In this blog post I will write an evaluation of my year with International English.
This year has been an interesting year. I have learned a lot about English in different parts of the world and how the language differs from the Standard English. I have also learned a bit about culture in different parts of the world and global challenges. These issues are something I didn't know much about from before and that makes it even more interesting to learn about.
What I enjoyed most this years is reading books and watching movies that we could associate with the subject international English. I learn a lot from these types of assignments. I also love to read, so that helps.
All in all this year has been a good one. I really like working with English and are looking forward to continuing with English next year.
If you look at the first sentence the mistake was in the consistence of verb tense and person. In the second part of the sentence "it" is used instead of "you", and "is" is used instead of "did". You can hear that "is it" sounds like an incorrect ending to the sentence.
In the second sentence you and would is placed in the wrong order. The pronoun is placed before the verb, and in this sentence that does not make sense. It sounds much better if you say "when would you".
In the third sentence there are two subjects right after one another, which is not logical. There is no need to say that "that man" is a "he" or that "he" is "a man". The sentence would be correct if you said "that man is tall" or "he is tall"
In the fourth sentence the mistake is simply that it uses a word that doesn't exist in the English vocabulary. You can't use the word "jewelleries", but if you exchange it with the word "jewelry" the sentence makes perfect sense. The reason is that the word "jewelry" is both simple and plural.
Previously on this blog I wrote about the book "The ninja" by Eric van Lustbader. Now I will go a little deeper into the book, and write a double entry journal about a relationship in the book and an important conflict.
From the book
Your own reflection
Relationship
"It seemed to Nicholas that the other boy hated him almost on sight. Why this should be so he could not imagine. Not until much later. But then he reacted as any boy in any part of the world might do to such unadulterated hostility. He returned measure for measure."
Page 100
There are many relationships in the ninja, but I think the most important one is the relationship between the main character Nicholas Linnear and his cousin Saigõ. Nicholas first met Saigõ when he moved from Singapore to Tokyo in Japan. Saigõ was one year older than him and they immediately didn't like each other. The quote that I wrote is from the first time they see each other. You can tell from the start that this will be a bitter rivalry. Both Nicholas and Saigõ train in the art of bujutsu, Japanese martial arts. Even though Saigõ has been training the longest Nicholas is quickly catching on. The turning point in their relationship is when Nicholas manages to beat the more experienced Saigõ in a match. Saigõ is dishonored and not long after that he joins another secret dojo. We later discover that this is when he became a ninja. The relationship between Nicholas and Saigõ is also deeply characterized by their family. Their fathers never liked each other because of both personal and political reasons. Nicholas and Saigõ also fall for the same girl, Yukio.
Conflicts
"'He'll be coming soon now.'
'Coming? Who?'
'Saigõ. The ninja.'
Page 492
The main conflict in the book is the conflict between Nicholas and Saigõ. This is a conflict that began when they where kids, and kept growing until the last showdown in the book. The quote that I wrote is from right before the big showdown. Nicholas has just found out that the ninja who has been killing his friends, among other people, and who has been playing with the police is his cousin Saigõ. He also realizes that Saigõ is now also after him. Their blood rivalry runs so deep that Nicholas always knew Saigõ would someday come after him. When they last parted Saigõ beat Nicholas and left with Yukio, who they both loved. After that Nicholas needed to become a ninja in order to stand a chance against Saigõ. We don’t realize that Nicholas is a ninja until right before the big showdown, and Saigõ realizes it midflight. Based on this we can say that this conflict is a conflict between two ninjas. It is very essential to the book since the entire story is based on it.
Today, our class had a visitor from Lesotho. Lesotho is a country in the Southern part of Africa. It is surrounded by South-Africa, and it is one of the worlds’ smallest countries. They do not have many resources, and they are very dependent on financial help from South-Africa. This makes the country one of the poorest in the world, where 49% of the population is below poverty line (1999). HIV and Aids are common diseases, leading to a low life expectancy. There are 700 primary schools in Lesotho. Out of these, 18% are urban schools, 8% are semi-urban schools, while 78% are rural schools, situated high in the mountains. In the raining period, these schools are closed due to obstacles on the route to school. Only 4% of the 700 schools have a computer laboratory. Nonetheless, there is an initiative to integrate ICT in the education.
