Descriptive Essay About Oma

My grandma didn’t know how to speak English at all. Jim had taught her a little English, but not much. As soon as my grandma came to America she realized that there were a lot of other men so she left Jim. Lise had met a man named Steve. They got together and had my dad, Jordan. My grandma at the time was still trying to learn how to speak English. Jordan growing up as a kid would go to school, then come home and teach my grandma more of the English language. She also learned English by watching Sesame Street. Lise still struggles today with speaking and writing English words.

One of the most common things that America is known for is having a combination of so many cultures and languages. Although spanish is the second language people think of being spoken in the United States, languages such as german, chinese, japanese, french, and russian are commonly spoken as well. It is important that all US high school and college students are required to learn at least two years of a foreign language so that teens can be more open to travel, can compete for jobs, and are able to expand their knowledge about the world.

Ever since the European colonists settled in what is now America, they have used exploitation as a means for their own advantage. Whether done so with the Native Americans who lived on the land before their arrival, or with the Africans who were uprooted and brought to the new colonies, the mistreatment of the “other,” that is, anyone different from the Europeans, was cruel and unjust as they persistently treated them as subhuman. As a result, many African Americans wrote against their mistreatment at the first chance they had. One such author was Olaudah Equiano who establishes his credibility at the beginning of and throughout the entirety of his argument against slavery by portraying his identity in a dual fashion to show his authority on the subject to his audiences.

She uses words such as auntie and uncle. She is conflicted to either stay with her heritage, or to transition to the American culture. "We cannot run off and have our picture taken on the wooden ponies. We must not climb the steps up the hill behind the church and chase each other through the cemetery. We have promised to stay right where the awful grandmother left us until she returns." (3) The narrator wants to go do what American kids do around her age, but she has to stay behind the church. The narrator and her siblings were also mistaken as foreign people with broken English. A lady automatically assumed that they couldn't speak English, so proceeded to speak Spanish. "But you speak English!" "Yeah," my brother says, "we're 'Mericans." (23,

From a very young age, I can remember listening to my Great Grandparents tell stories at family dinners. John, who I called “GG”, spoke in a strong voice with an English accent whil Georgie (“Nana”) would add quiet details. Their stories either made everyone laugh or started entertaining conversations. A funny memory that I have is Georgie would always refer to John as “my pet”. Together my GG and Nana talked about their

My family of five is blessed to have unique names that are quite different from the common “Sams” and “Johns” floating around the United States. However, it is not the tongue twister names that confuse people as they get acquainted with my family. When I share the names to others, I never fail to baffle people at the end of my list, Heonsu, Misug, Onyoo, Youngeun, and Sarah. “Sarah?” they exclaim. “Wait, what? Why is her name different?”. Every time this occurs, I am forced to explain in my practiced speech tone, “My family immigrated to the United States from South Korea when I was six. We all have Korean names, but my little sister was born here, so she has an American name.” Most people are satisfied with this answer before I can splurge with more information. They just leave, scratching the backs of their heads and continue with their mundane tasks. As a result, no one truly knows all the bizarre events that led to my little sister’s common name.

We talk often in German about everyday things with ease. I have even been able to read a full Novel, “Wilhelm Tell” in German this year with the highest Satisfaction. I have progressed in German far greater than any other subject here at Wright-Humason. French on the other hand has been much more challenging to me as I have studied with a french lady who did not know the manual alphabet which has been a challenge. I have not been able to easily read her lips that is why my progress has been much slower than any other

When people conform, it changes their minds into being the same and this closes out different opinions. This is shown in the story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. The people who live in Omelas have always had a child in a basement somewhere in the city. Since they have grown up on that, they don’t see a problem. Everyone has the same thoughts and opinions because they have been forced to conform with the city of Omelas (Le Guin). They all think that “it has to be there” and that their “happiness, [beautiful city], [the] tenderness of their friendships [and] the health of their children” all depend on the kid being locked away (3). Because they were forced into thinking this is okay, they have grown narrow-minded and this is very harmful.

Since I was a child I have always been fascinated by languages. Most likely, this passion derived from my parents trying to hide things from me by speaking Pig Latin, which I caught onto fast. However, as I got older this passion grew and has yet to cease growing. Currently, I work as an American Sign Language Interpreter and I am enrolled in Spanish 112 at Wake Technical Community College. Thus, for my SMART Goal I have decided that I would like to learn a new language, German. By the end of the time limit I would like to be able to speak conversational German and be able to travel to the country and converse with locals. The reason I would like to learn German is because of my boyfriend. Over Christmas break I went to a private island is

At the age of twenty-five I became a mother for the first time and reality hit me. As a young naïve woman, I never really put too much thought into important life choices and the long-term consequences of any of my choices, naming my first born wasn’t hard for me because I allowed my sister, whom thought would never have children to name her, with my other two children deciding their names wasn’t about what better opportunities they would have but rather my liking. Although, in contemplating on something as simple as naming one’s child and the effects it may have as they become adults I now realize the importance of my childrens names. I can now hear how the names of my children sound more American than those of some of my friends and family but I not only hear them I understand the advantages or disadvantage that they may face in society. This was again another life choice that I had no realization of how this would affect my children’s future until now.

While Twain’s arguments are charming and incredibly clever, and those learning german can (in their inevitable moments of dire frustration) most certainly relate, the truth is more simple. Learning any new language is a difficult task, but with dedication and

Lastly, in “Everyday Use” a short story by Alice Walker two sisters struggle with culture. “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me’ (Walker 79). Dee doesn’t like here name since it was given to her by other people who oppress her. Although she doesn’t make her sister Maggie or her mom call her by her new name. “You do not have to call me by it if don’t want to” (Walker 80). Still her mom wanted to call her the name she hated.

Omon Ra depicts the absurdity of the Soviet myth and the simulacrum that came along with it. Elana Gomel explains the simulacrum to be “as copy without origin, which erases the distinction between reality and representation.”3 She further explains how this was utilized in post Soviet Russia, “in the post Soviet period, the epistemology of simulacra becomes a way to access individual experience, previously buried under the weight of the collective narrative.”4 Victor Pelevin commonly wrote about how the individual broke through the matrix of the absurd world he was living.5 In Omon Ra the myth is metaphorically represented by space. Omon, the protagonist, has always desired to be in space and travel to the moon. He joins the Meres’ev flying

One of my weaknesses that I was quick to discover was that my use of grammar and punctuation was not as good as I thought it was. In high school, I had never faced any problem in those fields, but after a single assignment on capitalization in college, my confidence was shaken when I got a “C” grade on it. It was hard for