Translation and Interpretations

Judith Martin and Thomas Nakayama define translation as: "the process of producing a written text that refers to something said or written in another language"(243). However that is notably different from interpretation which is "the process of verbally expressing what is said or written in another language"(243).  An example of this would be my friend who is learning Arabic. If he misunderstands a phrase, he would go to an online website to rewrite the phrase in Arabic and then go to google translate to have the phrase translated. The translation is made word for word rather than the interpretation causing the sentence to make no sense. For example, he looked up what "حروف شمسيا" was. On google it was translated as "ABC SOLAR". When he showed me this I laughed because in Arabic there is no such thing as a ". What the question meant was find the letter "ش" . This shows how limited and unreliable translations can be. With this in mind, when we do not know someone who speaks the language, how much can we fundamentally understand?

Language is not a prison house, it is a means of escape, escape from our thoughts, our ideas and our own personal perceptions. It is limiting, surely but as it is our only means of communication, it should be appreciated despite its flaws.

Language is not a barrier but can be used to express everything that a person is thinking, allowing humans to link with others. Without language, our perceptions of the world would be even more biased and limited than they are now with any bias language gives us. Without the ability to interact with others, humans would not be able to share their unique perspectives, and would be stuck assuming that their own viewpoints were the only ones.

Nonetheless, language has its own flaws, which should be acknowledged. Because I have studied three languages, I can see that each would influence me to think about the world in a slightly different way. For instance, the subjunctive tense in French and Spanish causes me to think about the world as less factual and clear-cut and instead as having more shades of grey. Another example is that, in French and Spanish, they label items as being masculine or feminine. One noticeable thing about this is that it influences the way that people see the objects and which adjectives they would use to describe the object.

Therefore, while language builds a framework for bias in our ways of viewing the world, it also provides a way of discussing how other people see the world, and gives us ways to expand our views.

Being Biracial...

One part of the reading that really intrigued me was the majority, minority and biracial identity development stages. My mother is American, born in upstate NY; while my dad is Moroccan, with American citizenship since he was born in Boston. At the age of 3, my father's family moved back to Morocco and lived there until he moved back to the United States for university. 

What did that result to, years after my parents met? Me. I'm half-American, half Moroccan; holding passports for both Morocco and the United States. 

By reading the biracial identity development stages, I came to realize that I was reading about myself. As a kid, my friends would frequently come up to me and tell me which I preferred being more, American or Moroccan. I was offended, because I am both. Even in our school yearbook I would make sure that for my nationality, they stated both countries. 

Yet, growing up things were difficult. I could never really "fit" in. I really did not care if Morocco lost its soccer game, or that the Patriots lost. While those who were "full American" or "full Moroccan" would go biserck.  I never felt fully devoted to one country; but over the years I became proud of this. Now, I am proud to be from both nations, having two drastically different cultures. I feel like I have an easier time making friends from other nations. Also, I'm proud to tell anyone who asks about both cultures. 

All in all, although I still get the frequent question "So do you prefer being American or Moroccan" I don't get offended but instead state that both are part of who I truly am. And, as in "Intercultural Communication in Contexts" states, I've reached the third level -- self acceptance.

Language is significant in cross-cultural communication!

So learning another language like adopt or learning another culture, it is not easy. As in the article "How does our language shape the way we think?" by Lera Borodisky, "learning a new language (especially one not closely related to those you know) is never easy; it seems to require paying atention to a new set of distinctions." It is similar how we recognize a different culture through language. When we comunicate we have to share our ideas, thoughs and feeling or perceive informations by using language. Language will help us less misunderstanding each other. Such as when I first came here to the U.S. I had a big issue in communication with people. Because the way I speak English is the way how my culture is and that is different with people speaking English in the U.S. . I created my own way to use English and people have misunderstood about me. Now I have been living here in U.S. for four years. I am trying to learn the way Americans speak and use English so that they can have a better understanding when I want to say something; or I would be able to share my thoughts and ideas. I realize that I am adopting U.S. culture through learning English and using it everyday. But it is extremely difficult at first as well as having long term to be able to use English as Native people.

