Language and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Language and Culture - Essay Example Both Tan and Rodriguez had to fight with their internal struggles; their desire for speaking their native language and the need to speak the language of the society they lived in. The major difference between them was in their perceptions of the significance of preserving their family language. The titles chosen by both writers for their stories also define their feelings. Tan names her story â€Å"Mother Tongue† which has a more emotional feel to it, whereas Rodriguez opts for a more straightforward title of â€Å"Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood† in which you can’t really feel emotion but the story does explain all his feelings and the emotion is built as the story progresses. It is a recollection of various memories that convey Rodriguez’s point of view. Tan and Rodriguez realize the intimacy of their native language at different times of their lives. During her talk on her book â€Å"Joy Luck Club†, her mother was sitting in the audience. At that time she realized that the way she used English language was different depending on who she was talking to. At home she used a broken form of the language whereas for the society she preferred more formal English. She concluded that it had become a language of intimacy, different English for the family which was a language she had grown up with. Tan understands that she never lost the importance of the family language and the role it had played in her life, as she says â€Å"it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth† (Tan, 431). On the other hand Rodriguez realized the role of his family language when he was much younger. Like Tan his identity also altered as he stepped inside his home. When his mother used to call out to him in Spanish he felt at home and his mother’s words would comfort him. He felt sure of his family identity and feared the language of the society. Rodriguez unlike Tan lost this feeling of intimacy early in life. Both the writers felt guilt when they averred a discriminating identity towards their family. The reason they did that was both their parents could not speak English properly. Tan describes her mother’s English as very ‘limited’. It was this broken language that limited Tan’s perception of her mother. She uses words such as â€Å"broken† and â€Å"fractured† to explain her mother’s English which shows that she is very ashamed by it. Tan believed that the quality of her mother’s English was directly related to the quality of what she said and this must reflect badly on her. She could not express her thoughts perfectly thus making her thoughts imperfect as well. Her beliefs were reinforced by the way people used to treat her mother. T an states plenty of empirical evidence in her story. She wrote that people in stores, restaurants, banks did not give importance to her; sometimes they would even ignore her, pretending that they did not hear her. Rodriguez writes about similar situations; he too was embarrassed of his parents when they spoke the language of the society. It would make him feel that his parents were not powerful and could not protect him. He also supports his feelings with the society’s behavior towards his parents. Rodriguez uses a strong language and some Spanish words as well including â€Å"gringo† and â€Å"pocho†. Both Tan and Rodriguez understood later in life how very wrong they were about their parents, at one point Tan said â€Å"my mother's English is perfectly clear. ... It's my mother

Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Russia - Essay Example Specifically, this paper will discuss and analyze some of the different features of tourism industry in Russia, in order to understand its related factors, determinants, and its influence on other sectors of the country. Geographically, Russia is considered as transcontinental country having its boundaries in both Asia, as well as, Europe. In specific, a larger part of the Russian Federation is extended in northern Eurasia. Moreover, some of the countries that share their borders with Russia are Poland, Finland, Norway, Georgia, China, North Korea, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Latvia, etc. It can be seen that a number of these countries are rich in terms of culture and heritage, which is a kind of benefit for Russia, for being located in a rich cultural region. In terms of borders touching waters, Russia shares its boundaries with the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Caspian Sea. In addition, it provides sea route with the Pacific Ocean, as well as, the Arctic Ocean. (Jafari, pp. 516, 2003) A country sharing its boundaries with so many land and water locations is considered an immensely benefited location in context of tourism, which is the reason that despite of Russia’s image of battle land and s uperpower, its historical places attract millions of tourists every year. Another reason for selecting Russia particularly for this study is its recognition as the largest country of planet earth covering 17,075,400 square km, and thus, the paper will now try to identify different physical resources that are contributing in appealing millions of inbound, as well as, outbound tourists from different parts of the globe. Almost every country has been blessed with historical treasures, physical features, attractive sites, etc; however, it is essential that such places should be maintained and utilized according to the demands and specialties of particular region. In other words, physical features can be utilized for energy purposes, as well