"YES and NO"

What Amy Tan shows us, is how we (people) perceive other languages very differently. We make certain assumptions that may or may not be true about other languages. Tan describes what her lifestyle was like and what made it the way it was; due to the fact that she was raised in a bilingual household. Tan explains how people may misinterpret certain languages due to what is lost in translation. She suggests that most large meanings in one language begin to be lost when translated into another. The article in the New York Times Magazine (26) where it suggests that Chinese people are so careful and humble in the way they talk to the point that don’t even have words for yes and no. Tan explains that there may not be the words yes and no exactly they maybe used discreetly however there is a way to state it. Different languages are extremely hard to compare especially languages that don’t use the same alphabet or letters. What I found interesting is the way Tan claims, “My uncle nodded and said he understood fully: Americans take things quickly because they have no time to be polite” (26). She stated this explaining the part of how Chinese people were to starve in America because people only ask or offer once. I think it differs according to cultures as Egyptians and Italians it’s the same as Chinese we keep pleading and begging for the person to accept what we have offered however you may find other countries that don’t necessarily do that. Each person thinks there language is the easiest or that it’s very hard to for them to learn another. Tan states, “English speakers point out that Chinese is extremely difficult…” (31) where as “Chinese speakers tell me English is extremely difficult…” (31). We should all be open to change and learn another language or maybe more. What I would like to explore more into; is the Chinese language its seems very interesting.

Confusing Sounds of Speech

This chapter was all over the place for me. All in all, it was about phonology. The different types of phonology, the terms and much more about speech sounds. The chapter introduced how each meaning distinguish sounds in a certain language. Yule explains parts about substituting one sound for another can change a meaning these two sounds represent “phonemes”. He also mentions the everyday sounds that people use is called “assimilation” which is one of the co-articulation effects. This can mean when two words have almost the same sound. What I found interesting was the fact that when people say “friendship” without pronouncing the “d” I always thought of it as a flaw that Americans comprise. However, Yule claims that this way of talking is “described as elision” (49). It’s just everyday talking. I related this specific part about the “elision” the co-articulation effect because even in Arabic sometimes there are sounds you don’t pronounce in everyday language. There are many sounds in words that become combined when pronouncing in Arabic just because we talk fast and we become use to one particular way. Honestly I didn’t understand a lot about this chapter it was very confusing, the words look alike and I had to read each paragraph twice or more to understand a bit. I didn’t understand the part about syllables and clusters and also allophones, phones and phonemes. What I want to explore more is why is it that any word that is in the same minimal set that is not in the regular vocabulary like mig or tig or whatever it is. Why that is these words can’t have meaning or representation. What does it take for a word to become part of our language?

"Mishaps of Our Names"

a) nɑhʌl hɑʃim
Nihal= nɑhʌl (voiced +V, alveolar, nasal)
Hashem=hɑʃim (voiceless -V, glottal, glides)

b) People pronounce my name differently all the time. Each of us have different ways of saying different letters. I have noticed since I have been learning about phonetics that each letter and word has a specific way of movement in our mouths. Letters are articulated very uniquely. Certain letters that one person may pronounce through the movements of his/hers lips; tongue and larynx may be very different from another. This varies on region, country and many other variables that affect the way we pronounce.

c) Sometimes I don’t know how to pronounce words in other languages due to the fact that myself like others have been systematically trained through our vocal cords to pronounce a certain way. I think that lack of understanding phonetics makes us open to mistakes in most pronouncing.I dont remember a specific word or name that I pronounce wrong however I know that there are plenty of words that I need to change.

Me and my Language Story

Language is uniquely distinguished from person to person, region to region and most certainly from country to country. We all have a specific way of using our own language. I know at least a hand full of people who talk the same language but each one of them speaks with a different dialect. Some of us, use language has a means of shaping our personalities where others just use language as a means of communication. I see people everyday speaking English but each one of them says that same word in a different way. Language is such a unique tool that makes out one person from another; it helps us see the obvious differences between one another. Language to me is who I am what I am and how I am. I always thought of language as a means of representing my personality especially for the fact that I haven’t been around one or two but three and now the forth.

Accordingly, I feel that language has been programmed into my DNA or something I seem to be naturally attracted to new languages. A personal experience that I recall very well from my childhood is being programmed on my own to change the language I spoke as soon as I got on the plane, wherever the plane was going was the language I would start to speak and I spoke it well too. I was this little kid who spoke two completely different languages with such great fluency. I always think of that particular experience when I think of language. My dad would always seem to be amazed by my ability to do that. It’s fascinating how children learn much quicker than adults, I experienced that on my own when trying to learn French, and I am struggling compared to learning as a child.

My views towards language are quite distinctive due to the way I was brought up and lived especially because I have travelled a lot and went to school in a different country than the United States. I speak fluent English and Arabic, however Italian I understand it more than I can speak it. My mother speaks to me in English and Italian while my dad speaks to me in Arabic. I know have an odd type of living where I hear at least two or three languages in my house at one time however growing I never seemed to get confused but now I have started to think and raise questions like how have I and others like myself learned to talk two or more languages fluently without confusing the syntax of each. I guess maybe we each have a brain that’s accustomed to changed and distinguish between a language and the other. Another question that I raise is what about dreams, what happens when we are sleeping because I know that I speak when I am asleep, my mother claims I say Arabic terms where my father claims I say English terms.

Before taking this class I didn’t really know and understand why people were able to speak one language but lack another but due to this class especially last week’s discussion board comments I am now starting to believe that maybe it is hard for people to learn a new language because their vocal cords, lips and larynx are set on one language and it would be hard to change that especially if the new language you are trying to learn possess certain sound systems that are not available in your own.