Varieties of English

1) You didn’t see him, is it?

2) When you would like to go?

3) That man he is tall.

4) Her jewelleries were stolen.

5) I am understanding it now.

6) They two very good friends?

7) Sushila is extremely a lazy girl

8) When you leaving?

a) In this part of the task, I am to change the quotes above, and try to turn it into a more standard English.

- You didn’t see him, did you?

- When would you like to go?

- That man, he is tall / That man is tall/ He is tall.

- Her pieces of jewelry were stolen/ her jewelry was stolen.

- I understand it now.

- Those two, are they very good friends?/ Are they good friends, those two?

- Sushula is an extremely lazy girl.

- When are you leaving?

b) Here, I am to choose four of these sentences, and explain what is wrong in each one of them.

1) In the first sentence, the following question should consist of the same verb and subject that in the first part of the sentence. Or else, the reader gets a feeling that the follow-up question does not belong to the first part of the sentence.

2) The mistake in this sentence is the order of the words. You cannot say “when you would”, but it is much more successful to say “when would you”.

3) Here, we have two subjects after one another, making it less logical. This sentence can have two different alternatives for a right way to say it. Either “That man, he is tall”, “that man is tall” or ”He is tall”,. The first alternative emphasize on the point of the sentence, “that man, HE is tall”. The other two sentences are more general.

4) The fourth sentence has a word which does not exist in the standard, English vocabulary. Instead of saying “jewelleries”, which state that the writer is not an advanced user of English, one can say “pieces of jewelry”, which is more successful in this case. Another alternative is to simply say “her jewelry was stolen”, because jewelry is both simple and plural.

Hotel on the corner of Bitter and sweet, reflections

Relationship

His head turned to the left as her did the same, and a simple kiss found a home between their lips. When he opened his eyes, hers was beaming back at him. He hugged her one more time, then let her go- walking backward, waving, trying not to smile too broadly, but he couldn't help it. I love her.

This is a very touching part of the book. Henry has gone all the way from his home in Chinatown, to Camp Harmony in the inlands to help the school chef with the food. There, he finds Keiko and the

y decide to meet by the fence. Henry is standing on the “Visitors” side, while Keiko is on the Japanese side. This moment reflects the differences between the two of them, which are so marginally small that they almost are unnoticeable. Nevertheless, these differences are the reason they are separated in the first place. This is a turning point for Henry. Previously, he had seen Keiko as a friend. Now, he realizes that he is in love with he

r. Later, he looks at her in a different way, which we can read out of the following quote from the book:

Henry had thought about Keiko off and on through the years- from a longing, to quiet, somber acceptance, to sincerely wishing her the best, that she might be happy. That was when he realized that he did love her. More than what he'd felt all those years ago. He loved her enough to let her go- to not go dredging up the past.

The record is a very important factor in their relationship. They went to a club and listened to Henry’s friend Sheldon and Oscar Holden. This was their first “date”, even though they went as friends. The record is for Henry a reminder of what he and Keiko have. Later, when Henry’s father condemns their relationship, Henry tells us about how important that one record is:

At least we have the record, Henry thought. A reminder of a place where people didn't seem to care what you looked like, where you were born, or where your family was born. When the music played, it didn't seem to make one lick of difference if your last name was Abernathy or Anjou, Kung or Kobayashi. After all, they had the music to prove it.

Theme

Keiko halted and looked at Henry. (…) "You are Chinese, aren't you, Henry?" he nodded, not knowing how to answer. "that's fine. Be who you are", she said, turning away, a look of disappointment in her eyes. "But I'm an American."

This statement also states how Keiko looks at herself. Later in the book, she says: "I don't feel very giving, or grateful. Just angry," Keiko said. "I was born here. I don't even speak Japanese. Still, all these people, everywhere I go… they hate me."

This proves once again that Keiko does see herself as an American citizen, and not as Japanese. However, her own patriotism towards America could not save her from the same destiny as the other Japanese people at the time. She and her family were deported to the Camps together with many other Japanese people. Henry tells his son Marty about it later. He describes the incident this way: "during the war, the Japanese community was evacuated, for their own safety, supposedly. They were given only a few days' notice and were forced inland to internment camps. (…). They could take only two suitcases each and one small seabag (…) so they stored their valuable belongings in places like this hotel (…) What was left in their homes was long gone by the time they returned. (…)"

Again, this shows the reader the huge gap between the two destinies, and how far apart they are at this point. I recomend this book for the interesting themes and conflicts, although it was a little hard to get into in the beginning.

The picture can be found here: http://reading-randi.blogspot.com/2011/02/tanker-om-bok-jamie-ford-hotel-on.html

Moliehi Sekese

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 her for your time with us, and her wise words.
“Use it Profitably, learn it Effectively”.

“You may say

I’m a dreamer.

But I’m not the only one

I hope some day

You will join us

And the world

Will live as one.”

Picture: http://www.fao.org/fi/oldsite/FCP/en/LSO/BODY.HTM

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDw9vtLiMz

Co- Writer: Eline

English, a Global Language

English is a language that originated in the British area, and which was spread across the globe frequently during the times of the great colonies. Brittan was quite active at exploring what they called the “new world”. This resulted in many British colonies around the world, as well as expanding in the users of the English language and vocabulary. Today, another méthode is used for this very task. The internet and global Medias are frequently used internationally. For instance, this blog has been read of people from many countries. The colonies were abandoned by the British colonial lords at the last part of the 17th century. But the British language stayed behind. Today, many of these countries have developed their own variety of the English language. How do these differ from the original language? To try and answer this question, I have chosen three different varieties: Hinglish, Pakistani-English and South African English.

