"Words", Radiolab
3. I believe that the type of peace Jill Taylor describes is something we cannot fathom without actually having the experience. The idea of this really brings me to thinking about meditative practices that have become popular in cultures across the world. The idea of meditation is to help silence the mind and its stressful thoughts we experience day to day. Through practice and lots of concentration, this sort of peace can be achieved. However, I believe Jill experienced the ultimate silence. I think that although it would be terrifying to have no thoughts, memories, beliefs; I also believe that this sort of silence is something primitive to being a human and something we should embrace from time to time to help us during stressful and "loud" times. Furthermore, I believe Jill would agree in saying that everyone should search for this inner peace and to sometimes forget who "I" am as a being: with this we can become one with the world around us and not just ourselves.
4. Illdefonso without language reminds me of the children they spoke about. It was said that we do not connect the "blue wall" and "left" until around age 6. As an adult, it's hard to think back to anything before that age. I couldn't tell you what I thought about or who I felt I was as a child. I believe this is the sort of thing Illdefonso experienced. I think that once he connected language and communication his life suddenly made sense. He could now express what was on his mind. With this comes thoughts and constant inner language. Language is necessary for a functioning society and it is a lot of what seperates us from other animals. In this way, yes I believe developing language was a good thing for Illdefonso. However, I think his inner peace and quiet was sacrificed just as we sacrifice it when we grow older.
"How to Tame a Wild Tongue", Gloria Anzaldua
1. In my opinion, it was comfortable to switch between the two languages while reading. I am not fluent in spanish and did not know many of the words. However, it felt more realistic that the author used their own two languages and it was interesting to hear of these issues that I had never thought of. It brought to life the difficulty of handling one language when you may know more than a few. As well, the random spanish words were easier to understand based on the context of the english portion of the sentences. I learned a few of the words just from reading this.
4. Language is a huge part of our own identity. Our first language is comfortable and easiest to understand. In this way I feel it is wrong to rob someone of their first language. It is robbing them of communication. Across the world their are many different languages. It seems in other areas of the world, besides America, countries that are side by side speak many different languages. They do not have to conform to just one because many are accepted and their isn't one above all language, like English is for Americans. The world is full of many different cultures and communication is a key component of that identity. If we do not agree with forcing culture and belief onto others than we should also respect other languages. Going against this freedom of speech should be treated as an act of violence, just as restricting religion would be treated.
“Words”
ReplyDelete1. In “Words” on Radiolab, Susan Schaller claims that having a word to describe something makes it look different on some level. In the list of words that have no translation to english, none of them were very relevant to me, however I understood most of them from the description. Having a specific word to describe these concepts does not change how I view them because the english words still describes them accurately to me, having just a single word to do this would only make it shorter and perhaps a little easier to describe, however no matter how someone explains it, it is still the same thing. Having no language at all though would make it impossible to describe anything.
4. I think that for Ildefonso, he probably had an extremly hard time communicating with anyone, however if he was content with his life, I don't think that language would have been necessary, it would have just made things easier. He probably had thoughts of his own that were just very different from the way that most people think. Learning a language could have been both good and bad because now he can communicate easier, however it takes away from how simple things probably were for him before.
“How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
1. I do not know spanish, except for being able to recognize or pick out a few words, so reading “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua was slightly difficult for me. I felt like I was missing a lot of what she was trying to say and that it would have made more since if I was able to read more spanish. It was definitely more uncomfortable for me than I would have liked. I do not think I was able to fully grasp everything of what she was trying to say because of the language barrier.
4. I definitely agree that denying someone or a group of people from their language is a violation of the first amendment's right to free speech, and I do not think that it is right in any way to do so. However, I do not agree that it is an act of violence unless they were using physical force to stop them from using their language because thats what I see as violence.