On Hostage Situation – I think that the idea of the paper is a great idea, I am sure it wasn’t hard to find the arguments on what is and what is not the right way to handle this type of situation. However, exactly like you said every situation is so different in this field. Also I am interested is this something that you hope to go into. Your presentation was great, you didn’t seem nervous, and I feel that you hit all the points about how the problems are discussed academically in the field.
On Patient/Doctor Relations – There were at least 3 of these, so I am going to say all I have to say about these and take with you what pertained to you individual presentation. I think that most of the presentations did not really say what the people in the field are actually saying about the way in which they communicate to the patients. You focused mainly on the way you felt the patient felt under certain situations. On the other hand, a few of you actually did and I think that is what this presentation and paper is supposed to be more about. I think that this was probably the most used scenario and profession for this paper and I think it would be very smart to be sure to thoroughly give examples of how the actual doctors relay information to patients. I think a great thing you may want to look into, is in the practice of oncology and how the doctor relays the news to the patients that they are going to die. I read an article somewhere that some doctors get hugs from patients when they tell them this or even get thanked. Others get yelled at or the patient is in denial. I believe this has a lot to do with the relationship with the doctor.
On Accounting – I was in fact an accountant for a Retail store, I have a real life understanding how hard it is to get the business owner to understand what is going on with the numbers of the business. Not only was I the head accountant but I also worked there as a manger. I was there over 40 hours a week, and the owners were very trusting. I knew more about the internals of the business than they did. To people that don’t deal with Revenue, Profit, Assets, Liabilities, and Payroll on a day to day basis good luck. This is a cool major to go into and you learn what the definitions of all the different words listed above. But in the real world you don’t use ledgers and balance sheets on paper. I suggest get a copy of QuickBooks and start learning how to use it now. Also business plans, get familiar with looking over the number portions and don’t be afraid to point out that it just isn’t going to work. As far as the presentation you did great, I think that this one would be hard because of the fact that people good with number tend to stay as far away from writing academically as possible. I am sure you could find some articles on how business owners either understand or don’t understand what is going on with their money. I like the topic and it definitely is something that is very hard to communicate. If you find a efficient easy way to get the points across let me know.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Essay 3
Ok, I have not began working on Essay #3 yet other than getting all the sources reading through each one and working on summing all the sources up. As I am doing a collabrative project and my partner has been out of town on a Drum Corps Competition it was hard for me to work on the project and have both of our view thoroughly expressed.
Friday, April 11, 2008
In response to If This Is French, Then What Did I Learn in School?
I feel that Duràn hit the nail on the head in his questioning why we learn something already obsolete in foreign language classrooms. He tells it like it is, and gives examples comparing and contrasting what one learns in a French classroom and what one should learn in a French Classroom.
I feel that Duràn hit the nail on the head in his questioning why we learn something already obsolete in foreign language classrooms. He tells it like it is, and gives examples comparing and contrasting what one learns in a French classroom and what one should learn in a French Classroom.
I agree that the bases have not changed nor has the need for the proper syntax for writing academically in the new target language. I am not petitioning that we stop teaching the proper way to write or speak, but merely incorporate the changes in the language into the class as well.
Step out into the real world and you will quickly find that you are unprepared to get anywhere other than la sale de bain or somewhere elementary like that, and you would most likely find that you couldn’t comprehend the answer because of unfamiliar responses. When learning a foreign language you have to understand that “ça va” is not the only way to say “How is it going?”
Step out into the real world and you will quickly find that you are unprepared to get anywhere other than la sale de bain or somewhere elementary like that, and you would most likely find that you couldn’t comprehend the answer because of unfamiliar responses. When learning a foreign language you have to understand that “ça va” is not the only way to say “How is it going?”
Est-ce que:
Est-ce que je vais aller au cinéma ce soir?
NOTE : Never taught in a classroom that I have seen is the fact that in common use Est-ce que, is only used with “I” as a question or “Je.”
Inversion:
Sais-tu le professer de biologie?
NOTE : This is the most common used but what is not taught is how the inversion can be used multiple places in the sentence.
Intonation:
Tu veux aller avec moi chez mi-mi?
NOTE : You just use voice inflection to ask the question as it is syntactically like a statement.
There are just so much more and so many exceptions in everyday use. When you hear a native speaker and they use the inversion somewhere else in the sentence it is easily confused. Also they do not follow the script of questions and answers laid out nicely for you in the text book.
Basically, I want to set up my own curriculum teaching the basics and all the major rules but incorporate the new French into it. Also using multimedia would allow me to keep up with the times teaching commonly used slang and words that wouldn’t find themselves past the old gray haired man editing the French books.
I feel that Duràn hit the nail on the head in his questioning why we learn something already obsolete in foreign language classrooms. He tells it like it is, and gives examples comparing and contrasting what one learns in a French classroom and what one should learn in a French Classroom.
I agree that the bases have not changed nor has the need for the proper syntax for writing academically in the new target language. I am not petitioning that we stop teaching the proper way to write or speak, but merely incorporate the changes in the language into the class as well.
Step out into the real world and you will quickly find that you are unprepared to get anywhere other than la sale de bain or somewhere elementary like that, and you would most likely find that you couldn’t comprehend the answer because of unfamiliar responses. When learning a foreign language you have to understand that “ça va” is not the only way to say “How is it going?”
Step out into the real world and you will quickly find that you are unprepared to get anywhere other than la sale de bain or somewhere elementary like that, and you would most likely find that you couldn’t comprehend the answer because of unfamiliar responses. When learning a foreign language you have to understand that “ça va” is not the only way to say “How is it going?”
Est-ce que:
Est-ce que je vais aller au cinéma ce soir?
NOTE : Never taught in a classroom that I have seen is the fact that in common use Est-ce que, is only used with “I” as a question or “Je.”
