Blog 9: The Four Most Annoying U.S Accents

Everyone is different. Everyone was raised differently, taught differently, and speaks differently. Therefore, everyone prefers or likes the accent from where they are from because that is what they are most comfortable with. There is no such thing as a superior accent. All U.S accents are equal. Yet, people still classify some accents above others. I found a list of what people believe to be the top 4 most annoying U.S accents. The list is from divinecaroline.com. 

The first most annoying accent was the upper-midwestern accent. Second is the New Jersey (Joisey) accent. Third was the classic Boston accent. And the fourth most annoying accent was the deep south country accent. 

The article explains that people often feel a dislike to accents because it is very hard for them to understand the person speaking. They may feel like because they can't understand the person speaking, then that person is most likely uneducated. To me, an accent is part of the experience of visiting a different state or region. You wouldn't go to Germany and think everyone is uneducated because they speak a different way. Why would you think that way in your own country then? 

This is a clip from the TLC show Long Island Medium. She has a very strong Long Island accent, but after a while of listening, it doesn't even phase me. 

Blog 8: Early Childhood Teachers and Language Acquisition.

I found an article from www.scholastic.com that discusses the importance of early childhood educators to language acquisition in children. I found this article really interesting for myself because I am majoring in elementary education. The article basically gives teachers advise on how to help children learn a language and speak it well. One of the pieces of advise tells teachers to encourage parents to read with their children. Children need to hear words and sentences. This can be done by actively reading, talking, and singing with a child. If a child hears few words, if a child is rarely read to, sung to, or talked with, they will not have normal language development. The article also instructs teachers to encourage their students to talk with other students. Assign the students conversation buddies and everyday ask to students to talk with their conversation buddies about various topics. I feel as a future educator it is my responsibility to help students in every way I can. Language acquisition may be thought of as a parents job, but its a teachers responsibility to make sure a child is on the right path.  

Blog 7: Appreciation of Languages

This website, (www.nsf.gov.) shows the reader why languages are important to all cultures. It explains how the worlds most scarce languages are rapidly dying daily. Basically, as the world population gets larger every day, more and more people are straying away from their cultures and learning languages that are easy to conduct business with. These languages include Chinese, English, Spanish, and Russian. As these languages go instinct, people wonder, "well, whats the point of worrying about these languages." The reason to study and learn these languages is because they encase the knowledge of thousands of different cultures. Many languages people speak currently are branches or come from the languages that are becoming instinct. Its importtant for a language learner to appreciate the culture of which their language comes from. 

Blog 6: Old fashion Idioms

I found an article that list a bunch of old fashion idioms to browse. It relates to the past honors assignment and this current chapter 5. The website shows a large list of Idioms, both old and new. An example of an Idiom that is old or not used as much is "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." This means that to have something right now is better than taking something you don't have. I have never heard of that before but it makes me want to start using it in my vocabulary. Another Idiom that I never heard of is a little weird and I don't know when anyone would ever use it. The Idiom in "a funny farm." This idiom refers to a mental hospital. I guess someone could say, "Jimmys in the funny farm, have you heard? For more idioms, the website is www.idiomsite.com. 

Blog 5: Fictional Languages

I found a post of 10 fictional languages that are used in books, movies, and games. The post is from listverse.com. I found it interesting because I could recognize 3 of the 10 fictional languages, these include Parseltoung from the Harry Potter series, Simlish from the Sims computer games, and Klingonese from the Star Treck series.This is interesting to me because everyone knows that the languages are not real and have no meaning at all, but people can still recognize them give them a name. I also feel like I can recognize these languages better that real languages. For example, I don't have much experience with different Asian Languages. So if I heard someone speaking Japanese, I would probably guess Chinese or Korean because I don't have experience with hearing those languages. But If I heard someone trying to speak Parseltounge I would know that it's from Harry Potter. I guess it just has to do with what your exposed to. 

Blog 4.The Strange Talents of Hyperpolyglots

A Polyglot is a person who knows or uses several languages. Most people are a monoglot which means they can speak one language. I recently came across a video of a guy calming that he was a Hyperpolyglot! What? A hyperpolyglot, what does that even mean? So I typed the word into google and came across an article titled The Cult of the Hyperpolyglot.  This article interviews a man who has a talent for learning languages. They followed a 54 year old man named Ray Gillion, he claims that he can speak 10 languages. The article explains that this talent is genetic, they have a neurological hard wire that allows them to switch from language to language fast. Below is a video of Richard Simcott, he is an ambassador to the UK who can speak 16 languages. 

 

Blog 3: Gabrielle Giffords Brain Injury Recovery

Gabrielle Giffords recently suffered from a brain injury. I'm sure everyone remembers the tragedy in Tucson when the State Representative and 18 others were shot outside a Tucson Safeway. Giffords survived the shooting but is still suffering with the brain injury. She has a difficulty speaking, is partially blind, and is paralyzed in her right arm.
This is a video of Giffords giving a speech to congress over gun control this past week.

