Post by Emily Ritter on Sept 12, 2014 0:02:52 GMT
First off, I love the fact that Amy Tan referred to her different ways of speaking as "Englishes." That is a very creative term. I might use it in casual conversation, with due credit. She brought up many great points of interest. Why are there so few Asian-American authors? Are they dissuaded by teachers? I would love to do some sociological experiments on this. Anyway, she observed our different ways of speaking. She observed how we speak with certain people. With some people, we speak in very short, straightforward sentences. For others, we try to be as lyrical as possible. Do our "Englishes" depend on our affections for people? Or do they depend on the closeness of the relationship?
I wish I could understand what it's like to be around a person or people who speak with limited English. Would I easily understand what they are saying? I think words are not nearly as important as the meaning behind the words. That is also why I find synonyms to be super important. What are the differences between ambiguous and vague? The differences are the spelling and length, but the connotation is the same. Many words seem to have been created just to make people seem smarter. Obviously, I take full advantage of that idea.
I wish I could understand what it's like to be around a person or people who speak with limited English. Would I easily understand what they are saying? I think words are not nearly as important as the meaning behind the words. That is also why I find synonyms to be super important. What are the differences between ambiguous and vague? The differences are the spelling and length, but the connotation is the same. Many words seem to have been created just to make people seem smarter. Obviously, I take full advantage of that idea.