Our visitor was Moliehi Sekese. She is a teacher Mamoeketsi primary school, a school with 700 students and only two lap tops. They didn’t have electricity until one year ago, so the computers were charged from her home. She teaches math, science and English, and she believes that the use of technology creates better and more motivated students. In the curriculum it says that one teacher should only teach 56 students at a time, however, in Moliehi’s class there are 100 students. The classrooms are very small, with a lack of desks, chairs and textbooks. Also, the ceiling is not isolated, making the rooms very cold. Many of the children do not have enough clothes or shoes for that matter, making the learning situation very difficult. However, this does not obtain a dominant obstacle for the children, who come to school every day. They do this because they know that it is their only chance of getting a better future trough education. The only resource the learners have is their teacher. In addition, all the subjects are thought in English except for their native language.
Moliehi Sekese also talked about the turning point in her carrier. She initiated a project at her school which is called the “Indigenous Plants Project”. This project involved data gathering, discussion, and outcome. Moliehi contacted the parents and asked them if their children could borrow their cell phones. These were used to take pictures and send SMSs to Moliehi of their findings. The theme was indigenous plants. After individual searches away from school, they tried to find the same plants in close distance from the school. They discovered that many indigenous plants were very rare there, and that the plants close to the urban areas were collected and sold at the market. The class decided on making flyers to inform the local community of this. Inspired by a trip to the biggest botanical garden in Lesotho, the class decided on making a botanical garden outside school, which contained many of these plants. The children also planted some of these at home, because they were eatable and healthy. This project made Moliehi award winner in Africa, making her the representative for Africa in Brazil. Here, she won the award for “the educators’ choice”. This made her project and her students’ situation known, leading to her coming here to us in Norway.
Listening to her presentation made us realize how lucky we are here in Norway. We have food, clean drinking water, clothes, textbooks, and computers. Her story made an impact considering going to school. Her students showed up even though the class room was cold, and the learning environment was not ideal. She encouraged us to go on with education, and use it to make a difference. John Lennon wrote a song called Imagine. This one encourages us to stand together, and together, we can make a difference. We think this song has some of the same values as Moliehi Sekese.
Last, we would like to thank Moliehi Sekese for her time with us, and her wise words.
“Use it Profitably, learn it Effectively”.
English is the third most natively spoken language in the world, but it is also the language that has been most widely dispersed around the world. In other parts of the world than the Angelo-American core area, the language is spoken in many different ways. Each country who had adopted English as a second language has a different dialect. In this blog post I will write about the language varieties in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Africa. Even though both Singapore and South Africa is listed as an Angelo-American core area, I don’t consider them as such. That is why I have chosen to write about them, as well.
In Singapore there are two main forms of English spoken. The forms are “standard Singapore English” and “Singapore colloquial English” or “Singlish”. The first form is mostly spoken by reasonably educated people. The grammar of this form of English is very similar to the British English. Singlish, on the other hand is not so commonly used. It is often regarded with low prestige in Singapore.
Singapore is a city that contains many different ethnic groups and cultures. They all speak different languages as their first language and because of this the English fluency level varies a lot among the residents in Singapore. It also means that even within Singapore there is a wide range of different English accents.
South Africa also has different forms of English. They divide them into three groups, the cultivated, the general and the broad. These forms of English are linked with the different classes in the society. The higher class speaks the cultivated form of English, the middle class speak the general form and the broad form is spoken by the working class. In South Africa the pronunciation of English is similar to the one in southern England. They speak in a non-rhotic way, which means that they don’t speak with hard consonants.
In Hong Kong there are two types of English spoken. First there are the varieties of English accents spoken in the territory. They use mostly British spellings, but some vocabularies have origin in India and Malay. The second type of English is also called Cantonese English. It is not only spoken in Hong Kong, but everywhere where there are people whose first language is Cantonese. You can say that it refers to the accent and characteristics of English spoken by native Hongkongers and other Cantonese speakers.
