Twenty years of life and my ability to understand Spanish and English has come a long way. My parents, both immigrants from Guatemala, only speak spanish. Being born in Boston, I was able to get taught in a bilingual class up until second grade when I chose to transfer over to a completely Enlish speaking class. Kids in my class were learning how to construct sentences and already learned the alphabet in their past classes. I on the other hand had to learn from the beginning. My alphabet consisted of different letters and different sounds and my teachers approach to teach me all these new sounds consisted of lyrics and beats. Singing along to R Kellys I Believe I Can Fly I was able to sound out the words and slowly get acustomed to the language I decided to dive into.
Third grade came and the language got so much more complicated. My parents didnt understand my work so when I would get home and lie about doing my homework. I would read picture books while everyone else were to busy reading into their chapters and spelling out words I had never heard before. Spelling t`ests would be dreadful and my mind would run blanks. Once I remember sounding the words out in Spanish so I would be able to spell them out and understand them. Without trying I got my first B without practice. Of course, due to my slow progression in my vocabulary I had to sit back in the same chair for another year.
English then became nothing but words that I never intended to use. Teachers would read my papers and congradulate me on my progression, but because I was having trouble putting the words together in my head I never felt as if I was getting better. I needed to let my thoughts out and would use poetry and its ability to become a flow of thoughts and ideas. My teachers thought it was amazing how structured my words were and how I was able to make connecitons with things my classmates wouldnt even think about. My pen was becoming stronger and my tongue became frozen.
After my junior year my words stopped flowing and my thoughts became silent. Maybe it was puberty or maybe even the change in school, but I havent written down my thoughts in almost three years, and my thoughts are dying to be written down, and my fingers want to create written art for anyone to see. When I speak my head spins and I studder harder than I ever have, my words become a tangled mess for even the smallest of conversations. Im trying to reconstruct what time has slowly started to eat away at, my words and my language. Spanish was my first language, but English has shown me how to be the person I am today.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
-ism
-ism
My thoughts on the -ism of the world. No dictionary or translation needed for this piece. I have the right to my own opinions and will jot down my thoughts before looking for real answers on words I cant use the correct way. Being raised speaking Spanish and learning English to fit into society has helped me form my own thoughts on words by the way they're used repeatedly. I may not understand everything but I can at least manage to sound words out and try and define them based on their pronunciation.
I have been told I am uneducated by the way I think. I have been put down by the way I sound out words and use them in a sentence. What people dont understand is that I create my own definitions. I create my own images to connect with words that are far from my reach. I dont need someone throwing a dictionary at my face when I use a word freely, when I use a word in a way that makes sense to me. But words like feminism, sexism and imperialism all share the same -ism. I have understood that these endings all share a similar use. Just like the -ing, the -ism brings these words together in order to share a specific cause. While -ing helps depict an action, while the -ism describes a view on life.
Understanding these endings help people use words the right way. Unlike most people my age, I have had less time with a dictionary. I have spent less time reading books and learning about syntax and diction than I have speaking to people in my broken English. What I believe people dont understand is the importance of these words and views on life. So many people take these words for granted, and although I dont have the largest dictionary on the planet, I appriciate every word I know of now.
Feminism. A word I hold close to the heart. Having a prodominant group of female friends, I care about their lives and about how they are affected by the views of others. Women are strong. Women are caring. And some women can go with their lives not depending on someone to come along and care for them. I have met all types of women in this city. I have met women who need others to appreciate them, and women who say theyre independent but do nothing but search for a partner that can care for them. Although there are women who feel that they need a man in their lives, I havent met a woman who ever said they dont need equality. Men can be dependent on their partners in order to get ahead, so what makes it fair for them to be the higher sex in the food chain. Yes, men are bigger and stronger than women, but men need women as much as women need independency.
Media takes a hold of an -ism and changes it to fit their own ideology. It happens and there isnt anything anyone can do to stop it from occuring. When women take a beautiful and talented womans tantalizing lifestyle and try to make it seem as if she is empowering a whole group of women, I take total offence. Empowerment isnt about sexuality or beauty, its about helping make a group of people educated and helping them find the rode to independence.