Inversion:
Sais-tu le professer de biologie?
NOTE : This is the most common used but what is not taught is how the inversion can be used multiple places in the sentence.
Intonation:
Tu veux aller avec moi chez mi-mi?
NOTE : You just use voice inflection to ask the question as it is syntactically like a statement.
There are just so much more and so many exceptions in everyday use. When you hear a native speaker and they use the inversion somewhere else in the sentence it is easily confused. Also they do not follow the script of questions and answers laid out nicely for you in the text book.
Basically, I want to set up my own curriculum teaching the basics and all the major rules but incorporate the new French into it. Also using multimedia would allow me to keep up with the times teaching commonly used slang and words that wouldn’t find themselves past the old gray haired man editing the French books.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
His is harder to write on than you think!
I am shooting myself in the foot for choosing this word. I need feedback! If it isnt up to par I need to just change my word! So let me know!
Imagine a world without gender markers, where everything was ambiguous. In the midst of a casual conversation and unable to tell if the person talking is dating a guy or a girl, a world without these markers could make conversation much less meaningful. Looking back on the evolution of the English language one can see how it has went from a language with gender for many of its objects to a language where only one gender was used, and back to a language that uses gender markers but no specific genders for inanimate objects.
One example of a word that marks gender now is “his,” the word was originally used in c1000 to describe a male and in a1200 in the 3rd person singular feminine. The word in both senses has followed a noun showing possession. The Oxford English Dictionary has the following definitions for the word, “1. as gen. case of pers. pron.: a. masc. Of him; of the male being or thing in question, L. ejus; b. neut. of it; c. refl. of himself, of itself, L. sui.” In the feminine sense it has the word defined as, “it; refl. Herself.” As well as yet another definition of the word meaning them, this is now obsolete. (Oxford English Dictionary)
The word now has taken its place in a modern dictionary, the Wikipedia definition of “his” is “a gender-specific pronoun, the possessive form of he” (Wikipedia) This has grown to be accepted, and I feel that it is a great definition. I think it is irrelevant to have only one word pointing to the masculine, feminine, and plural forms. Which “his” historically did, but I still feel that the English language should have stayed a little more closely related to the other European languages.
Another use past use of “his” was to means its, where an inanimate object posses another object. This is not something that is very common in language today nor was it very common in language in the past. This is most likely the reason why the word “its” was not in existence. The language then evolved and needed a word that pointed to a possessed object of an inanimate object. (Yahoo Answers)
“His” has been on a long roller coaster ride of transformation and has seen everything from biblical times where it was used to point to a possessing male or female. To where the language just needed a quick reference to a female. Then we entered into a time where women decided to fight for their rights and it seen some harsh times there. “His” has had a front row seat in the battle of the sexes, and has evolved over time to point to only the male gender. The last time the word was used in describing a female was in 1340, however the battles over women’s rights were far from over. The change in the use of the word merely implied that now we needed a way to refer in short to women. This need marked the first in a series of gains for women.
The word however not only stopped pointing to women but to the plural as well. This is where English took a turn from the format of other languages. Where in many of the other popular languages you have masculine and feminine beginning and endings attached to almost every word. Like in many other languages the word for his or her is also used in the plural sense and the word for his trumps the word for hers if there is just one male included in the group being discussed. This is where English began taking on its own form, and words began to lose gender.
Today we still assign gender to certain things, usually to things that is stereotyped as being a girly or a masculine thing. Such as a cat, when saying the cat owns something, we find ourselves saying her, or she. Especially if we do not know the sex of the cat off hand. The exact opposite with a dog, which is predominantly referred to as he or his. This is because of a preset notion in our brain that says cats are girls and dogs are males. We do this with many different words in the English language.
This is where I feel the fork should be stuck firmly into the road, and we should have to make a choice. This is also why the English language is so hard to learn. I do not think that certain words deserve to have gender if other words do not. If you were to show anyone born in the past five generations a document referring to a female as his, they would call attention to it and say it is a typo or a mistake. Unaware of the history of the word not knowing that that the word used to be used interchangeably.
The correct definition of the word “his” would be used in all necessary places of a masculine noun. The word would be used even to describe possession of an inanimate object as long as the object were masculine. The word “her” would co-exist and be the feminine counterpart. The English language should have kept gender markers on every word. I know the English language cannot completely change overnight but it does upset me that we go totally askew in the aspects of language and measurement from every other major language. This not only would make our language easier to learn, and make the concepts of other languages easier for us to learn, but make more sense for everyone.
This is the best definition of the word because it not only splits and makes masculine and feminine two separate things with quick indicators such as the gender markers, but it also keeps it fair to women. Beyond that is assimilates us into following other language rules followed around the world. Should we continue to use gender markers for only certain objects and certain situations? No, this makes it unfair and we are stereotyping what should or should not be a certain gender. Also it confuses the hell out of other people trying to learn the English language.
Imagine a world without gender markers, where everything was ambiguous. In the midst of a casual conversation and unable to tell if the person talking is dating a guy or a girl, a world without these markers could make conversation much less meaningful. Looking back on the evolution of the English language one can see how it has went from a language with gender for many of its objects to a language where only one gender was used, and back to a language that uses gender markers but no specific genders for inanimate objects.
One example of a word that marks gender now is “his,” the word was originally used in c1000 to describe a male and in a1200 in the 3rd person singular feminine. The word in both senses has followed a noun showing possession. The Oxford English Dictionary has the following definitions for the word, “1. as gen. case of pers. pron.: a. masc. Of him; of the male being or thing in question, L. ejus; b. neut. of it; c. refl. of himself, of itself, L. sui.” In the feminine sense it has the word defined as, “it; refl. Herself.” As well as yet another definition of the word meaning them, this is now obsolete. (Oxford English Dictionary)
The word now has taken its place in a modern dictionary, the Wikipedia definition of “his” is “a gender-specific pronoun, the possessive form of he” (Wikipedia) This has grown to be accepted, and I feel that it is a great definition. I think it is irrelevant to have only one word pointing to the masculine, feminine, and plural forms. Which “his” historically did, but I still feel that the English language should have stayed a little more closely related to the other European languages.
