Blog 6: This is NOT the Title of this Post

Paradoxes

In Chapter 5 we learn what a paradox is. The book defines a Paradoxical sentences as one that is "impossible to ascribe a truth value. The example used in the book is the following sentence:
"This sentence is false." 
We see that this sentence can not be labeled as true of false because if we say that the sentence is true then it is false, and it cannot be false, otherwise it would be true. 

The following link will bring you to a site that gives examples of some known and unknown paradoxes that show how sentences and ultimately situations, can be said in a grammatically correct way, but when examined thoroughly are found to be paradoxical. 

11 Brain-Twisting Paradoxes

After reading these examples I learned that even when someone says something that is grammatically correct and seems to be semantically correct as well, there are cases when a sentence can contradict itself. Only with further examination and knowledge on the meaning of a sentence (truth conditions) can we fully understand the possibilities of paradoxical sentences. We can see through many of the given examples that paradoxes can hinder our communication because of the confusion created by them. It can hurt the brain to analyze to the depth required to fully understand how paradoxes exist and interfere with language. 
I feel like, after it all paradoxes help to expand our minds, if you will, like philosophy class. It makes you think harder than you may want to, but analysis is good especially when it comes to the analysis of the language that we speak. 

Blog 5: The Quick 10

 Once again I am linking you to Mental Floss, where I get to learn and have fun at the same time. I found this quick read in January and thought that I would save if for my 5th blog.

The Quick 10: 10 Extinct Languages of the US

I chose this article because it is really interesting to hear about languages that have gone extinct. The languages that are no longer spoken are now simply a part of our language history and we should learn about them.

What I found most interesting about this article was the mindset that It put me in. It's super interesting that there are so many languages that I was unaware of and that disappear just as unknowingly. I had no idea that there were many of these languages, especially the Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. This article makes me think even more about the fact that there was life before mine. And that there is so much history that I don't know about. And I love thinking about lives that are outside of my own. 

There wasn't really an argument in this article for me to agree or disagree with, but I can agree with the idea posed through the article that any preservation of a language is something very precious. The Eastern Atakapa language had only 287 words of it written down in the 1800's. This discovery was probably very significant, and yet depressing because it is so small. And that even with the preservation of the language on paper, it can still be impossible to learn it and bring it back to life without help from someone who speaks it. 

I do want to learn more about the languages that no longer exist although that would be one great feat to try and conquer. I want to continue opening my mind in this way though, so that I can try to picture the abstract idea that language is history and when it's lost it can be difficult to get back. 

This topic effects the world because the entire world suffers from the loss of language. For the US specifically we can learn from this article and better understand our language history and how diverse this melting pot is, or was :( . 

Blog 4 Refusing to Speak a Language

Psychology Today- Refusing to Speak a Language

This is an article that I found on Psychology Today that talks about how bilinguals choose to speak a specific language depending on their situation and their environment. 

I picked this article because I have many friends who are bilingual and who constantly choose to not speak their foreign language around me, at school or even in their homes. Language speakers are constantly reminded that they are different when they are put in a setting that doesn't fit their language and those who can switch to the language that is most common to their environment do so the majority of the time. 

What I find most interesting about this article is that peer pressure is the main reason for this language switching. Children will refuse to speak their first language and speak English instead because they don't want their friends to think different of them. No one wants to be separated from the group. 

There is also the fact that sometimes we don't need to use a language anymore so it becomes dormant. Especially if it is a language seen as a minority or "enemy" as explained in the article through examples such as Jewish people who spoke German during WWII, and other examples.

This makes me think of the movie Dances with Wolves and how Stands With Fist In The Air actually forgets how to speak English because it is scary and foreign to her after spending most of her life living with the native Americans (if you haven't seen that movie definitely take time to watch it. It has a lot of language related topics in it, and Kevin Costner is amazing). This fits the quotation from the article, "Strong negative attitudes towards a minority language will also lead speakers of that language to refuse to speak it in public."

I agree that this is a common attitude that people exhibit when they want to conform to their environment. I've seen it happen with lot's of friends. I think that this could possibly be instinctive for survival but we don't really see it as such today. 

I do want to learn more about this topic because I think that it's so important that people should be comfortable being who they are, and I feel like the language of a person is something that is especially important to someone's identity in the sense that it's part of their culture and their upbringing. I love language, especially languages I don't know because they are so beautiful. When I hear a friend talking to a family member on the phone in Spanish, or Arabic, or Romanian I can't help but listen with a smile on my face. 

This topic effects the world because every country in the world has foreign language speakers and culture clashes are unfortunately common. Everyone needs to see that language is beautiful and that it shouldn't be something that separates groups of people but rather is a fun topic to discuss. We need to see it as an opportunity for more communication and understanding, rather than the one thing that defines someone and makes them unwelcome in a group.

I hope you guys like the article, I sure did. 

Blog 3 On Body Language

Hey everyone, I want to share with you an article from Psychology Today that talks about the use of Body Language and how important it is.

You Say More Than You Think:

So You Think Body Language is Bunk?

I chose this article because I know that body language is a crucial element to communication and people who use their voice and ears mainly when it comes to speaking an listening don't often think about their body language. 

What I found most interesting was that people who are deaf pick up the subtle facial expressions one uses in normal conversation better than people who can hear. This makes a lot of sense because they have to use their other senses which are heightened rather than hearing.

I agree with this article because it has good scientific research to support the ideas throughout, and good points, because it's true that people who are deaf need to rely on their other senses and do so during every conversation they have.

I do want to learn more about the topic, especially what it is like to be raised by two deaf parents like the family mentioned by the author. Although that is sort of a side tangent on the actual point of the article I feel like it would be really interesting to learn about how a child who is born to a family that uses more body language than voice learns to use their voice and be raised bilingually.

This topic effects the world because, as mentioned in the article, body language is a world language. Everyone in the world uses body language to communicate, and being aware of the use of body language as a person who uses it is very important so that the right messages come across.