Hinglish is a variety of English spoken in India. Apparently, this language is expanding alongside the technical revolution. Mobile, internet and television helps this language expand. This variety is actually a mix of the two languages Hindi and English. The characteristics are using Hindi words in an English sentence, or vice versa. This is considered a more global and international way to talk than to completely stick to one of the languages.

The South African English is a non-rhotic language. This means that they only pronounce letters such as R if it is followed by a vowel. The word car is pronounced without the last -R. This is similar to the British language. This language differs from the British variety in some ways. The influence from their original language has defiantly had an influence.

English came to Pakistan later than its arrival in India. Today, English is one of Pakistan’s official languages. Many documents are written in English. The Pakistani-English is most similar to the

British English, but it is heavily influenced by the Pakistani language as well as the varieties of English used in the neighboring countries of Pakistan.

In conclusion, I would say that English is an important language. It is about to be t

he global language, which could be an important key to cooperation and globalization in the future. The different varieties of the language will be influenced on the habitat’s culture and original language. I do not consider this to be a problem as long as we are able to understand each other across borders.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistani_English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinglish

Pictures:

http://financewand.com/globalization-speeds-up-very-rapidly.html

http://duskanddawn.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/one-god-one-world-one-dream/

Gran Torino

Today, we watched the movie Gran Torino.
The opening of the movie is from a funeral, where a young priest is having a memorial speech for a woman. After few minutes, we understand that this woman was the wife of the main character, Mr. Walt Kowalski. He is an old vet from the Korean War who lives alone in his house together with his dog, Daisy. In this first event, the funeral, we are introduced to Walt's family, his two sons, the wife and children of one of these. But more importantly, we are introduced to Walt's neighbors. The family living next door consists of a grand-mother, a mother and her two children, Sue and Thao. Their ethnicity is Hmong, from the western Asia.

The main problem in the movie is these children's cousin, Spider. He is the leader of a gang which is highly criminal, and wants to recruit Thao to their gang. In order to join, they ask him to steal Mr. Kowalski's Gran Torino. However, Walt discovers him at the crime scene, and this is, remarkably as it seems, the beginning of a heartbreaking relationship. The reason is that Thao's family considers it a huge dishonor, and in order to pay back, they make Thao work for Walt. As they get to know each other, Walt grows fund of the boy who works so hard for him. When his working-hours for Walt are over, Mr. Kowalski finds Thao a job.
But things can never be just happy... The cousin of Thao and Sue are destined to make the new, happier life of Walt and the family a nightmare. One night, they drive by the house of Thao and Sue, and start shooting at the entrance. This results in Thao being shot. Anyhow, he is not seriously damaged by this. The worse it is for Sue. Her cousin beat her up and rape her, then to leave her, almost dead from the beating, on the porch of the family house.

This is in many ways a turning point in the movie. From here on, there is only one thing to do: Punish the ones responsible for this outrageous crime. Walt decides to take the matter in his own hands, and finds a way to help the family, and be at peace with himself...
Gran Torino is a movie about great friendship, reliability, and justice. In addition to that, it raises many problems that people with another ethnicity or another background can face when they come to a new country. How to learn the language and culture? It is also about the hard job it is for people to find their place in the society of the new country in which they have moved to. I thought the scenes and the composition of this movie makes it worth every penny. This is one to watch!

I found the pictures at: coosacreek.org/mambo/2009/01/22/gran-torino/

and www.vanachteren.net/2010/01/10/gran-torino-clint-eastwood/

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

I have now read in this book a couple of times. Currently, I am at page 120. Throughout these pages, we have been introduced to the main character Henry. The book is written with a divided storyline. In the first chapter, we meet Henry in 1986. His wife has just passed away, and he is in grief. We also learn quite early that his relationship with his son Marty is complicated. They seem to have a hard time communicating. We have yet to learn why. Right now, Marty have told his father Henry that he is engaged. Henry asks Marty and Samantha, Martys fiancée, to help Henry find Keikos old possessions in the basement at the Panama Hotel.

The other storyline evolves around Henry in his High-school years in 1942. He lives in Chinatown in Seattle. He is accepted to the school trough what his parents calls scholarshipping. At school, he meets a girl at his same age called Keiko. Her parents are from Japan, but she is born in America. Keiko and Henry turn out to be great friends, despite Henrys father's fury towards japanese people. (Henrys father is very furious about the war between Japan and China, and therefore he is negative towards every japanese person he lays his eyes on.) Right now, Americans have started to escort japanese people to camps all around the country. Keiko is afraid for her family, and Henry is scared for Keiko...

Book Project

I am now starting another project, which is reading a book. The book I chose for this period, is Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet. The book is written by Jamie Ford in 2009. I am going to work with this book in much the same way as I worked with the Kite Runner. I have heard a lot about this book, and many people have recomended it, so I am looking forward to reading it myself!

Http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3367956.Hotel_on_the_Corner_of_Bitter_and_Sweet