I chose this video because it was directly related to the lecture in class last Thursday. She clearly has problems speaking after her brain injury, shows sighs of speech aphasia. She can still be understood but sounds almost like a robot. What I find most interesting about her story is that after being shot in the line of duty, she still is fighting for what is right to her beliefs and what is right for America. I also love that she doesn't allow her injury to stop her from speaking her mind. She is a role model to anyone and everyone who has ever had to suffer with a brain injury. For more information about Giffords and her injury's, read the following article. 
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2042360,00.html

Meanings of words that are often exaggerated.

I found this comic on theoatmeal.com, It's a website I like to visit that has a bunch of sarcastic comics that can relate to anyone. This comic highlights how over time, the word 'literally' has evolved into a slang word used to tell stories. By definition, the word literally means actually or without exaggeration. Yet, the general public never really use the word for its meaning at all anymore. For example, If someone were to hear the sentence, "I literally peed my pants laughing so hard!! LOL!" Then the person listening would know that they didn't actually pee their pants, they're just exaggerating. 

Clearly every language has it's own form of sarcasm, but what if someone learning english as a second language heard this sentence. Would they take it for the real meaning and be totally disgusted by the person. Or would they understand that the speaker was being sarcastic? What if you were in another country that speaks a different language and you used the word 'literally' in a sarcastic form like the example used above. The person your talking to would be repulsed by you. I find it interesting that the word literally has evolved overtime to be used more in sarcastic situations then for its actual meaning. I want to propose a challenge for the class. To think of other words that have lost their literal meaning to sarcasm. One example that I have thought of is the word 'Nazi' in America. If someone calls someones else a Nazi, they don't mean that they are a member of the Nazi political party (hopefully), but that they are just a person that someone doesn't like.

Connections between Facebook and Languages

I found this article titled "The Language of your Brain is Facebook" from buzzfeed.com. I like to go on this website because it offers a broad amount of satire humor for events that are happening in the world. I stumbled across this article that clames to prove that the human brain understands and remembers Facebook statuses better that faces and other formally written sentences. Basically,  the test was done by a Psychologist by the name of Laura Mickies. She showed a group of undergraduate students one picture of a girl, a passage from a novel, and a Facebook status. She then showed the students the original picture and a different picture, the original passage and a new passage, and the original Facebook status and a new Facebook status. She asked the students to point out which thing (either the picture, the passage, or the status) they were sure was in the original group. The results showed that the students remembered what Facebook status they've seen before rather than the pictures and the passages. So why was a Facebook status more rememberable then a face or a formally written sentence.  The authors believe that people relate to the gossip style of the writing. Much like how people can remember a conversation between friends rather than a lecture from a teacher.

  

I picked this article because I was surfing the web and came across the story, I also know that many people can relate to Facebook so maybe some of my other classmates would find it interesting. It relates to language by suggesting that Facebook shows how the brain retains languages the best, through causal talk. The most interesting thing I found about the article was that the Facebook statuses were discovered to be more rememberable than the pictures. If I were to guess before reading the results, I would've guessed that the pictures world be more rememberable. I agree with the article. I know for me personally, when I'm in a lecture it's easier for me to transform the boring long facts into phrases that I can remember.  I feel like the article was basic, and I wouldn't look into further research on the topic. Facebook is accessible to almost every person in the world. My cousin who is in the Peace Corps in the slums of Panama can access Facebook! If Facebook messages trigger a part in the brain that makes it rememberable, than languages in a casual tone can be remembered by people across the globe. Take a look the the article, see which thing you remember the best. 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/annanorth/the-language-of-your-brain-is-facebook

My cousin Lauren who lives in Panama. Thats her next to her mud hut. (For those who are interested.)

Leah R. Baker

Hi my name is Leah Baker.

I'm 18 years old and this is my second semester at GCC. I work at Banner Thunderbird Hospital part-time. I graduated from Centennial High School, I was active in the marching band and a member of the german club. In high school i took German I-V, I feel like I can understand German more that I can speak it. I love German, but I don't know what I want to major in yet. Im deciding between education and nursing.

 Above is my best friend and boyfriend Ryan, we've been together for over a year. I have two sisters, Sara and Kate, they drive me nuts on a daily basis. 

My friends call me an old lady in an 18 year olds body. I love to knit and do other crafts. I go to the beauty salon on a regular basis and I watch the Price is Right every morning. I see nothing wrong with it. Currently I'm attempting to knit a pair of mittens :). 

When it comes to languages, I have some experiences with different types of languages. Like I said above, I studied German in high school.Dance is my main hobby, I've been dancing since I was in elementary school. In dance a lot of French words are used to name moves. I also studied music in high school which is a whole new language to learn. I am taking this class for the experience and the knowledge. I'm looking forward to learn.