Today we watched the movie Gran Torino in class. It was a very good movie that really moved me. The movie is directed by Clint Eastwood, who also played the lead. I think he did a spectacular job in playing the grumpy old Walter Kowalski. The themes in the movie were ethnic relations, immigration, economic changes in America, life in urban America, individual violence and conflict resolution. I think the movie managed to give all these themes the right attention.
The movie is about an old man living in a neighborhood where many immigrants have moved recently. His wife had just died when a Hmong family moved in next door. In the beginning he just think they are annoying swamp rats, but after the son in the family Thao tries to steel his car he eventually gets to know the family. He tries to help Thao out in dealing with the neighborhood gangs, and in return Thao and his family kind of bring him out of his depression. He was fighting in the Korean War and was still carrying a lot of pain with him. In helping Thao and his family, he finds a little peace and happiness again.
What challenges do immigrants face in starting new lives for themselves? This is discussion question we were asked to write something about. I think that the first challenge immigrants’ face in a new country is the cultural difference. Each culture has different traditions and customs, and it can be difficult to assimilate to another culture. It is also important not to lose your own culture in the process. Immigrants can also have a problem with people not accepting them. They don’t understand their culture and develop prejudices against them. This often results in racism. The language can also be difficult for an immigrant new to a country. If you don’t know the language everything else becomes much more difficult. Because of that it is very important that immigrants learn the language as fast as possible.
The movie Gran Torino gives a lot of attention to cultural differences. When Walt joins the Hmong family for a barbecue he learns about some of them. For example you can’t pat a Hmong person on the head because they think that is where the soul resides. Hmong people also find it rude when you look them directly in the eyes and they care a lot about their family’s honor. Walt thinks this is crazy in the beginning of the movie, but he learns to respect it. Also when Walt chases the gang away from the Hmong family’s house, people start showing up at his door with food, flowers and gifts. This is to show their gratitude for that he protects the neighborhood.
All in all I really liked the movie and the message it was sending. It was very enlightening and I learned a lot about the Hmong culture and the difficulties immigrants face in a new country.
I have read "The Ninja" by Eric van Lustbader. I read it for an English assignment where we could choose which book to read ourselves. I will now write a little bit about the book and my opinions of it. I tried not to say too much about what happens, but this blog post may contain some spoilers.
"The Ninja" is the first book in the series of Nicholas Linnear. He is the main character in all the books. In "The Ninja" the past is an important factor in what happens in the present. The book is divided into four parts, where each part contains chapters that is of the present and chapters that is of the past. It is a brilliant set up for this book because then as you learn more about the past you understand more and more about the present.
Nicholas Linnear is half English and half Chinese, but his family moved to Japan when he was little. In Japan Nicholas developed an interest for bujutsu, their form of martial arts. He started training in the art of bujutsu and became quite good at it. His cousin Saigõ also practices bujutsu and they become rivals pretty early. Through Saigõ, Nicholas met Yukio and he fell in love with her immediately. Yukio is a complicated girl with many problems, but Nicholas loves her anyway. To not spoil the book completely I will not tell you all about what happened in the past, but certain events lead up to Nicholas father dying and his mother committing seppuku, which is a ritualistic suicide. All of this is part of Nicholas past which eventually leads up to what happens in the present.
In the present Nicholas lives in America. He has a girlfriend called Justin and is living peacefully. Nicholas gets dragged back into his past when the police find a dead man who showed signs of being killed by a ninja. The ninjas were said to be extinct, but apparently they were not. In the old Japan, the society's military force where the samurai. They where people of high class who had trained in the art of bujutsu. The samurai had a strict code as to what was right and wrong and there were certain things they where honor bound not to do. When they wanted something questionable done, they hired ninjas. Ninjas where from the lower parts of the community and they had no rules. The ninjas where trained assassins, and now there was a ninja running around New York. Nicholas, who is an expert on the topic of ninjas, tries to help the police by giving them information about them. Suddenly Nicholas friends begin dying, and Justin gets an old Japanese warning sign. He then realizes that this is personal, and that he knows the ninja.
I think that "The Ninja" was a good book. It contained a lot of action, drama, romance and Japanese history. The main themes are revenge, family and loyalty to traditions and your country. I would definitely recommend "The Ninja" to those who enjoy reading about Japan and martial arts, and also to those who just like action.