Another use past use of “his” was to means its, where an inanimate object posses another object. This is not something that is very common in language today nor was it very common in language in the past. This is most likely the reason why the word “its” was not in existence. The language then evolved and needed a word that pointed to a possessed object of an inanimate object. (Yahoo Answers)
“His” has been on a long roller coaster ride of transformation and has seen everything from biblical times where it was used to point to a possessing male or female. To where the language just needed a quick reference to a female. Then we entered into a time where women decided to fight for their rights and it seen some harsh times there. “His” has had a front row seat in the battle of the sexes, and has evolved over time to point to only the male gender. The last time the word was used in describing a female was in 1340, however the battles over women’s rights were far from over. The change in the use of the word merely implied that now we needed a way to refer in short to women. This need marked the first in a series of gains for women.
The word however not only stopped pointing to women but to the plural as well. This is where English took a turn from the format of other languages. Where in many of the other popular languages you have masculine and feminine beginning and endings attached to almost every word. Like in many other languages the word for his or her is also used in the plural sense and the word for his trumps the word for hers if there is just one male included in the group being discussed. This is where English began taking on its own form, and words began to lose gender.
Today we still assign gender to certain things, usually to things that is stereotyped as being a girly or a masculine thing. Such as a cat, when saying the cat owns something, we find ourselves saying her, or she. Especially if we do not know the sex of the cat off hand. The exact opposite with a dog, which is predominantly referred to as he or his. This is because of a preset notion in our brain that says cats are girls and dogs are males. We do this with many different words in the English language.
This is where I feel the fork should be stuck firmly into the road, and we should have to make a choice. This is also why the English language is so hard to learn. I do not think that certain words deserve to have gender if other words do not. If you were to show anyone born in the past five generations a document referring to a female as his, they would call attention to it and say it is a typo or a mistake. Unaware of the history of the word not knowing that that the word used to be used interchangeably.
The correct definition of the word “his” would be used in all necessary places of a masculine noun. The word would be used even to describe possession of an inanimate object as long as the object were masculine. The word “her” would co-exist and be the feminine counterpart. The English language should have kept gender markers on every word. I know the English language cannot completely change overnight but it does upset me that we go totally askew in the aspects of language and measurement from every other major language. This not only would make our language easier to learn, and make the concepts of other languages easier for us to learn, but make more sense for everyone.
This is the best definition of the word because it not only splits and makes masculine and feminine two separate things with quick indicators such as the gender markers, but it also keeps it fair to women. Beyond that is assimilates us into following other language rules followed around the world. Should we continue to use gender markers for only certain objects and certain situations? No, this makes it unfair and we are stereotyping what should or should not be a certain gender. Also it confuses the hell out of other people trying to learn the English language.
Friday, March 7, 2008
What matters?
I am going to go out on a limb here and hope I don’t shoot myself in the foot. But if grammar doesn’t matter all that much, and what really matters is that you get the point that is trying to be conveyed. Then why do we have to endure a class that is supposed to teach us language, or teach us how to write. Better yet why do I get points taken off my paper because of grammar mistakes? So does it matter or not. I AM SO CONFUSED!
Everyone has some sort of a different argument, it is only in speech that it doesn’t matter, or it only matters if you are writing for a formal audience. Well didn’t we learn to speak before we learned how to write? Why can we just write like we talk, it would be easier and we could spell things much more loosely? I honestly don’t think anyone would care. Except maybe for the person who wrote the article about how he is disgusted in how the language is failing.
I don’t think there is a real answer on what is happening to the English language. I think the language would be more effective if we did use these shorter words that have been invented just for test messaging. As long as the communication get the point across. I however know that by doing this we take out all the descriptive aspects of English. The thing I don’t understand is why everyone is so up for talking like they do in these text messages.
So writing and speaking properly is either crap or not crap. Can we please decide which way speech should go!
Everyone has some sort of a different argument, it is only in speech that it doesn’t matter, or it only matters if you are writing for a formal audience. Well didn’t we learn to speak before we learned how to write? Why can we just write like we talk, it would be easier and we could spell things much more loosely? I honestly don’t think anyone would care. Except maybe for the person who wrote the article about how he is disgusted in how the language is failing.
I don’t think there is a real answer on what is happening to the English language. I think the language would be more effective if we did use these shorter words that have been invented just for test messaging. As long as the communication get the point across. I however know that by doing this we take out all the descriptive aspects of English. The thing I don’t understand is why everyone is so up for talking like they do in these text messages.
So writing and speaking properly is either crap or not crap. Can we please decide which way speech should go!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Whom the hell nose grammEr?
It is hard when you come from the part of the country that seems that everything we have been reading about has been targeted at. My parents are the cliché, “I don’t want none of that” speakers. So my dad would be the last person to correct my grammar. This brings me to a thought about changing language like we change our clothes. Indeed I change my language for a English class drastically from how I would speak at home. I catch myself saying things such as, “I have already ate” or “Where is my car at?” I know these are wrong and the second they come off my tongue it is like I am reaching out and trying to grab the words and shove them back into my mouth. I can’t help how I was raised nor can I help that I didn’t properly learn the names for all the words in a sentence.
I can however recall a time in seventh grade when my Australian English teacher expected out class to know how to diagram a sentence. We seriously didn’t know an adverb from a hole in the ground. I guess that was the first time where we got a description of the names of words. It was a little too late, and at the time I couldn’t have cared less.
