ESL-201
Final paper
Amber (Xizhao Liu) Language, Race and patriotism
It is a fact that many languages vanished in North Africa after the Arab conquest of the Maghreb region, just like native American languages were eliminated because of British colonize, and many languages are still disappearing in Eastern Europe because of Russian imperialism. Some countries, like France, Germany, Japan and China, have already legislated to protect their language and invested money to develop their own language (Talhouk, S, Ted Talk). Language is an amazing production of wisdom and every different language represents one unique culture and one prodigious history. Like professor Okombo said “Language is like a reservoir of culture. Most of the cultural …show more content…
The story in the ted talk “don 't kill your language” by Suzanne Talhouk shocked me. When Talhouk decided to order food in a restaurant of Lebanon. She asked waiter a menu in Arabic; however, waiter looked her as weirdo and said, “sorry?” in English. Obviously, waiter thought Talhouk didn 't know how to speak English and regarded her as backward and ignorant woman (Talhouk, S, Ted Talk). It was not all about this arrogant waiter made me feel scared. I felt very sad that I know that a group of people hate their own language and refuse to say it in public. The Arabic language doesn 't satisfy today 's needs because this language is not useful for science or research, and people don 't use in the workplace. However, it doesn 't mean people should abandon their own languages and shame about it. It 's often said that if we want to kill a nation, the only way is to kill its language. Language isn 't just for conversation, or some words come out of mouth. Language represents specific stages in people’s lives, and terminology that is linked to emotions. My first language is not English, so it is very hard for me to connect my feelings with English. When I use Chinese to converse with other Chinese, It is very difficult for me to say I love you in Chinese, because we are bashful about showing our innermost feelings; however, I can easily to say I love you I English. Because English is my …show more content…
Through the history of America, language and assimilation have always been strung together, hard to separate. Assimilation has always been an extensive issue since the first immigrations arrived American continent. As time goes by, because of the arrival of various new immigrants who are from different parts of world, many languages are spoken in this country, although official language in united states is still English. At first, Americans tried offering English instruction to new immigrants, teaching them English and inculcating American values; however, American values and English learning can not help them get rid of poverty and troubles. The immigrants who came from poverty-class of southern and eastern Europe wanted to maintain their own language and culture. At this time period, “political bosses” played important roles to the rights of minorities. Political bosses expected the immigrants to keep them in power by voting for them in election, which means bosses bought votes from new immigrants (American Ways, chapter 8). American is like salad bowl that immigrant must study and speak English to survive or mainstream in this society, and it is also true that most people don 't know how to speak their ancestors’
Final paper
Amber (Xizhao Liu) Language, Race and patriotism
It is a fact that many languages vanished in North Africa after the Arab conquest of the Maghreb region, just like native American languages were eliminated because of British colonize, and many languages are still disappearing in Eastern Europe because of Russian imperialism. Some countries, like France, Germany, Japan and China, have already legislated to protect their language and invested money to develop their own language (Talhouk, S, Ted Talk). Language is an amazing production of wisdom and every different language represents one unique culture and one prodigious history. Like professor Okombo said “Language is like a reservoir of culture. Most of the cultural …show more content…
The story in the ted talk “don 't kill your language” by Suzanne Talhouk shocked me. When Talhouk decided to order food in a restaurant of Lebanon. She asked waiter a menu in Arabic; however, waiter looked her as weirdo and said, “sorry?” in English. Obviously, waiter thought Talhouk didn 't know how to speak English and regarded her as backward and ignorant woman (Talhouk, S, Ted Talk). It was not all about this arrogant waiter made me feel scared. I felt very sad that I know that a group of people hate their own language and refuse to say it in public. The Arabic language doesn 't satisfy today 's needs because this language is not useful for science or research, and people don 't use in the workplace. However, it doesn 't mean people should abandon their own languages and shame about it. It 's often said that if we want to kill a nation, the only way is to kill its language. Language isn 't just for conversation, or some words come out of mouth. Language represents specific stages in people’s lives, and terminology that is linked to emotions. My first language is not English, so it is very hard for me to connect my feelings with English. When I use Chinese to converse with other Chinese, It is very difficult for me to say I love you in Chinese, because we are bashful about showing our innermost feelings; however, I can easily to say I love you I English. Because English is my …show more content…
Through the history of America, language and assimilation have always been strung together, hard to separate. Assimilation has always been an extensive issue since the first immigrations arrived American continent. As time goes by, because of the arrival of various new immigrants who are from different parts of world, many languages are spoken in this country, although official language in united states is still English. At first, Americans tried offering English instruction to new immigrants, teaching them English and inculcating American values; however, American values and English learning can not help them get rid of poverty and troubles. The immigrants who came from poverty-class of southern and eastern Europe wanted to maintain their own language and culture. At this time period, “political bosses” played important roles to the rights of minorities. Political bosses expected the immigrants to keep them in power by voting for them in election, which means bosses bought votes from new immigrants (American Ways, chapter 8). American is like salad bowl that immigrant must study and speak English to survive or mainstream in this society, and it is also true that most people don 't know how to speak their ancestors’