Workshop on Hip Hop and Language- Reflection

Rap does not get the respect it deserves, many people are quick to judge before putting an effort to understand it. I really enjoyed learning about hip hop influencing us in different ways, we don’t have to embrace it to make a better sense of it. The class was divided in half have with different thoughts of the new era of hip hop. Many classmates believe most of the new songs have no meaning, after listening to the Nipsey Hussle clip I realized a lot of these songs are very empowering and captivating. We learned that Hip Hop is an art form full of emotions. Other artists in different genres speak about similar cases like addiction, sex, etc but get no backlash from society. Like Shakespeare Rap is tough to understand so many people won’t try to read or listen again. Rap is relevant to its culture. There are differences people have when speaking, many have insecurities to speak their truth but we should always remember that there is nothing wrong with our language and should always express ourselves. Learning to adjust to things we are not related to can be difficult but we have to start now.

The hip hop workshop was very interesting. there was a man that goes by the name steve who is in his 30’s and lives in the Bronx NY. He spoke about many things including how he dosn’t like being in closed spaces. He also went through the lyrics of a Nispey Hustle song and explained how he felt about snitches, “I wont but I understand why people do”. The class was also able to watch a video that explained how in 1492 Europe became the most powerful place and they are the people who write their own versions of the black history. Steve ended with saying intent, interpretation, impact, is the 3 I’s we should live our days by.

Next to speak was from origon and also taught in LA. She expressed her feeling on taking themes for what they are and changing them in your own way.she brought up a great question, ” can you really understand something if you cant connect”. She answered this by saying unwillingness is what stops the understanding and the connection.she spoke about the huge range of hip hop and its not just black and white like many feel.

Although i felt like there was a bit of defensiveness I enjoyed this workshop. It opened my eyes to research new things and find my meaning of certain music.

In the Pod cast Code Switching they speak about “black voice and white voice” in which case black voice seems to be how a person speaks when they are not trying to sound sophisticated while white voice is when you are sounding smart. When I heard about this I felt like it could be misinterpreted for something else, like if a person does not sound smart they can use the black voice and someone who is smart uses white voice. To me, saying something like this seems wrong and to some people they may believe that it is racist insisting that black voice sounds like foul, inappropriate language while white voice is pure, smart appropriate language. It seems wrong to base the way you speak on black and white and it seems unnecessary. Although it is necessary to speak properly when talking to a person who may be your boss,parent, professor etc. What I mean is there are points in time when a person should speak without using foul language like in a job interview, while you are outside however, you can speak the way you want to even in your workplace, if you have adjusted there and people know who you are then you may speak in your own voice. Point being, there is no such thing as black or white voice there is just you your language and the way you speak in different situations.

In the reading “Black children are verbally deprived” it talks about a certain misconceptions about African kids learning the English language in a incorrect way because of slang terms and different types of ascents of speech. In my opinion this is wrong there is no way of speaking the English language incorrectly. Every language has its ascents and most people understand each other. In the podcast they talked about how people get offended when people speak slang and people think that these people are not capable of certain jobs. One example of this would be a man that is with out ascent gets a job rather that some one with, which in my opinion is not fair.

The experience I had at jackson heights was unexpectedly hard. When people are met with a choice to talk about themselves they were either very dissmissive, hesitant, or willing to talk. The only ones that spoke to the group and I were young men. Those young mens insigts about their neighborhoods varied and it showed to large spectrum of people that live in the neighborhood called jackson heights.

My visit to Jackson Heights was very interesting. It was my first time actually interviewing people. I already been in Jackson Heights and know the diversity and different ethnicities it surrounds. My group members and I were all very excited on this mission. We started asking workers but they seem very afraid of their employers. I mean I totally understand they were working and didn’t want to have any problems. So, we kept going to different places that had linguistic landscapes with more than one language. It caught my eye specially because of what I’ve learned in class about the use of multiple languages. Until, we came to a place named Costamar Travel we interviewed a lady she is Peruvian who worked in Jackson heights for 10 years. It went very well but she preferred speaking Spanish. Something that caught my attention during her interview was that for her the primary language in America Is English. I asked why and she stated “because we are in America”!!. We also interview a English teacher who help her students learn English from Zoni Learning Center. She was working in the neighborhood a couple of months but teach for 26 years. She is from the Philippines. It was very interesting hearing hard-working people speak about how people struggle to learn the English language but at the same time feel comfortable been in a neighborhood that mostly speaks Spanish. Some places only had Spanish menus, workers that only spoke Spanish. But, also had places that had both English and Spanish. I’m so glad I was a part of it.

Yesterday workshop was great! Thanks again Ryan for coming all the way to LaGuardia, we had a lot of fun!

I am sure that once you start working with yours apps, you will have some questions. Feel free to ask, share, comment here in this post so not just Ryan and I can assist you, but also your classmates. Some of you will have the same questions and here we are going to be able to help each other.

I cannot wait to see what you create!

These pictures were taken in a medical office. The languages that are used are English, Spanish and Chinese. These signs are there to assist their patients to be alert once coming into the office to sign in the screen below. On the other sign it is to have the patients give out any complaints or feedback they have on there experience in the clinic. It is very helpful to have access to many languages. It will make their patients feel comfortable and feel right at home.

In my Introduction to Language class we have not only read but also discussed several terms and concepts explaining language vs. dialect vs. accent. Language is the system of communication within humans. Dialect is a distinct form of a language that connects to a specific region or social group. An accent is the way a person speaks, accents show different patterns, pronunciation, intonation, and delivery on the  words they speak. I’m from NYC and i speak English but with my NYC dialect some can notice I have a brooklyn accent. I always knew i had a brooklyn accent but never understood exactly what my accent was made up of. I use the same words as other new yorkers but but the way i say it can be different at times. I think my dialects are the same as most new yorkers with the exception to words thats said mainly in brooklyn but not in queens. Because my dialect and accent is not too different i don’t think it effects me. For the most part i speak like all my NY peers. I know there is a time when i need to speak formal because that is the way society expects people with intelligence to speak and i know when to speak more informal.Bottom line I believe you should speak the way you want to.

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