The first time I guess I figured out that the names of words actually mattered was in my High School French class when I was trying to describe how these words went in a specific order. Which is hard, when I still had no clue what exactly a direct or indirect object was or how to describe how they pointed to something? GERUND PHRASE? Can someone please explain?
But does language really have to be this scripted. I mean everyone knows what you mean when you say, “I didn’t get no money today.” Just like in class we discussed who the authorities were to say what is and is not correct. Who really cares as long as it just works? I guess I am saying this because I don’t particularly care if people are wrong or not in speech. However why they are wrong interest me. If we were all correct when we spoke or wrote, then I would be left without anything to sit back and be, “Like, Whoa!” And tons of people would be without a job.
I can however recall a time in seventh grade when my Australian English teacher expected out class to know how to diagram a sentence. We seriously didn’t know an adverb from a hole in the ground. I guess that was the first time where we got a description of the names of words. It was a little too late, and at the time I couldn’t have cared less.
The first time I guess I figured out that the names of words actually mattered was in my High School French class when I was trying to describe how these words went in a specific order. Which is hard, when I still had no clue what exactly a direct or indirect object was or how to describe how they pointed to something? GERUND PHRASE? Can someone please explain?
But does language really have to be this scripted. I mean everyone knows what you mean when you say, “I didn’t get no money today.” Just like in class we discussed who the authorities were to say what is and is not correct. Who really cares as long as it just works? I guess I am saying this because I don’t particularly care if people are wrong or not in speech. However why they are wrong interest me. If we were all correct when we spoke or wrote, then I would be left without anything to sit back and be, “Like, Whoa!” And tons of people would be without a job.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Old World! New World!
First off I want to say that this week has been the most stressful week of my life. STRIKE THAT! This week sucked.
How is that for concision? So this week we talked about our papers and how to make them more effective. I have always had a huge problem with writing sentences that go on forever. That contains multiple ideas, and most likely confuses the hell out of the reader. After reading in About Language on concision and going to class that day I was able to make my reading more effective. But I must say didn’t help on the length of my paper.
The time spent on writing a paper, editing, re-vision, and re-re-vision is well worth the time. I used to write papers and turn them out without second thought, and without even reading over them. I would get the papers back with marks on things that made absolutely no sense at all. I then started having someone else read my papers and help me be sure that they made sense. This was effective but I never thought about how powerful you can make a paper by taking out filler words, and just saying what is need to be said.
I will admit this makes it hard to meet the word wouldn’t requirements. Because usually I would have went on forever about my first sentence. In fact I feel everyone deserves to re-live what has happened.
OK so I am coming into this week from the worst Valentines Day ever. I was broken up with this year on V-Day! Yes I couldn’t believe it either, but it was my fault. I guess sometimes you need to choose your battles wisely. The fact that this relationship ended is not as upsetting has how it did. Moving on into this week. I spent the first part of this week with the flu, so I lay in bed and moped around about last week’s loss.
One stupid thing after another! Eventually it leads me to taking my best friend to the hospital where she lay I sat in the ER overnight on Tuesday. Her parents aren’t from here and she was very scared about being there alone, and I don’t blame her. OK, so after being there all night the next day they decide that she has appendicitis, and are going to do and emergency appendectomy. However they give her morphine right before they realize that her parents are forever away. Rendering her unable to go into surgery, because she has had pain meds and cannot sign a medical release.
This is where I come in! Her parents made me her medical proxy. Which means I am stuck at the hospital now. So I missed tons of important quizzes and papers in classes. But it was for my best friend so it was ok. The surgery went well and recovery was pretty quick. She had her own room and we ended up staying one more night. The chairs are very uncomfortable to sleep in, and I am not fond of the hospital at all. But we got out of there yesterday, after missing a final for a first session class.
Anyway, it has just been a stressful week!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
"Please press 1 for white or 2 for black!"
Sometimes I really wonder if we purposely stereotype or be racist. I mean when you answer the phone or take an order at the drive through, do you think to yourself, “Oh my god, they are black/Indian/different. I better treat them different or lie to them and tell them that we don’t have said product in stock, or even spit in their food?” Probably not, sometimes when you call a business multiple times, different employees answer, and sometimes every employee doesn’t know every possible way to get something for the customer whether it be order it Etc. Sometimes an employee can overlook a product or may not work in the department in which they are answering the phone for.
I am by no means condoning that they shouldn’t know what they are doing, or saying that racial profiling is right. However I am saying that I don’t know of anyone that just profiles people to be doing it, it must be a subconscious thing that we do.
Looking at this in a different prospective, an entrepreneur building a subdivision that he hopes grows into a rich community, probably wouldn’t want to sell the first fifty houses out to Mexicans or blacks, just based on a stereotype. This is wrong, I know that people have this preconceived notion of not wanting to live in a subdivision and be the minority, but people should realize that others cannot help their origin. I don’t know why people make such a big deal about all this. What does it really matter; they are people just like I am.
It pisses me off to see someone making fun of another’s skin color or origin. There is one thing that does bother me though. It is when a person of a different race portrays that stereotype and just tries to stand out in the crowd. Of course we are all different but damn, what is up with the shorts and a belt but you wear them down at your knees, this is not an exaggeration either.
Based on the reading we did I find it amusing that people make a big deal about it. It also posed a question to me that if it is illegal to do this in person why isn’t it illegal to do it on the phone, but how can you prove if they are telling the truth or they are giving you an answer based solely on you race or ethnicity. The reading did open my eyes and I will try to be conscious and not profile on the phone however.
I took a break from writing this and went out to the store. I had in mind what I was writing about and believe it or not this is what pulled up next to me. I found it very ironic speaking of stereotypes, and found some humor in it.
