Why?

It seems like when ever there is something, it could be a good thing or a bad thing, there is always a main source. So to completely eliminate something, that main source. For instance, you need to take out bulb so the lamp won't glow. But in my video, I explained that it is almost impossible to end this problem with racism and people not feeling accepted and they feel like they don't have the rights to do things that they have a desire to do. Many people are to scared to attempt to fix this problem.



Here is the video of the poem...

If the video doesn't work, then make yourself useful and read it yourself.​



Poem:

The Oil of Fire

 

Life is made in many different forms,

These different forms come from different makers.

 

You eat the food from the ground,

You drink the water from the seas,

You smell the scent of the flowers,

And you breathe the air of the earth.

 

The Presidents made the constitution,

The gods made the earth,

The chicken laid the egg,

And seed made the tree.

 

Everything has a source.

It’s the heart of the body,

Without it we would be dead

It’s the Sun of the Universe,

Without it we would be dead.

It’s the racism of our society,

Without it we would be alive.

 

It has brought nothing

Except hatred and war,

It is something undesirable,

Nothing we adore.

 

The main source of it,

Died many years ago,

Not possible to fix,

This situation left us in woe.

 

We can always attempt to make a change,

Getting a lot of people to agree, is very hard to arrange.

Most likely it is impossible to complete this task,

Everyone is two afraid to help, they will wear the fearful mask.

 

-Daniel Varnis

I was sitting at a table with my friend and said ,

“Yo u hear about that jawn who was rumblin”  

“Naw but who was she rumblin and why?”  

“Man you kno how girls always fightin over the dumbest stuff but i dont really know why she was mixin”

“Oh trizz but yo you heard bout jawn that was bout 2 get jumped”  

“yea thats crazy”

This would be how i would talk to my friend at a public place and this relates to my life because when i go out to public places i have to switch the way i would talk and act if i was with my friends. Also this goes for the same with adults if i am talking to an adult then i won’t talk like I’m talking to my friend and sometimes its hard to switch between these. When I’m outside

walking somewhere relates to my life because i have had problems with people trying to fight or jump me and my friend or friends because we say the wrong thing and it doesn’t have to be directed at them at all.

 

In my life I use many different ways of speaking and i code switch a lot. For example If i am outside with just my friends then i will joke around curse a lot and basically just have a good time and not care about what I’m saying and hardly ever speak proper, but if I’m in public like at a restaurant or something then i will still joke around but not curse because I’m in a public place and if I’m talking to my friends I would use slang but if I’m talking to an adult then i would talk properly. If i am in my neighborhood but I’m walking somewhere i don’t talk a lot because that could attract attention and people would then try and mess with me and my friends or start a fight if i say the wrong thing or if they don’t like the way i talk or the way i sound. If I’m at home and my mom is home i will not curse because then she would probably hit me because I’m not suppose to curse around adults, if I’m at school in a class i wont curse but when I’m in the halls or at lunch i will curse because i would be with my friends. When i talk to adults i talk to all adults with respect because that’s what i was taught to do by my mother and i don’t use slang because I’m suppose to speak proper to adults. This matters because if i talk to a certain person the wrong way i could get hurt or in trouble and i could be looked upon differently then i want to be looked upon and how my family is looked upon.

 

This also relates to code switching because depending on who i am talking to depends on the way i talk . For example if I’m talking to an adult I’m not going to be cursing or yelling or cutting them off or being disrespectful because that would be wrong, I would talk to an adult like this

“hey”

“hi”

“how are you”

“good and yourself”

“Fine thanks for asking”

“have a nice day”

“ok thanks you do the same”  

 

If I’m talking to my friends i will curse and joke around and things in that nature like this.

 

“Sup Fam”

“yo my ni**a wats good”

“YA MOM”

*laughs* “that doesnt make since” *jokingly*

“Yo u did that nut a** homework”

“Naw motherfu***a i was jus gonna copy jawnski’s”

“true that gucci my ni**a”

 

If I’m outside and I’m walking somewhere then i wont be just saying anything i want because if i say the wrong thing it could start trouble and i try to avoid trouble as much as possible. When I code switch i don’t like it because i want to be able to talk to everybody the same way but if i do that it could end me up i trouble. For me code switching is like a good skill to have so then you can know how to talk to different types of people and would be able to accept more people or to be able to withstand people that others might not be able to because of there personality or something. To me the way a person talks could be how there personality is and if you don’t know how to code switch then you might have a hard time accepting other people for who they are and might have trouble in the work world so that’s why i think that being able to code switch is a good skill to have.