Jewish Identity in Southern Society

Growing up in the south, the "Bible Belt" to be exact, it was not encouraged to be different and by the standards where I was, I am. I'm Jewish, fairly liberal, open-minded, not a supporter of the Confederacy, etc. But in order to have friends in high school, different aspects of my "identity" appeared at different times. You could say that impression management was a constant part of my life.

I attended a private Christian school where I was one of 3 Jews from grades 7-12, so religion was not a topic I would discuss with many people, though I did guest lecture in the religion classes every year. My religious identity was one that was well-hidden at school, especially when people were trying to convert me at least once a week.

Around certain friends I was able to truly be myself and talk about world events, gossip, fashion, or anything else that I am interested in. When I was with certain other people, I felt that I had to hide the fact that I am an intellectual, a major part of my own identity.

At home, I still hid various aspects of my identity. Since my father died in 2006, I have had to hide aspects of my identity that are attributed to him in order to not upset my mother. Other aspects that I didn't reveal to my mother included political identity (since she is conservative), true religious identity (she converted and I am much more religious than she is), and cultural identity (music, movies), though we do share a love of literature.

At college, I feel that my identity is still forming. It is true that your identity is influenced by the people around you- my mother has even commented on certain mannerisms of mine that have changed since arriving here. I am still deciding which aspects to reveal and which ones to keep hidden, though I feel that I am becoming much more comfortable with who I truly am.

Identity is influenced by those around you but also by yourself. You decide how you want to be perceived, though you cannot always control other people's perceptions. It is important to be conscious of who you want to be and think about how you are perceived by others. In high school, I was an outsider, a Jew who was not a fan of the South. Here, I feel that I am welcomed for who I actually am.

U.S. Health Care Reform in This Summer!

The identity conflict in the debate in this summer has deteriorated to inject ethics as in article " Debate on U.S. Health care Reform should Emphasize Ethical and Moral Obligations, Says Researchers" by Richard Saltus. So, as everything else that deals with Government, identity plays a big role in Health Care Reform creates a distinction between a health campaign based on caring for others and one for economic self-interest. Debates held across the country highlight the problems of conflating interests. The conscious of American people are being tested. A mojority of Americans are really concerned about the unisured population; largely, the Latino population. We should all agree that human dignity should motivate the health care reform and that all should be able to afford the necessary treatement in time is sickness. The Health Care Reform messages being conveyed to the American people are implicit to say the least. Those crafting the reforms need to adopt the right frames across the full spectrum of the public in order to gain their support.

One idea that fascinated me about last week's reading was the idea of spin control. People are always telling us to "be true to yourself" and "follow your heart", but in reality, every single one of us conforms to society and masks those parts of ourselves that we deem to be embarrassing or out of the ordinary. I think this demonstrates the fact that other people will always have a huge influence on our identity, no matter how much we like to believe that our "self" is our own creation.

Our interactions with other people are the main influence on our identity. Through interactions with our friends, family, and even the media, we learn what is considered to be good or bad behavior. If the theory of spin control is true, then we change our behavior to highlight the things that people have told us, either implicitly or explicitly, are good things. Thus, the interactions we have with other people determine our behavior.

Behavior is the basis of who we are because it establishes the ascribed piece of our identity, which in turn influences our avowed identity. As humans, we are always trying to determine how other people see us. Therefore, the identity ascribed to us by others will continually shape the way that we view ourselves.

I understand the desire to take credit, and also responsibility, for who you are and all that you have accomplished but the fact of the matter is that everything you have done has been encouraged or influenced by the people who surround you. Nobody has the willpower to completely block out the culture around them and so as a result, everybody is shaped, at least in part, by the interactions they have with others.