I will let the reader caption it for themselves.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Men vs. Women
I hate to even admit that during the first reading by Nilsen, I was thinking to myself stop your whining no one cares. Girls just look for reasons to complain about not getting treated fair, and then when it truly is fair you complain because you don’t want to have to do certain things that men do. Or your excuse is, “Would you carry that? I am a girl.” Also as I read I couldn’t help but go UGH and it killed me to actually read this. Because I was thinking, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Then I read the second by August, I thought to myself you know he is right, I really agree that everything is either your bad at this or you should have done this better. Guys lead a pretty much, “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t life.” I really agreed with about every bit of what he had to say.
Then I decided that I would write about this and was putting y thoughts together on all of this. Then I thought to myself, WOW! I guess we really do protect our own sex in all this. I don’t know who is right or wrong I am going to have to contemplate that a bit more.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wait! Casinos, aren’t the only Cherokee Culture?
“Made in China,” reads the sticker on the backside of my rubber Tomahawk. As you drive through the downtown area you see Native Americans in full suit, and I don’t mean button up and tie. Yes, they are dressed like not so true Native Americans from the past. The article is certain to tell us that this is not the true Native American culture.
Driving on into Cherokee you will see a Visitors Center/Museum, it contains many artifacts of Cherokee culture, and they aren’t made of rubber. The Native American ancestors of this region are very excited in sharing with visitors their culture; they are the first to tell you that Native American life is nothing mike depicted in comic books or western movies. This Mecca of artifacts offers tours every ten minutes and shows off Native American beadwork, pottery, canoe hulling, blowguns, weaving, arrowheads, dwellings and more.
As an outsider coming into this culture it would be a good idea to think about these possessions in the Museum as items in your home. Asking the right questions isn’t always the biggest thing when observing a difference in culture, especially when you are in the position where you can sit and listen to others questions.
The article includes broad information to the true and not so true culture of that Native Americans. It also tells of a place in the area that a visitor can go to find out specific information about the culture. During these demonstrations one can learn specific information, however a fieldworker could go and listen to questions from specific visitors or even ask questions that have to do with the project that they are doing. In example if the fieldworker was doing research on growing plants and how Native American in the past they could ask the person demonstrating the Agriculture part of the tour. The fieldworker wouldn’t want his questions to get a broad sense of how they produced bigger better plants in the past. They wouldn’t want the answer, “Well they put fish into the ground when they are planting the crops.” A fieldworker would want to know how and why they did this, when they began doing it. What effect did it have on the plant? How much bigger were they?
As far as an overall picture of the culture of the Cherokee, a fieldworker may want to know why they are so keen on telling visitors about the true culture of their ancestors. Why did they stop doing certain things their ancestors did ect? As a fieldworker, you want accurate answer to the questions you are answering; therefore it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do some research on how it was done in an encyclopedia. Then use that information to ask specific technical questions to the tour guides in this specific example.
Native American culture is a very deep and well thought out culture; they had one of the first forms of written language. Also many others firsts and things stolen from these Native American in the past have had its effect on our society. But look to what degree we have forced them to change. Think about the picture we have depicted of them, big feather suits, and tepees. None of this is completely true. I hope they don’t have such crazy ideas of how we live.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/living/article/0,1406,KNS_2796_4858703,00.html
Driving on into Cherokee you will see a Visitors Center/Museum, it contains many artifacts of Cherokee culture, and they aren’t made of rubber. The Native American ancestors of this region are very excited in sharing with visitors their culture; they are the first to tell you that Native American life is nothing mike depicted in comic books or western movies. This Mecca of artifacts offers tours every ten minutes and shows off Native American beadwork, pottery, canoe hulling, blowguns, weaving, arrowheads, dwellings and more.
As an outsider coming into this culture it would be a good idea to think about these possessions in the Museum as items in your home. Asking the right questions isn’t always the biggest thing when observing a difference in culture, especially when you are in the position where you can sit and listen to others questions.
The article includes broad information to the true and not so true culture of that Native Americans. It also tells of a place in the area that a visitor can go to find out specific information about the culture. During these demonstrations one can learn specific information, however a fieldworker could go and listen to questions from specific visitors or even ask questions that have to do with the project that they are doing. In example if the fieldworker was doing research on growing plants and how Native American in the past they could ask the person demonstrating the Agriculture part of the tour. The fieldworker wouldn’t want his questions to get a broad sense of how they produced bigger better plants in the past. They wouldn’t want the answer, “Well they put fish into the ground when they are planting the crops.” A fieldworker would want to know how and why they did this, when they began doing it. What effect did it have on the plant? How much bigger were they?
As far as an overall picture of the culture of the Cherokee, a fieldworker may want to know why they are so keen on telling visitors about the true culture of their ancestors. Why did they stop doing certain things their ancestors did ect? As a fieldworker, you want accurate answer to the questions you are answering; therefore it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do some research on how it was done in an encyclopedia. Then use that information to ask specific technical questions to the tour guides in this specific example.
Native American culture is a very deep and well thought out culture; they had one of the first forms of written language. Also many others firsts and things stolen from these Native American in the past have had its effect on our society. But look to what degree we have forced them to change. Think about the picture we have depicted of them, big feather suits, and tepees. None of this is completely true. I hope they don’t have such crazy ideas of how we live.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/living/article/0,1406,KNS_2796_4858703,00.html
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
“Elvis is still alive, and is living on the moon,”
Every day we spend a majority of our time doing something that get absolutely nothing done. At the end of the day sometimes we look back and say, “What happened to those five hours.” We are also very intrigued by things that make absolutely no sense or are out of the ordinary. How often is a baby born talking and telling about Heaven and how great of person God is?