 

For example of a reason you need to know how to code switch in my neighborhood one time i was with two of my friends Rondel and Survon and it was a hot summer day and we were walking to our friend Juniors house. When we were walking we walked pass edmonds which is a playground where there is a basketball court at in my neighborhood, and there were 3 boys playing basketball. Then the boys started walking toward us after we were at the end of the block and one of them was yelling "COME HERE" but we didnt know the boys so we kept walking. Then the 3 boys caught up to us on the next block and one of the boys said to Survon

"watsup"

and he said "nothing much chilling" then the other boy said " i dont mean watsup i mean watsup wit a mix". Then Rondel said "we dont want to fight we dont want no problems" then the boy said "i didnt ask you that but wat if i wanted a problem" so we kept walking and they kept following us until we got up to st raymonds which is a school/church in my neighborhood and thats when the boys were next to us so we were trying to get away from them. Then the boy said to Rondel "yo rumble me" and Rondel said "why u wanna rumble u dont kno me and i already said i dont want no problems" then the boy said "i dont like you cuz i dont kno u so rumble me" then Rondel said "why dont u and one of them slap box if you wanna rumble so bad" then the boy said "cuz they like my bros" and the other boy said "WHAT!" to what Rondel had said. then we just kept walking and they left us alone because we were going to west oak lane and the gang BI is in west oak lane and 1-4 is in mt airy and they dont like each other so they didnt want any trouble really. In my neighborhood if you dont know how to code switch then you could end up in trouble because if you are from a different neighborhood then you might talk differently then people in my neighborhood. If your not from my neighborhood and you dont know how we talk then most people are going to want to fight you so code switching is good so that you dont get into trouble in unknown places to you and so you dont get hurt, you could also end up in a scene like me and my friends did.

 

To me the way i speak influences a lot about me like the type of people i hang with and type of music i listen to. In the future i will have to understand how to relate to may different personalities so that i can get and keep a job because if i dont like my boss i will still have to just deal with him or her and the people i work with.  

                                                    Introduction

​In Mr. Block's english class we had to write a language autobiography. In a language autobiography, the author talks about different aspects of language in their lives or family's lives. They also talk about the struggles language brings and the hardships or joy it can bring. Language is a powerful tool. Behind every person's language or dialect is a story. With that said I hope you take the time to listen to mine.

My language autobiography is about the term code switching, what it means and how often we subliminally code switch. My process was pretty sketchy for a various reasons. I felt like i didn't have a unique story because i was born and raised in America and I speak standard english fluently. Therefore, I had trouble finding an initial concept to write about. By the end i think i did pretty well. I did well with my conclusion and explaining moments in time vividly.  

The Autobiography "Code Switching"

I remember like it was yesterday. Picking up my cousin from his rural home in Delaware. I remember seeing fields of grass, single homes and cul-de-sacs. “Call Eric and tell him were outside!” said my mom. I picked up my phone and called “We’re outside bro.”

My cousin walks outside with his bags ready to go. “Yo Eric!” I yelled “ Did you hear about that new jawn by Young Savage?” “What’s a jawn bro you must have forgotten I’m from Delaware we talk nothing like you guys do” said Eric.

            We made our way to the family reunion in Cape Cod. On our way there we spent a lot of time talking about the mannerisms or “Philadelphians” as he would say. The crazy part is that his whole family is from Philadelphia but he just has been away to long.

 “Ok, as you know some of my cousins drawl heavy” I said not thinking about my dialect. “Drawl? Come on man didn’t we just go over this.” Eric said jokingly “I can tell what you mean by the context of what you say but I don’t fully understand.”  We just sat back and laughed it off. But in the back of my mind it made me think deeper. I never noticed how many “characters” can be played by one person.

The correct term is code switching. As the ride got longer I thought to myself. I would never talk to any of my teachers, principals or bosses using slang. So why do I use that dialect with others? Is it to fit in? Is it to impress? I couldn’t think of the exact reason but I just knew it was something I should look further into.

We arrived at the hotel ready to check in. “Time to wake up guys were here!” My mom yelled. On our way upstairs to check out our room we see my cousin Dior. “Follow me all of the cousins have our own room!” she yelled. We ran up ready for the fun that awaited us.

