and the dialects of that language, can affect a person 's life. It 's a look into how the people inside the cultural circles who use dialect derivatives of a major language are treated by people who exist outside of those cultural circles. It shows us how society treats a person using a "broken" or "limited" dialect, and how society 's treatment of these people can also affect the children who grow up using these "broken" dialects. Tan wrote this article try and convey to the reader that English is a colorful, and ever-changing language that has many dialects. Tan makes the point, several times throughout the article, that society judges you based on the type of English that you use. Throughout the article, Tan uses both her mother, herself and society 's treatment of them as evidence to support her idea. The purpose of pointing this out is to show the reader that the language a person uses, whether it be taught to them in school or by a parent at home, isn 't indicative of a person 's intelligence or value, and they shouldn 't be judged as less for using it.
Finegan says this is something “living languages must do”. For me, I was raised in a military home in which we moved to a new region every couple of years. Coming from Germany, moving to Rochester, and then to Lowville, my dialect is a combination of all three speech communities. It is different than my parents, and will mostly be passed down to my children. As I age and move locations it is opted to change again as well. So it is not that I speak differently or incorrect than the rest of my family, my speech community is merely growing and changing as it is passed generation to generation. Richard Lederer stated in his article, “We are a teeming nations within a nation, a country that is like a world.” (150) He was portraying how our country, with a universal language, can be so diverted by each region’s version of the English language. I agree completely that although we all “sing” the same song of the American language, “we talk in melodies of infinite variety.” (150) The way our country was built was by different American regions doing their own work, for example, the south had plantations, where my ancestors were small town farmers who worked with manufacturing in mills and
Language in the South varies according to which area someone is in and what the person’s ethnic background is. Most white people that live in the South have a country draw in their accent or talk very proper. Most black people in the South talk using Ebonics or are really proper, but some do have a draw in their accent. The other ethnic groups talk in their native language or in English with a distinct accent associated with their ethnicity. If one is in Southern Louisiana their accent will be Cajun. The language in the South is alike in most places according to the person’s race except in Southern Louisiana.
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
Language, whether oral, or written is the primary type of interaction we have. In “Learn! Learn!” by Hugo Martinez-Serros, the author stress the importance of language and education in society rather than your social class. He shows the importance of language to us by outlining the everyday life of a hard working Mexican that lingers in developing his authorship, and really likes to criticize the writing of the higher class enlightened priest. He lives in the south side of Chicago, and in his spare time he loves to study and critic others writings for improvement.
The United States is made up of multiple cultures, race, and languages. Many people come from Mexico or Asian parts of the world, like China in search for a better life. One of the struggles many people have when coming from a different country is the language, in this case English. Everyone has a unique way of communicating. In the United States, after people learn English they realize they use different Englishes without knowing, in order to communicate, whether it be with parents, professors, or your own pets.
Not only does this happen in the real world, but it also occurs in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Calpurnia talks to the people at her church differently than the way she talks with Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem go to church with Calpurnia (their “second mother”), but this church is mainly for the people of color--which Scout and Jem are not--but Calpurnia is. At church, Calpurnia is greeted by Lula, who starts to speak in a way that seemed strange to both Jem and Scout. The way that African Americans and white people spoke were different from each other, because the African American way of talking sounded more like “slang”, while the white people had a more “sophisticated” way of speaking. Lula and Calpurnia ended up talking to each other in their “slang,” which shook Scout because Calpurnia spoke “in tones [Scout] never heard her use”(135). Scouts reaction leads you to believe as if Calpurnia was speaking a whole different language--even though it’s in English-- but, it’s in a different pronunciation of words. Even though Calpurnia knows how to speak “better”, she doesnt because “folks dont like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do,” (143). Calpurnia doesn’t need to show everyone at church that she can talk a different way, almost seeming better than the people at her church. She has a character that makes her seem on top of the people that she is
To what degree do the words you use define the person you are? This is a central question in the hotly debated issue of making English the official language of the United States. If English did become the official language, the rights of people who do not speak English would be violated and the nation would be further segregated. Just as schools were segregated in our past, this again would show that segregation equals discrimination. People must understand that every citizen deserves the right to celebrate their diversity. The government need not interfere with the words that come out of people's mouths. In a country torn by prejudice and segregation, the official language should serve as a reminder that America is as diverse population where differences are embraced, not ignored.
Language and dialects as unintelligent and not beautiful. Folk linguistics can be visible when comparing Standard English and African American language. Some individuals
Language is a universal trait that every culture has, whether it is written or spoken, people around the world have a need to communicate with one another. Language reflects your background and where you come from, according to Fromkin, Rodman & Hyams (2011), an accent is a regional phonological distinction (p. 433). That being said, in the United States the most prevalent language is English, but depending on the region, your language might sound different to other people. If someone from Wisconsin visited one of the southern states, they would definitely notice a drawl in a southerner’s language, whereas the native southerner would think the Wisconsin resident’s accent sounds nasally.
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.
The American class system is divided into three sets of social categories: upper class, middle class, and lower class. These class divisions are determined based on an individual’s status and power in the society and may also be determined through an individual’s education, occupation, and income. Having a divided society based on social and economic status leads to the formation of different conversational styles. The use of standard or nonstandard English dialects often reflect an individual’s social class and it will vary according to the social group one is categorized. Language is affected by the social structure because individuals will differ from one another in the way an individual speak. Being divided by
...minated or dead. The key to avoiding improper expressions is to speak or communicate clearly and effectively to obtain the best first impression of your listener.