When learning rhetoric, it said basically to get the reader interested. How do you get the reader interested? Do exactly what I said above say something that they don’t see every day. Many of the magazines at the grocery counter catch my attention. I am educated enough not to believe that a dogs body and Hillary Clinton’s head had been fused and is running for president. And I know that Aliens aren’t leaving their offspring on the earth.
The reading we did for last week’s class did just that as well caught my attention in the beginning. Language has always interested me and I love to listen to others speak. I love being in a college setting because of the people from not only around to US but from around the globe are all in this one setting. It is sort of a mish mash of languages. Sometimes as I sit in the cafeterias I listen to other groups of students talk and have a hard time understanding them. I have noticed many differences in language and mostly it depends on where a person is from.
Our reading focused more on the way structure of our sentences in inborn into us, or so it seems. And how the sounds of a child’s native language sooths it as it is in the womb. I think that is totally miscued, it is not testable, you cannot rip the baby out of one mother and put it into another to see if this is true or not. But think about this, different languages take on different sentence structure. I am aware that most follow a Subject Verb Object, however many put different adjectives in front of the noun or vice versa. There is no way that this can be inborn into infants.
I am interested in how all this works, but the reading went on forever with tons of examples. OK, we believe you after the first five examples. And as far as languages with gender yes it is hard. Many people wonder how someone can learn a second language or even the first for that matter with gender rules, where not only people but objects have genders. It is somewhat confusing but it makes sense in the way that the objects are grouped together, and you know the basics of what is male and female.
Last thing! An update on the Veteran that likes to make his keep by standing on the Entrance and Exit ramps, I seen him again last night, right after it started raining I really felt sorry for him if he is telling the truth. But I just can’t make myself believe that he has been trapped in Knoxville for this long against his will. I don’t know I kind of want to go buy him a bus ticket and see if he leaves. If as a class we pooled our money together we could get him home!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
C'est la crème de la crème ! Tu la sais !
Every child pretends to know how to speak a different language, write in cursive, and conduct a band - the usual kid things to do. It just so happens that my mother was always drawn to those infomercials that advertised something with an “unbeatable value” and that allowed the person to call in with a credit card and order a specific product with “6 low, low payments of 27.75” Especially the ones right out of the 80’s. This particular one started with, “Yes, that’s French they are speaking, and no these children aren’t French. They’re American, and they have acquired these amazing new language skills from Muzzy” (British Broadcasting Company). I am not so sure what compelled her to order these video tapes, but they were pretty awesome.
Je suis un garçon, et je parle français. I am a boy, and I speak French. This was the first sentence I learned to say. They cartoons were in fact dated but they kept my attention. I learned a lot of vocabulary and, in fact, I can recall the French word for scarf, “écharpe” faster than I can recall the word in English. I still find myself at a loss for certain vocabulary words in English, especially the words I learned in French before knowing what the English word was.
Quand j’étais une école Américaine, j’étudie français pour 4 ans. Quelquefois j’oublie que tous le monde ne parlent pas français. See like I said I sometimes forget that the world doesn’t speak French. I usually almost always make grammatical mistakes when I am trying to write a test, or write things down in French because I never really had to do that. I began by learning the basics how to count, the alphabet, and colors. I understood spoken French, and finally I began to pick up and be able to speak. I had the vocabulary and basic sentence structure in the present tense before I began to take formal classes in high school.
The class began with the stuff I already knew and stayed that way for about the first semester. Many of my classmates were surprised at how quickly I was to respond in French and that I didn’t have to take the time to convert it into English, think of the answer, convert the answer back into French and respond. Over the four years that I took French in high school, I learned almost all the different tenses and the irregular verbs and many things needed to have a in depth conversation. I can read through French text about as quickly as I can read through English. And, as a matter of fact, I type on a French keyboard.
“Thanks mom, for making me look like a queer,” apparently it is unacceptable that a boy be smart in school, particularly in a language that I must admit is very feminine. But I just liked the language; it gave me a sense of privacy. The French professor and I could hold a conversation in the middle of the classroom speaking about the other students, and no one had a clue what we were talking about. The school that I went to only offered two semesters of French for credit. Nevertheless, I stayed in those same two classes all four years. The professor wrote to the school board and they ended up giving me credit for French III because they allowed it as an independent study. I just had to read books and write essays and that sort of thing.
Over the four years I formed a decent relationship with the professor and helped out in all the French I and II classes modeling and translating complicated directions. This helped me by challenging me in something that is not readily available to hear in Tennessee, and helped the others learn French faster by not speaking any English inside that classroom. Every semester the classes moved faster and faster and we formed a great system of teaching. I became skilled in the methods of teaching a foreign language, and I decided that this is what I want to someday do.
I really enjoy teaching something that people don’t already know. For the most part in school students’ move through learning every year what a noun is, what a verb is, etcetera. But a language gives you a fresh slate to work with and that is why I want to teach this. The biggest barrier is getting the students to throw their humility out the window, forget what they look or sound like while they are in the classroom and don’t be afraid to speak up.
Moving on into the future to why I am here now. “I am a French major.” What has really thrown me for a loop is telling someone my major, and they give you that look like why. I still am very much in love with the language and the culture. But how many guys do you know with this as their major? I one day want to teach French to English students but I am not so sure that this is what I want to do right when I get out of school, but I am sure it will have something to do with language.
But I sincerely thank my mom for introducing me to something that I have grown to love so much and fascinates me, to the point that I notice people that are foreigners based on the way they hold their utensils at the dinner table or count on their fingers. I listen to the way people speak and am very interested in how we all learn things from our parents, from TV, and from school and how all of it finds a way to mix together. Others go through life saying something that is totally acceptable where they live and never notice that what they are saying sounds weird to other people that haven’t grown up in the same place. I am not saying that I don’t because I do, but I know when and when not to use certain sentences and structure in spoken language. Language is probably the most important thing to everyone, they just don’t realize it.