As I got to the top of the stairs I saw my grandmother with a few bags. With the sweetest voice I asked, “Hey, do you need any help with those bags grandmom?” “No, I’m okay honey. How is school?” she asked. “It’s not good but I’ll make it better when I’m ready.” I responded. “ You have always been that way and need to change boy. Well now isn’t the time to be worrying about it so go have fun with your cousins.” She said and walked away.

I guess looking back at the whole situation it made me realize the answer to all my questions about “code switching.” It is a form of identity and who you are or at least who you make yourself out to be. By the way you speak can often tell where you’re from, the people you hang around and want to be with. We often switch to a more proper dialect when talking to authorities to show that we are proud to be who we are, have a great education and are ready for the challenges ahead of us. I even went deeper thinking about different people in my life. A coach gets a point across by yelling and being assertive. I’m sure he or she wouldn’t be like that with his or her significant other. Simply because there is a place and time for everything. Code switching is more than just the words you say its how you say it and how you carry yourself overall. It’s more than language it’s the lifestyle you choose to portray to the people around you in order to be accepted. 

​

When starting this project i thought it would be hard to wright. As Mr. Block began explaining to us more the information about the project it begin to make more since. We also watched a documentary on different people and how they feel about others languages and accents. It was cool to hear how outsiders felt about the language i spoke. we also read many stories about different people and the things they went through coping with there languages. to successfully complete this project i had to think about the way i speak to my family, friends, teachers and others. 

From the very moment you were born you began to learn your language. that first voice you hear begins to click in your head. For me when I was brought into this world i was brought into what some would call an standard English family. Of course there is a time when things change for everyone. As i began to meet new people and other family members from different parts of the World, my language would change up. Yes, i speak English and only English but different types of it, therefore i cant describe a specific language for myself.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12880110/blocklanguage%27%20-%20Medium%201%202.m4v

​Introduction and Reflection:

When I heard we were going to be working on the Language Autobiography essay, I had a lot of thoughts in mind, since I know I had gone through many experiences with language identity and how it still has affects me in my life since I speak two languages. I can confidently say choosing a time where I had struggled the most was an easy step for me to begin my essay, but when I had got to the point into the story, it was difficult for me to narrow down and use some descriptions to tell the struggles I’ve been through. Overall, I felt great working on this essay, it’s a way of expressing myself through my language identity.

Language Autobiography Paper

Language identity has played in a big role part in my life, and I have gone through many experiences of how language identity has affected me in a way of speaking. I was put in ESOL and speech class for thoroughly nine years in Elementary school, and including the first year of high school. When I was younger, I’d never knew what ESOL class were for, I’d always thought it was a regular English class, not English learning class. I didn’t discovered that until I got to the age of twelve. Every morning or in the afternoon, a person would call for me and other English- learning students to go down to ESOL class. I still remember the moment of  being embarrassed from the time I stood up from my chair and had to walked all the way down to ESOL class, and it  felt as if my feelings were shuffling from the moment I was called to go down. 

           I was born in the U.S. and I speak two languages; Khmer and English. I was taught both languages at the same time, but I had incorporated Cambodian language more than English when I was younger. Ever since I started to developed my speaking, I was always told that my voice were tremendously deep and that I couldn’t talk right. Many people said it was probably because my tongue is big. I wasn’t really aware of that myself, I had always thought I spoke clearly until I heard my own voice from recording it. I was very aroused by the way I sounded, 

“How could that possibly be me?” I asked myself.

 When I listened to my own self talking in the video I recorded, I then knew what went wrong with the way I spoke, it was the “s” sounds. Each time I say a word that has the sound of an “s”, it would seem as if I had stuffed myself with a big wad of chemical cotton candy with braces hanging loose in my mouth. 

  I have a similar story to Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue” story. According to “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan she says, “My mother’s English is perfectly natural, it’s her tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation, and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world.”  Amy’s mother struggles with grammars, pronunciations, and people who would criticized of the way she speaks, and that relates to how I was when I was younger and had not yet developed in English language. I still have some trouble with that, but it isn’t as bad as it was then. Just like Amy’s perspective, I have always described my language identity as “broken” or “fractured” English. 

One day a new student came two months after school started. This student came from Cambodia and didn’t know very much english. There were me and two other students in the class who is Cambodian, so we had to help and translate for him. One major problem is that the other two students doesn’t potentially speak our native language and I can’t necessarily translate from English to Khmer fluently. It was very confusing for the new student, but he could only understand if I said it word by word. 

