Valentine's
Day
Valentine’s day is
celebrated every February 14 in the United States as a day of Love. It’s also
celebrated in Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Australia and
Great Britain. This tradition comes from long time ago. Friends and lovers would
exchange handwritten notes around the 18th, being replaced for printed cards by 1900. According
to the Greeting Card Association, “an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards
are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending
holiday of the year.” (The History Channel website, 2013).
Today during the holiday,
seems like to say “I love you” isn’t for free. It’s featured as a day to buy
expensive gifts, trips, and fancy dinner. From a social-economic view, what matters
is how much money you spent on the gifts rather than simple expression of love -
greater the price of the gift measures your love. It’s a day for business to
make money off. In the U.S. the holiday is not exclusively to couples and
people in love, but also as duty to be expressed also to family members,
friends, bosses, etc. According to Ralph Sockman “a true lover always feels in
debt to the one he loves.”
The Idea of "Love"
Love is where on person is strongly
attracted to another person. It is a physical, mental and biological attractions, need in their lifespan. Love starts
as lust, the need or craving for sexual gratification, where one will seek out
another to full filling their need it can be felt for a range of people. Then
this love will progress to romantic love, which is infatuation to another one
person. Focus the mating energy to one person, instead of having an enrage of
sexual mates. Love then progress to the final stage of love is attachment, to
one person, one lover. Attachment is to have two partners want to be together,
to love another for long term. Attachment long enough to raise their young
together and longer.
Education of Valentines Day in America:
The
teaching of the meaning of Valentine’s Day starts at a very young age. In the
early years of schooling children will give one another Valentine cards, or
candy. Few days before Valentine’s Day children make cardboard boxes, or some
type of containers made out of colors related to Valentine’s Day, shades of
pink and red, and at times shades of purple. Then upon the day of
Valentine’s Day the children will place their Valentine card, or candy in those
containers, to share the day with one another, everyone within their classroom.
Once children reach adolescences they are in a different education bracket,
they no longer exhibit sharing the day with everyone but start to show the
affection and share the day with one person. Some educations offer an opportunity
to have “candy grams” sent to another student in the school. This gives them
students a chance to send a piece of candy to another anonymously. Once they
are reach adulthood, individual performing this sharing of emotion on their own
term on Valentine day.
.
Gender:
Valentine day is a day where the man in a heterosexual relationship
typically shows more affection to the women than any other day in the year. Raised
affection can be giving the an array of gifts to the women typically flowers,
chocolate, sexual advances, and objects to express his love to her, or even
public display of affection such as dancing as seen in the video above. Men are
the ones who are excepted to surprise the women, and woo her with all of forms
of affection and appreciation on this day. It is rare to see a women shower the
man with gifts and extra affection upon this day, only to receive it.
Valentine’s day Curiosities
Japan
Valentine’s
Day in Japan is celebrated twice. On February 14, women are the
ones giving the gifts to the men in their lives (boyfriend or husband)
out of
love, symbolizing love and respect, instead of doing it out of duty (to
friends,
family, etc). Usually, the gifts are chocolates that are either pricey
or
handmade. On March 14 though it’s the men turn to hand out gifts. The
date is
called “White Day”, featured as a day when the men has to return the
gift to
the women in their lives. This time, the gifts can be chocolates,
cookies, flowers, jewelry or some other trinket of affection. Also, the
gifts given on the White Day are traditionally more expensive, meaning
the men should spend more money to buy the "perfect return gift".
France
Religious
pilgrims in France travel to St. Valentin - a village in Indre that is
named after St. Valentine. The village holds many events and ceremonies
on the closest weekend of Valentine's Day. Travelers all over the France
goes to the village for a romantic weekend with their beloved ones,
including married couples in order to renew their wedding vows.
References:
Valentine's Day.
(2013). The History Channel website. Retrieved 4:32, February 26, 2013, from
http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day
Booker, A. (2013, Feb
07). Want to say 'I love you?' it'll cost you. The Charlotte Post.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1312316441?accountid=35840
Ghosh, R. P. (February, 14 2013). Valentine’s Day In Japan:
When Girls Give Chocolates To Boys and Candy Companies Rake It In. International Business Time. Retrieved
from http://www.ibtimes.com/valentines-day-japan-when-girls-give-chocolates-boys-candy-companies-rake-it-1079914
Do You Speak American
BORN IN THE
USA -Summary
The Global Spread of American Slang
The article explains how American slang is spread all around
the world by young people who use this language to express their connection
with American pop culture. The author says that the main social function of
slangs is to signal belonging, since American slang is recognized by being used
by up to date young people. Vernacular English is expressive being exclusive
and global at the same time. Instead of being learned at school it is present
in specialized media of young people, such as video clips and Web sites. People
with similar interests participating in the same fan communities, for example,
incorporate some forms of English into their own language to prove they are
part of this culture. When a language incorporates these slangs the words are
in part translated and they build compounds of English. For example, the word
flipped out comes as flippato in
Italian, flippé in French.