Je suis un garçon, et je parle français. I am a boy, and I speak French. This was the first sentence I learned to say. They cartoons were in fact dated but they kept my attention. I learned a lot of vocabulary and, in fact, I can recall the French word for scarf, “écharpe” faster than I can recall the word in English. I still find myself at a loss for certain vocabulary words in English, especially the words I learned in French before knowing what the English word was.
Quand j’étais une école Américaine, j’étudie français pour 4 ans. Quelquefois j’oublie que tous le monde ne parlent pas français. See like I said I sometimes forget that the world doesn’t speak French. I usually almost always make grammatical mistakes when I am trying to write a test, or write things down in French because I never really had to do that. I began by learning the basics how to count, the alphabet, and colors. I understood spoken French, and finally I began to pick up and be able to speak. I had the vocabulary and basic sentence structure in the present tense before I began to take formal classes in high school.
The class began with the stuff I already knew and stayed that way for about the first semester. Many of my classmates were surprised at how quickly I was to respond in French and that I didn’t have to take the time to convert it into English, think of the answer, convert the answer back into French and respond. Over the four years that I took French in high school, I learned almost all the different tenses and the irregular verbs and many things needed to have a in depth conversation. I can read through French text about as quickly as I can read through English. And, as a matter of fact, I type on a French keyboard.
“Thanks mom, for making me look like a queer,” apparently it is unacceptable that a boy be smart in school, particularly in a language that I must admit is very feminine. But I just liked the language; it gave me a sense of privacy. The French professor and I could hold a conversation in the middle of the classroom speaking about the other students, and no one had a clue what we were talking about. The school that I went to only offered two semesters of French for credit. Nevertheless, I stayed in those same two classes all four years. The professor wrote to the school board and they ended up giving me credit for French III because they allowed it as an independent study. I just had to read books and write essays and that sort of thing.
Over the four years I formed a decent relationship with the professor and helped out in all the French I and II classes modeling and translating complicated directions. This helped me by challenging me in something that is not readily available to hear in Tennessee, and helped the others learn French faster by not speaking any English inside that classroom. Every semester the classes moved faster and faster and we formed a great system of teaching. I became skilled in the methods of teaching a foreign language, and I decided that this is what I want to someday do.
I really enjoy teaching something that people don’t already know. For the most part in school students’ move through learning every year what a noun is, what a verb is, etcetera. But a language gives you a fresh slate to work with and that is why I want to teach this. The biggest barrier is getting the students to throw their humility out the window, forget what they look or sound like while they are in the classroom and don’t be afraid to speak up.
Moving on into the future to why I am here now. “I am a French major.” What has really thrown me for a loop is telling someone my major, and they give you that look like why. I still am very much in love with the language and the culture. But how many guys do you know with this as their major? I one day want to teach French to English students but I am not so sure that this is what I want to do right when I get out of school, but I am sure it will have something to do with language.
But I sincerely thank my mom for introducing me to something that I have grown to love so much and fascinates me, to the point that I notice people that are foreigners based on the way they hold their utensils at the dinner table or count on their fingers. I listen to the way people speak and am very interested in how we all learn things from our parents, from TV, and from school and how all of it finds a way to mix together. Others go through life saying something that is totally acceptable where they live and never notice that what they are saying sounds weird to other people that haven’t grown up in the same place. I am not saying that I don’t because I do, but I know when and when not to use certain sentences and structure in spoken language. Language is probably the most important thing to everyone, they just don’t realize it.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Post For Class Number 1 - Random Thoughts
In responses to what was discussed in the classroom and what we have read individually I would have to consider the last two days readings to be those that stood out to me. Firstly, I would like to call some attention to the attitude of the writer of “Me Talk Pretty One Day”. He says that there was no shutting him up before he went to this school that taught classes outside of his own language. In his case, French, I don’t particularly understand how the attitude of the teacher would make him no longer want to talk to people outside the classroom. He must notice that a HUGE part of learning another language is speaking it in everyday life, and by doing that you will make many mistakes.
Personally, I like when someone asks me if I am fluent in French, usually because this is my major, I answer yes. A definition of fluency is usually misunderstood. People that have grown up speaking English their whole lives are fluent in English correct? OK, so the reader of this blog is fluent in English? Well then sir/ma’am please tell me a definition of upbraid? Most people that ask that question assume that by me knowing and being fluent in French that I MUST know every word. This is huge misconception of fluency. I feel that fluency is when you can understand written, spoken, and be able to identify what is and what isn’t a particular language.
Back to “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” I feel that he must see himself slipping into the wrong direction by avoiding talking all the time, however, I am realizing the overall attitude of a Frenchman and an American trying, but butchering, their language. I also understand that this person is in charge of assigning a grade to him. However, on the contrary the Frenchman makes many mistakes in English as well, but he conveys his point and we Americans understand. COME ON FRENCHIE GIVE HIM SOME CREDIT! HE IS TRYING TO LEARN YOUR LANGUAGE!
OH! This brings me to a follow up to a previous post, about the guy that was standing on the exit ramp, at the Cedar Bluff exit. I noticed him again the other day on my way to work. I noticed this time his sign had changed from a clichéd, “Will work for food,” to a much more convincing sign that must have struck the heart of many passing autos. He now displays a sign that reads, “Vietnam Vet 19XX – 19XX on way home to Texas PLEASE HELP!” First, I don’t want to sound unsympathetic but you can see from my earlier post that this really upsets me, seeing him every day and knowing the amount of money he must bring in. But KUDOS for the Vietnam Veteran hat, which must prove you really were a Veteran, because everyone knows you can’t go get one of those from Wal-Mart. What I feel that by doing this he probably did increase the number of donations because they feel they owe him something. This really ties back into what was discussed last semester. But it amuses me what changing one letter, one word, one sentence can do in coaxing someone to do what you want or believe you.