“ I don’t understand. You guys are Cambodian, you speak the same language, how can you not know how to translate to your fellow classmate that speaks the same language as you?”

My english teacher was concern. That was very embarrassing to me even though she said is to all three of us. I feel like I’m a very slow learner. I can understand my language, but I can’t speak fluently nor translate for someone else who knows the same language as I do. Well, that’s just how I developed my language. I can fully understand, but I can’t speak fluently in my own native language. 

Throughout the years In elementary and middle school, I have not had the fully potential of confident to raised my during discussions or any other curriculum. I was always picked on by the teacher and feel embarrassed for not knowing the answers or sometimes I do know the answer, but I just don’t want to speak up. The only reason why that happened to me because I didn’t want my voice to be heard. That time I was more concernative and afraid about people opinions, and that they’ll judged me based on my opinions and the way I speak, but when I came to high school, it was a whole new world to me. I feel like I can express my feelings through language identity when I participate more in some classes and through many essays I’d written. Language identity is a way to express one main self. 

​

Jessica Mairoano

 

Introduction: I think that people knowing and learning different languages are important and it’s something that I wanted to write about. My language autobiography is about some of my experiences with learning a different language also authors experiences and that they wrote about.

Reflection: This project was very difficult for me at first because I had no idea what I wanted to write about. I never really paid attention to what other people had to say about language so it was interesting to read about other people’s opinions. My strengths with this project were writing my own experiences because it was so easy to talk about. My weaknesses were trying to stay on topic since it had to be almost a thousand words I thought I was going to get off topic.
 

Paper:
In school you are required to take a second language for at least two years, but why? Why can’t I just know English? What if I don’t want to learn another language? We are all taught Standard English and that is the right way to speak so why would they teach us something different? The school district thinks it will benefit us in our future but what if we don’t think it will? Then why do we need to know two languages?

The day has come the day I get my first quarter report card for sophomore year. I walk into the tiny room with my advisers and my mother. I look down at my narratives. I had an amazing report card but unfortunately Spanish is the first subject on the list. My mom looks at my report card disappointed because of my Spanish grade “D?” she says with a frown on her face. I was not happy with her face at all. I went on and on about how my grade could be better and most importantly how I got that grade. First, I said, “I do not understand Spanish it’s just not my subject. I don’t want to take it next year if I am going to keep struggling.” My mom stopped me right there and said “Isn’t it much better if she knows two languages?” Mr. Kay my advisor said “Yes its much better” At that point I realized that I should make the decision if I want to learn a language or not.        

“Language, a place of struggle” says bell hooks. Those five words mean a lot because language is a place of struggle. In my opinion language is important because not only do you need to know English to communicate with people but also if someone speaks a different language you need to know how to speak it to, that’s not always easy. Spanish for example is totally different from English and to expect someone to learn it and be able to speak it fluently is much harder then you think. I feel as though if you don’t understand the language and don’t want to learn it then that’s your choice. But again, if you think about that line “ Language, a place of struggle” you know its going to be hard and you can work through it.

Sometimes you need to do certain things to exceed in the subject you are learning. In the story “I just want to be average” by Mike rose, mike rose talks about some of his experiences in the classroom. He was placed in the Vocational track, which are mostly classes for students who are not doing well in school. Mike thought he had to be like everyone else and be good at every subject. When people learn languages or just any subject in school everyone is at a different level that is okay. Mike Rose did not understand that.

My first day of Spanish 1, one of the scariest days of my life. I have my binder and pencil out and the first thing I write in the corner of my new shiny loose-leaf paper is “Ahorita,” which means do the activity on the board right now. I didn’t no what to expect, I didn’t think I was going to do well in this class. As the days of the school year go by and I am just passing with a B when I know I can do better. I thought that since this was my first year ever learning a different language, which me not understanding it is okay but then the next school year came. I was dreading the day I had to step foot in the Spanish classroom, like always I put Ahorita at the top of my paper the first day. I knew that coming into Spanish 2 was going to be a little rough for me because I had difficulties the previous year. It turns out I was right. When I received my first test back it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I went straight to my teacher to seek for help. He explained to me that it is fine that I am having difficulties. It will get better if I just keep studying. I realized everyone is at a different pace. I am normal I just need to work harder.

Yes, it may take a lot of work and you may struggle and at times it might not make sense but language helps you accomplish greater things. Language helps you work harder to achieve your goals. People might think now why do I need to talk Standard English or even learn a different language but in the long run it will pay off.