My Speech On My Native Language

Being a Hmong-American in the United States was hard. Growing up in a community that was full of Americans, and being in a private school in my early years, (consisting mostly of Americans and little diversity) was difficult. In that kind of environment, I never saw each person differently. The characteristics that I saw were our skin color, and another distinction that I saw was our religious and cultural backgrounds. I started to lose touch of my own culture and identity as a Hmong-American girl. My family told me that in the stages of my toddler years, I used to be good at speaking my native tongue until I started school.

I walk over to the nine-year-old boy sitting across the room as I reach for my pen and sheet of paper. As I approached him, I halted. Quietly, I asked him what he needed help with. Looking confused, he asked me what the word bough meant. I froze. I didn’t know what the word meant. Embarrassed of not knowing a fifth grade word, I asked the teacher for some assistance and after she told me what the word meant I understood and was then able to explain to him that a bough is just a synonym for a branch. Noticing that David was still confused as to what he was reading, I sat beside him and allowed him to read the passage out loud to me. While I defined the words that he didn’t know and listened to him read the passage, I was able to classify him as an English learner who just wanted to be just as good as the other kids.

I am elated to have the opportunity to apply to California State University of Fullerton's Master of Literacy and Reading program. I graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in 2013. There, I received my Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies, with an emphasis in Spanish, as well as my Multiple Subject Credential. After graduation, I taught Kindergarten for two years in Greenfield, California. It was there that I learned my passion for teaching reading skills to English Language Learners. I soon realized the joy and cohesiveness literacy can bring into a classroom. For the past three years I have taught first grade at a small rural school in Shandon, California. I was extremely honored to be chosen to travel to Kansas City in July 2017, to

Canadian English, like many of its other commonwealth relatives is unique. It has been influenced by its British roots, Canada’s French speaking population, the diverse languages of First Nations peoples, and its American neighbours. As a result of these influences, Canadian English can be more than a little difficult for visitors or newcomers to decipher. Therefore, I’ve put together 10 Canadian words, to help those of you who aren’t familiar with Canadian terminology.

Before moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, two and a half years ago, I lived in Storm Lake, a small rural town located in northwest Iowa. There was no big Hmong population there, only a few family friends. I was very hesitant to share my culture at school because I did not know how to explain the elaborate traditions and its purposes. For example, sacrificing animals to ancestors is an outdated practice and not understood by many people. Traditions like this only exist in historical textbooks. I was scared of being judged and looked on as weird. I did not know the purpose of dressing up in traditional clothing for new years, or what was the purpose of celebrating Hmong new year. I envied other cultures, for they had a history that was widely known and written down in text. I had no appreciation for my culture.

Although, I identify myself as a Hmong woman now, it wasn’t until I was accepted into Fresno State of 2001, when I discover and began to appreciate what Hmong meant to me. Prior to college, I knew little to nothing about my culture and the Hmong history. I also faced many challenges that skew me away from maintaining and accepting my cultural

Though I identify as African American, I have a grandmother who lives in Japan. When we go visit her, I am often met with judgement before I introduce myself. In the usual case, friends of my mother or grandmother are simply surprised when I speak Japanese, although it is one of the main tongues we use within the house alongside with English. It is a almost a natural occurrence for the Japanese people who approach us to slow down their speech; although I am able to dismiss these inconveniences, my sister would also show her aggravation as they slowed their speech as if speaking to a preschooler. From these many encounters, I have learned that, just because the person speaking to me already has a set opinion about me, doesn’t mean I have to

How might the United States look and be different if the Native Americans were able to remain where they were and were able to continue their lives as they were? America would look and be very different but there were things that led to this not being possible because of the removal of most of the Indians. Such as, The Trail of Tears, The Battle of Wounded, and The Chief Joseph Surrender Speech. All theses things played a role in the removal because they either got rid of the indians, killed them, or left them with very miniscule amounts of land.

We lived in such a small, culturally varied town, there were many opportunities to overhear conversations in another language. It was mostly Spanish, but our neighborhood was situated directly in the hood, so many languages through the area speaking their own languages, such as English, Chinese, Tagalog and more. The surrounding area was also the residence of many Asians, White, Asian and African American people. I grew accustomed to hearing their language spoken, as well as knowing a lot about their culture. As you can see, I’ve been exposed to a variety of languages and situations, people and places. I hope that by furthering my knowledge of other languages, cultures, and people, I can overcome many of the prejudices that I have learned from parents, friends, or associations. I hope that one day I’ll be able to interact with people of all different races.

Throughout my childhood, it was a normal occurrence to hear three different languages in a single conversation. My father’s native language is Korean and my mother’s native language is Chinese. From my upbringing, I got to witness one of the struggles of an immigrant, which is learning English. Although my parents’ English is very good now, it took many years of practice. I often had to serve as a translator for my parents in public settings early on in my life. Not knowing English should not have to be a source of shame for an immigrant. However, I saw the embarrassment on my parents’ faces when I had to translate publicly for them. They worked endlessly every night in their college classes to become proficient in English, a skill that is easy for native speakers to take for granted. It made me realize the obstacles that immigrants face. To this day, my parents are still self-conscious about their speaking abilities. It has even influenced my mother’s career prospects. She has decided not to progress in her career, which requires teaching because she is afraid people will not like being taught by her because of her accent. Language is required to gain friendships, good jobs, and ultimately the power to

During the last couple of months, I have witnessed how the perception that people have with Mexicans is disgustingly wrong. We are referred to as criminals, rapists, drug dealers, lazy, and job stealers. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said, “The dangers of a single story, is that it can become the only story” unfortunately, I feel like it’s true. How many times have I’ve been categorized as an “illegal immigrant”? One time, and it wasn’t fun at all. I was running late to take my last final of my freshmen year of college, I was stopped for going over the speed limit, the officer proceeded to the side of my car and asked me for my papers. I was appalled by the request of the officer to show him my “papers”, like he had just assumed I was illegal, which

The third chapter of a Pocket Guide to Public Speaking is about anxiety in relations to

Throughout life we express ourselves through words. The way we present ourselves through speech says a lot about our character. The way one speaks to others can jeopardize the amount of respect and trust others have for them. From the way one pronounces a word to their posture can affect the way an audience interprets what is being said. Personally, I am not confident with my speaking skills at this point. I would like my audience to fully comprehend the concepts or facts that I would present to them. In order to do so I must improve my speaking skills I believe that a problem most people, including myself, have when giving speeches is facing an audience. Just looking out to an audience of a mere ten

Although I have my own idiolect, the way I speak constantly changes. This is because I try to adapt my spoken language to suit the situation I am in. There are many reasons for why I try to adapt my spoken language some of the main reasons being that I am fearful of the judgements and perceptions that others may make because of the way I speak also being afraid of exclusion or not being able to fit in and sometimes I feel pressurised into speaking in a certain way.

First, going back to your childhood, you learned your own language from your parents and relatives. Then in high school, you should