LANGUAGE JUDGEMENT
Being born in a family that spoke two languages made me often stumble upon the words I wanted to say and often, making propositions frustrated me. See my point? I just used the word proposition. According to an English dictionary, the word proposition means a plan or a proposal, but according to my Romanian language, proposition (propozitie) means sentence. If it hasn't crossed your mind yet, being raised in a bilingual family is hard. However, for many, the struggle doesn't end there. Some, like myself, often move to different countries for a “better life” and that’s where the struggle begins since we are often learning a second, or even a third language.
Many immigrants that come to America often get laughed at because of their incorrect grammar or heavy accents, but no one ever thinks what those people are going through. Just to think of the change a refugee has to go through: there is cultural adaption, which is a big struggle because everyone wants to fit in the society; there is a brand new language to learn because otherwise you won’t make any friends, find a job, or get a legal status. This issue has really led me to thinking: Isn't it enough what bilinguals and multilinguals have to go through? Can’t they just be accepted by the society?
In "Do Different Languages Confer Different Personalities?", Johnson mentioned that “Many bilinguals are not bi cultural but some are. And of those bi cultural bilinguals, we should be little surprised that they feel different in their two languages.” Some people who, for example, come from parents of different nationalities might find it hard to adapt to two cultures. Some may only choose one. I felt that in my own skin. Even if my parents are of the same nationality, I still had to adapt to a second culture – American culture, which was extremely hard. I cannot recall how many times people around me where talking about basic “American things” and I couldn't understand what they were talking about. It still happens a lot.
For a lot of immigrants in America, adapting to a new culture seems extremely easy. In fact it is so easy that they forget so quickly about their motherland, traditions, language, and even how to speak or write. Every culture is unique and beautiful in its own way and it is just really sad to see many fade away from it engaging in an Americanized culture. I think American culture has its beauty; but just the fact that it dominates the world so much worries me. Every other person that steps foot in this country is guaranteed to become Americanized by simply wearing famous brands and listening to American music. I have heard French, Spanish, and Korean music that sounds amazing and would never understand why people would give that up. I think of my Romanian playlist as sacred music. I could never give it up, even though it is so hard to keep up with it because I don’t hear it anywhere except on my computer. If one wants to keep “fresh” and fit in the society they must always be on track with what’s cool nowadays and use the same slangs everyone is using. Who really wants to be an outsider and not understand his friends when they are having a conversation on a topic that only true-born Americans would understand? This thinking led me to an article by Gray Matter from New York Times who said: “It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.”
Truly each person is born with a culture in their hearts that should remain there forever. Americanization, in global terms, has become too widespread. We need more unique people in this country. From this research, I learned that while many think of America as a country of diversity, it is really not because everyone who comes here becomes American within a few months. I hope in eight or ten years, I can teach my kids something about Romanian culture and not forget it all by then. Nayyirah Waheed, a great African poetess that loves her background and writes about her beautiful culture, encourages her readers with this: “you not wanting me was the beginning of me wanting myself, thank you." This quote holds the power of being a strong individual (not sure what you mean in this sentence) . Sometimes in a classroom in college, there could be only one person who is of a different culture, but the ideas and the unique personality in that person could be so powerful. Everyone is unique in their own way and no one should follow a different culture just to fit in to society. Often our traditional songs, foods, and poems are forgotten, but I know, the motherland will never forget its own people.
Header Picture Credit: http://questgarden.com/123/84/6/110410174505/conclusion.htm
Picture credits: http://voxxi.com/2012/03/08/language-discrimination-are-we-judged-by-our-grammar-identity-voxpopuli/
Being born in a family that spoke two languages made me often stumble upon the words I wanted to say and often, making propositions frustrated me. See my point? I just used the word proposition. According to an English dictionary, the word proposition means a plan or a proposal, but according to my Romanian language, proposition (propozitie) means sentence. If it hasn't crossed your mind yet, being raised in a bilingual family is hard. However, for many, the struggle doesn't end there. Some, like myself, often move to different countries for a “better life” and that’s where the struggle begins since we are often learning a second, or even a third language.
Many immigrants that come to America often get laughed at because of their incorrect grammar or heavy accents, but no one ever thinks what those people are going through. Just to think of the change a refugee has to go through: there is cultural adaption, which is a big struggle because everyone wants to fit in the society; there is a brand new language to learn because otherwise you won’t make any friends, find a job, or get a legal status. This issue has really led me to thinking: Isn't it enough what bilinguals and multilinguals have to go through? Can’t they just be accepted by the society?
In "Do Different Languages Confer Different Personalities?", Johnson mentioned that “Many bilinguals are not bi cultural but some are. And of those bi cultural bilinguals, we should be little surprised that they feel different in their two languages.” Some people who, for example, come from parents of different nationalities might find it hard to adapt to two cultures. Some may only choose one. I felt that in my own skin. Even if my parents are of the same nationality, I still had to adapt to a second culture – American culture, which was extremely hard. I cannot recall how many times people around me where talking about basic “American things” and I couldn't understand what they were talking about. It still happens a lot.
For a lot of immigrants in America, adapting to a new culture seems extremely easy. In fact it is so easy that they forget so quickly about their motherland, traditions, language, and even how to speak or write. Every culture is unique and beautiful in its own way and it is just really sad to see many fade away from it engaging in an Americanized culture. I think American culture has its beauty; but just the fact that it dominates the world so much worries me. Every other person that steps foot in this country is guaranteed to become Americanized by simply wearing famous brands and listening to American music. I have heard French, Spanish, and Korean music that sounds amazing and would never understand why people would give that up. I think of my Romanian playlist as sacred music. I could never give it up, even though it is so hard to keep up with it because I don’t hear it anywhere except on my computer. If one wants to keep “fresh” and fit in the society they must always be on track with what’s cool nowadays and use the same slangs everyone is using. Who really wants to be an outsider and not understand his friends when they are having a conversation on a topic that only true-born Americans would understand? This thinking led me to an article by Gray Matter from New York Times who said: “It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.”
Truly each person is born with a culture in their hearts that should remain there forever. Americanization, in global terms, has become too widespread. We need more unique people in this country. From this research, I learned that while many think of America as a country of diversity, it is really not because everyone who comes here becomes American within a few months. I hope in eight or ten years, I can teach my kids something about Romanian culture and not forget it all by then. Nayyirah Waheed, a great African poetess that loves her background and writes about her beautiful culture, encourages her readers with this: “you not wanting me was the beginning of me wanting myself, thank you." This quote holds the power of being a strong individual (not sure what you mean in this sentence) . Sometimes in a classroom in college, there could be only one person who is of a different culture, but the ideas and the unique personality in that person could be so powerful. Everyone is unique in their own way and no one should follow a different culture just to fit in to society. Often our traditional songs, foods, and poems are forgotten, but I know, the motherland will never forget its own people.
Header Picture Credit: http://questgarden.com/123/84/6/110410174505/conclusion.htm
Picture credits: http://voxxi.com/2012/03/08/language-discrimination-are-we-judged-by-our-grammar-identity-voxpopuli/