The Language Came Into My Life

Helen Keller has taught the entire nation that it is possible to overcome obstacles and obtain goals. At the age of nineteen months, she was stricken by an illness called “brain fever”, that left her blind and deaf. It is evident that Keller lived a strenuous life, but along the way she managed to establish the American Civil Liberties Union and received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments. The fact that a blind and deaf woman accomplished so many achievements over the course of her lifetime and is known as one of the most memorable women alive, simply amazes me. Although our lives do not necessarily alline, I hope to be as successful as Helen Keller was and overcome any obstacles that come my way.

Language is a way of communication and it is constantly changing. For those whose first language isn’t English, there will definitely be challenges in learning it; yet there is still criticism in how non-native speakers use the language. In Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” she writes about how language can influence life experiences and describes the true purpose of language as more than correct grammar and complex terms. Within my own experiences, I can relate to the message in Tan’s writing in the ways of regret, lack of respect, and often being the one who explained/translated for my family.

“Helen became an "ambassador for the blind," raising money and lobbying for the sightless. From her first trip to Japan in 1937 until her retirement, she made nine tours around the world and visited 34 countries.” Everywhere she went Helen inspired people with her incredible story and her campaigns for the better treatment of the blind. Keller once said, “‘A person who is severely impaired never knows his hidden sources of strength until he is treated like a normal human being and encouraged to shape his own life.’” The speeches she gave helped people to understand how to treat those with disabilities. It helped them to realize that they are just normal human beings. Keller’s tours around the world greatly improved the lives of people with

The Miracle Worker display that the power to communicate with others is foundational in nearly every person’s life. Annie teaches Helen to express her feelings, ask questions, learn about the world and everything in it. Until Helen accepts the tools of communication that Annie has given her, due to her unfitness to see or hear, she lives in near total isolation. Annie, who was herself subterfuge for much of her life but can now see, teaches Helen using the technique she learned as a student at the Perkins Institute for the Blind. She spends weeks teaching her letter combinations with her fingers to form words. However, Helen doesn’t know what a word is. She understands that the external worldly concern exists because she can feel, taste, and

She had to put her thumb on a person's throat, the pointer finger on the person’s lips, and the middle finger on the person’s nose. Helen Keller was both blind and deaf. Being blind is hard enough to overcome, but being blind and deaf is extremely hard to overcome. She couldn’t hear or see anything so she had to rely on her sense of touch to move around. She could not see what was around her and she could not hear what was around her so she had to overcome a lot of obstacles in her life. She finally learned how to talk by the thumb on the throat, pointer finger on the lips, and the middle finger on the nose. She said her first sentence which was “I am not dumb

In “Mother Tongue”, Tan discusses the many ways in which the language that she was taught affected her life. Throughout the story, she describes her relationship with her mother, who speaks “broken” English, and how her perception of language has changed due to her mother. Whenever Tan was

People who are blind face many different problems in accomplishing everyday activities and becoming an independent individual. Some are able to overcome this issue while others struggle through it in their lives. In “Helen Keller’s Address before the New York Association for the Blind, January 15, 1907” she makes an appeal to the audience that the blind should be helped and made independent so that they can stand up and support themselves. She uses pathos or emotionally packed words, examples and anecdotes and cites from a prominent source to convince her audience that the blind are not helpless, but they are in need of guidance from people who can see in order to live and thrive independently.

Language is a system of communication used by humans either written or spoken to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and feelings we want to communicate to our loved ones, to our friends, to people we work with or go to school with and even to strangers. Maxine Hong Kingston in her memoir The Woman Warrior explores language and the use of language to express what Kingston finds as several conflicts. The conflict of the immigrant experience and the conflict of having to be a Chinese- American woman along with the expectation of being “silent”. Maxine Hong Kingston provides a remarkable memoir that blends Chinese folktales and personal narratives.

With these methods she is able to strengthen the powerful emotions that she was feeling during this time of her life by enhancing the her narration and its effectiveness on the reader.

Trying to communicate, but words aren’t used, writing isn’t used, it’s simply impossible. When communicating with others we use words, we speak, write, and read. But if one can’t perform those tasks, communication is simply out of reach. The essay “Homemade Education” by Malcolm X, a minister and a civil right activist, describes how his experience of learning how to read and write in prison changes his life as he became both an articulate speaker and writer. Similarly, Helen Keller, an author and political activist shares her experience being both deaf and blind in an excerpt called “A Word for Everything.” She explains how learning a new language opened her to all the joys and horrors of the world. I, like many other authors, also had an experience concerning language and how it changed my perspective of the world. Speaking Chinese and Vietnamese as my first languages in the United States made me run into societal barriers and restrictions. However, by learning English, I could open myself to new possibilities and experiences. By learning and struggling through the experience of language; new perspectives are opened up such as how one views themselves, the world, and society.

Helen became deaf and blind at 19 months old in February 1882. Helen went to many different schools to get the help she needed. Helen did many things and always believed she could achieved her goals. "Duty bids us go forth into active life. Let us go cheerfully, hopefully, and earnestly, and set ourselves to find our especial part. When we have found it, willingly and faithfully perform it; for every obstacle we overcome, every success we achieve tends to bring man closer to God." Helen believed that God helped her through her illness. "Among the great teachers of all time she occupies a commanding and conspicuous place. . . . The touch of her hand did more than illuminate the pathway of a clouded mind; it literally emancipated a soul." Once she got her hand on something she knew what it could be. Helen believed God helped her get throughout her life.

Generally, a deaf person can rely on his eyes to learn the body language, and a blind person can rely on hearing to learn how to speak. But Helen was both deaf and blind, which made it extremely hard to learn sign language. However, she finally learned sign language with her teacher Anne Sullivan and her own effort. It was a miracle for anybody who heard about this message. Because of her unremitting spirit and refusal to accept the destiny, she had the courage to face the challenges in her life and gained the great achievements.

Nell is a wild child since she is cut form the modern world. Nell has lived with her mother in an isolated cabin in North Carolina. When her mother dies, she is found by Dr. Jerome Lovell, who is fascinated by the new language Nell has developed. This new language is not a mental condition but a mixture of a stroke language. This stroke language that she has developed is due to her mother, who is only able to speak in a type of stroke language due to her condition. Nell has simply developed her own language with a mixture of stoke speak in it. When Nell speaks she drops the consonants of words she pronounces. Due to this new language that no one can interpret; many doctors think that she may have a medical condition.

Tonight her heart developed a new longing. She felt a deep connection with God, a pringling in her heart that she had never felt before. She vowed right then and there that in all that she did, she would be the eyesight for the blind, the speech for the mute, and the ears for the deaf- whether they be physically impaired or spiritually impaired, she would be

The story begins with Margaret, a young girl living with her Deaf parents and hearing brother. Her brother dies at a young age, leaving her parents with only their daughter to help them communicate verbally with the hearing world. As Margaret grows up, she notices their distrust and weariness of hearing people and that without her, they don’t have an easy way to communicate. She feels pressure and responsibility to take care of them and to be their ears in the world. Margaret doesn’t like feeling “different” because of the fact she knows sign and her parents are Deaf, so she doesn’t have many friends and only signs at home. When she meets and marries a hearing man named William, she is torn between helping her parents communicate with hearing people and being with him. Her parents struggle to adjust and accept Margaret’s new life with William, especially when she moves away and they don’t have a translator.