I believe women are gorgeous in every sense of the word, but when women flash the world with their bodies I dont see them trying to help anyone out but themselves. Men want women to be nothing but steaks on a plate, and television is a national dish served with masculine spices of power and money. People who are aware of pop culture would see a woman rising to fame as empowering because we have been conditioned to believe a woman showing her body and growing a fan base off of it is what it means to empower. Like Marilyn Monroe once did with the use of her career and beauty, woman now see her as empowering and strong. When in reality we have had woman like Jasvinder Sanghera who help woman that are victims of forced marriages and honour violence. Women like Sanghera are what empowering is all about. Bieng selfless and understanding there is more then ones self.
-ism is more than an ending, it is a beginning to something more. Humanity cant move on without people believing in something positive and making a change in peoples eyes. Just coming up with a plan is useless if you arent going to come up with a way to make a difference. People should also keep from creating subgroups in groups that are already struggling to be more in the world. -ism is more than one person fighting for the same cause, its a community based in similar ideologies and taking the steps necessary to change the world. One mind at a time.
My thoughts on the -ism of the world. No dictionary or translation needed for this piece. I have the right to my own opinions and will jot down my thoughts before looking for real answers on words I cant use the correct way. Being raised speaking Spanish and learning English to fit into society has helped me form my own thoughts on words by the way they're used repeatedly. I may not understand everything but I can at least manage to sound words out and try and define them based on their pronunciation.
I have been told I am uneducated by the way I think. I have been put down by the way I sound out words and use them in a sentence. What people dont understand is that I create my own definitions. I create my own images to connect with words that are far from my reach. I dont need someone throwing a dictionary at my face when I use a word freely, when I use a word in a way that makes sense to me. But words like feminism, sexism and imperialism all share the same -ism. I have understood that these endings all share a similar use. Just like the -ing, the -ism brings these words together in order to share a specific cause. While -ing helps depict an action, while the -ism describes a view on life.
Understanding these endings help people use words the right way. Unlike most people my age, I have had less time with a dictionary. I have spent less time reading books and learning about syntax and diction than I have speaking to people in my broken English. What I believe people dont understand is the importance of these words and views on life. So many people take these words for granted, and although I dont have the largest dictionary on the planet, I appriciate every word I know of now.
Feminism. A word I hold close to the heart. Having a prodominant group of female friends, I care about their lives and about how they are affected by the views of others. Women are strong. Women are caring. And some women can go with their lives not depending on someone to come along and care for them. I have met all types of women in this city. I have met women who need others to appreciate them, and women who say theyre independent but do nothing but search for a partner that can care for them. Although there are women who feel that they need a man in their lives, I havent met a woman who ever said they dont need equality. Men can be dependent on their partners in order to get ahead, so what makes it fair for them to be the higher sex in the food chain. Yes, men are bigger and stronger than women, but men need women as much as women need independency.
Media takes a hold of an -ism and changes it to fit their own ideology. It happens and there isnt anything anyone can do to stop it from occuring. When women take a beautiful and talented womans tantalizing lifestyle and try to make it seem as if she is empowering a whole group of women, I take total offence. Empowerment isnt about sexuality or beauty, its about helping make a group of people educated and helping them find the rode to independence.
I believe women are gorgeous in every sense of the word, but when women flash the world with their bodies I dont see them trying to help anyone out but themselves. Men want women to be nothing but steaks on a plate, and television is a national dish served with masculine spices of power and money. People who are aware of pop culture would see a woman rising to fame as empowering because we have been conditioned to believe a woman showing her body and growing a fan base off of it is what it means to empower. Like Marilyn Monroe once did with the use of her career and beauty, woman now see her as empowering and strong. When in reality we have had woman like Jasvinder Sanghera who help woman that are victims of forced marriages and honour violence. Women like Sanghera are what empowering is all about. Bieng selfless and understanding there is more then ones self.
-ism is more than an ending, it is a beginning to something more. Humanity cant move on without people believing in something positive and making a change in peoples eyes. Just coming up with a plan is useless if you arent going to come up with a way to make a difference. People should also keep from creating subgroups in groups that are already struggling to be more in the world. -ism is more than one person fighting for the same cause, its a community based in similar ideologies and taking the steps necessary to change the world. One mind at a time.
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