Youth music cultures are fond of English conversational
routines. Some slang is the ready-made solutions for specific situations by a
community. Even though some of these words are not considered slang in the U.S.
anymore, they are characterized as the speech of young people in the host
languages. Slang can reach an Italian teenager before entering English-Language
dictionaries. Words such as hi, hey, what’s up and bye are used as greetings
around the world. Slogans are ready-made phrases that express youth cultural
values, beliefs or affiliations. Routines, slogans and props help non-native
users of English to look like they know about the language without really
knowing it. Some props are in English while some are just similar, since they
are in part translated.
Usually on the internet, English comes with non-standard
spellings that indicate colloquial or non-standard pronunciation, or works as
visual distinction. An example is Aspa, a 15 years old rap from Frankfurt who
uses these variations on her personal page; the headline of her homepage reads:
Welcome 2 tha World of AspA. This example shows how the framing acts on the
organization of a blog. American slang, routines and slogan are frequently used
by young people to highlight important information, since the main information
is in the national language. The internet spread the use of slang
internationally because is less restrictive than the magazines in terms for
language style. The use of slang does not threaten English as a Foreign
Language (EFL). It’s just a reflex of fast linguistic transferring via
non-curricular sources. Knowing slang is complementary for the knowledge an
individual have about the language.
Managing language
Managing
Language in a Multicultural Nation
We live in a more
industrialized and competitive world now and this global economy has influenced
a better management of multilingual resources. Industries looking to expand their
market try to address the consumers’ needs. Now it is important to show
appreciation for the consumer and that can be done by showing some knowledge
about their language. In a nation with so many immigrants strategic
mismanagement can be destroying; imagine the number of lives that could be
saved if firefighters, ambulance drivers, and hospital workers could speak
multiple languages. Time is precious when trying to save a life.
Linguistics explore
these topics using a vast number of ways. Some studies focus more on small
linguistic details, such as pronunciation. Language planners are the ones who
map the course of linguistic events, in contrast to the ones who look to manage
languages by not manipulating linguistic behavior. Linguistics have to stay impartial
about the right way to use and speak a language.
Language Myth #21 - Summary
Americans are Ruining English
It seems to be common knowledge that Americans are ruining the English language. However, where and what did this ruination start, and more importantly how is it being defiled? In the article “Language Myth #21- Americans are Ruining English” these questions are addressed with the utmost clarity.
When Americans first came to settle on the new world’s shores, proper English was withheld with the highest sense on purity. It seems the deterioration began after the American Independence in 1776. People began to expand the vocabulary and add words of different languages origin. This continued in a slow process until reaching 1995 when the Prince of Whales was reported saying that the Americans had “…been corrupting the English language…and adding loads of unnecessary words, that shouldn't be.” In fact in England now words like “new, “distasteful” and “American” are being used as synonymous. The reason being, we tend to think anything that isn't of our knowledge or understanding is alien, wrong and even barbaric.
Change in language is unavoidable, just as it is with the rest of reality, if we want to grow as a nation, society, people ETC. There are no rules to which we can judge linguistics, so whether it is ugly, barbaric, or fair, and valuable, it is entirely a personal decision. All that being said, language doesn't need anyone’s approval. Are American’s “ruining the English language? If you believe that expanding, and changing as a “bad” thing than certainly, but for the most part they could also be improving it.
Women Talk Too Much
It seems to be common knowledge that women talk more than men. In fact there are many proverbs and sayings, from around the world, that indicate that all females do it “prattle” on and on.In Japan there are several characters used to describe women that translate roughly into “noisy”. But despite this universal belief, the evidence proves the reverse. According to several studies, taking place mainly in Canada and New Zealand, when socializing with other women men are actually the
more dominate of conversations. When observing work meeting the more men there are the more the women don’t enter into the discussion. So where does this myth start?
It appears that the reason behind this is that men become more verbal in formal and public contexts; where it is highly values to be persuasive and social. Women on the other hand tend to be far more verbal in more private and intimate situations. For instance, conversations between partners, and those at a night out with friends are far more dominated be the females. While men, at work meeting, conferences, and parties are the socially dominating ones, (which apparently less noticeable )therefore are seen as quieter sex.
However, is been seen as the more talkative a bad thing? Certainly there are specific cultures in which silence is well valued. But in the western culture talk is very highly valued, and is essential for both private and social events. All in all “the complexities of whether women or men talk most will continue to be a matter of debate.” (Holmes, 2005)
References:
Algeo, J. (1999). American's are ruining english. MACNEIL/LEHRER PRODUCTIONS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/change/ruining/
Androutsopoulos, J. (2002). Born in the USA. Retrieved from www.pbs.org
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