This is getting sort of lengthy so, I would rather not go into the spiel I have on the lady that labels herself as “crippled.” But, quickly here is my reaction. I don’t feel it is ok for someone to call themselves something but expect other people not to, or find it rude to call others what they call themselves. That is what sends mixed signals out. For example a homosexual person calling another homosexual a ”faggot,” but gets upset when a heterosexual calls a homosexual a “faggot.” This goes on with many other things such as the word “nigger” in African American culture.
DISCLAIMER: These views are possessed by me. Sorry if you do not agree! And my no means am I implying that homosexuals are “faggots,” or African Americans are “niggers.” However I am implying that the bum is a liar! :-)
Personally, I like when someone asks me if I am fluent in French, usually because this is my major, I answer yes. A definition of fluency is usually misunderstood. People that have grown up speaking English their whole lives are fluent in English correct? OK, so the reader of this blog is fluent in English? Well then sir/ma’am please tell me a definition of upbraid? Most people that ask that question assume that by me knowing and being fluent in French that I MUST know every word. This is huge misconception of fluency. I feel that fluency is when you can understand written, spoken, and be able to identify what is and what isn’t a particular language.
Back to “Me Talk Pretty One Day,” I feel that he must see himself slipping into the wrong direction by avoiding talking all the time, however, I am realizing the overall attitude of a Frenchman and an American trying, but butchering, their language. I also understand that this person is in charge of assigning a grade to him. However, on the contrary the Frenchman makes many mistakes in English as well, but he conveys his point and we Americans understand. COME ON FRENCHIE GIVE HIM SOME CREDIT! HE IS TRYING TO LEARN YOUR LANGUAGE!
OH! This brings me to a follow up to a previous post, about the guy that was standing on the exit ramp, at the Cedar Bluff exit. I noticed him again the other day on my way to work. I noticed this time his sign had changed from a clichéd, “Will work for food,” to a much more convincing sign that must have struck the heart of many passing autos. He now displays a sign that reads, “Vietnam Vet 19XX – 19XX on way home to Texas PLEASE HELP!” First, I don’t want to sound unsympathetic but you can see from my earlier post that this really upsets me, seeing him every day and knowing the amount of money he must bring in. But KUDOS for the Vietnam Veteran hat, which must prove you really were a Veteran, because everyone knows you can’t go get one of those from Wal-Mart. What I feel that by doing this he probably did increase the number of donations because they feel they owe him something. This really ties back into what was discussed last semester. But it amuses me what changing one letter, one word, one sentence can do in coaxing someone to do what you want or believe you.
This is getting sort of lengthy so, I would rather not go into the spiel I have on the lady that labels herself as “crippled.” But, quickly here is my reaction. I don’t feel it is ok for someone to call themselves something but expect other people not to, or find it rude to call others what they call themselves. That is what sends mixed signals out. For example a homosexual person calling another homosexual a ”faggot,” but gets upset when a heterosexual calls a homosexual a “faggot.” This goes on with many other things such as the word “nigger” in African American culture.
DISCLAIMER: These views are possessed by me. Sorry if you do not agree! And my no means am I implying that homosexuals are “faggots,” or African Americans are “niggers.” However I am implying that the bum is a liar! :-)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Random Things
For my first post I want to tell everyone about two things that really struck me as absurd today. So for those of you that don’t know I work at Best Buy off of Cedar Bluff. Today on my way to work I pulled out onto Philip Fulmer Way I drove a bit and came up onto the parking garage that is on the right. As a driver pulled out of the garage in front of the car that was driving about 100 feet in front of me. The car honked its horn, and the dumbass that was driving the jeep that pulled out looked at the lady in the car like she was an idiot and he had done nothing wrong. It all seemed as though it lasted forever and I couldn’t help but notice the Buckle Up sign posted on the exit of the garage that he had just pulled out from. Then as I glanced back over to him, he grabs his seat belt and buckled up. I found it very ironic that we do absolutely nothing to protect ourselves unless something bad happens that reminds us that we need to do so. Even then we only stick with it long enough until it is old news. The last thing I have to note on that is how crazy it is that everyone feels that they are the best driver and that they are doing nothing wrong. It’s just something to think about.
Next thing is this guy that stands on the Cedar Bluff exit holding a sign that changes from time to time but usually says, “Looking for work” or “Will work for food.” He sits on a trash bag full of clothes and it there about 80% of the time. Well it took me some time to get through the light, and it amazes me how many people actually give this guy money in the time that I waited to get through, I know at least 4 people gave him money. Even if they only gave him a dollar each, I only was at the light for about 7 minutes so he made 4 dollars in 7 minutes. If I made that much in that amount of time that would mean that I would make 34.28 an hour. That is a hell of a lot more than I make and god forbid he has to get up and walk to a person’s car 34 times an hour. It is hard for me to get this straight in my head, if this is fair or if he really deserves it of what. I would like to hear everyone’s reply on this.
Next thing is this guy that stands on the Cedar Bluff exit holding a sign that changes from time to time but usually says, “Looking for work” or “Will work for food.” He sits on a trash bag full of clothes and it there about 80% of the time. Well it took me some time to get through the light, and it amazes me how many people actually give this guy money in the time that I waited to get through, I know at least 4 people gave him money. Even if they only gave him a dollar each, I only was at the light for about 7 minutes so he made 4 dollars in 7 minutes. If I made that much in that amount of time that would mean that I would make 34.28 an hour. That is a hell of a lot more than I make and god forbid he has to get up and walk to a person’s car 34 times an hour. It is hard for me to get this straight in my head, if this is fair or if he really deserves it of what. I would like to hear everyone’s reply on this.
Friday, January 11, 2008
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