"Teachers choosing there students future" argument

        The story of Amy Tan is a delightfully engaging story of "Broken English" and her encounter with it. However, there is a point which is made in the story about the dilemma of schools directing students into subjects based on their ethnicity and partially on their desired subjects. This infuriates me to see how some schools will manipulate their students to choose a certain  path for their student to pursue because the teachers  think that the student will not be able to cope with the subject the students truly might desire. Schools should give students numerous opportunities and different paths instead of what they think is the best fitting for them, agreed on that schools are doing this for their own benefit but it raises the question can the teachers deliberately sabotage a student based on their ethnicity or even mental capability.

     A major eye raiser is that will teacher deliberately sabotage the student because what they believe is that they are not capable. If due to ethnicity this might lead  cultural bias from the teacher and can stereotype the foundation of their culture to think that they were made for one particular path and not numerous different paths.

    In the story by Amy Tan, she discusses how there are not enough Asian Americans writers in the world, and most Asian Americans mostly pursue in engineering or science, she then stated that she was being pushed to a different path in her school years, but she opposed and decided to continue her path in literacy. This clearly shows how one of the most well-known writers in the world may have never existed due to what her school believed was "best for her". This kind of push can result in many students that may have made a bigger impact in the world in their desired courses rather than them being manipulated to take courses that their teachers believe were the right path to pursue in for them. 

    My argument is simply that it is not right for the school to think they know what's best for the students and not actually help them see and explore the different paths that they can pursue and most probably  succeed in which is most likely since most of the students will enjoy what they are doing knowing that they choose this because they like this field of knowledge and not be manipulated into a field in which they might know a lot about but they do not enjoy it. Amy Tan knew what she could attribute to the world and that was literacy and has broken the stereotype that was set for her to become an engineer and not a writer. 

A Good Name

     What can be described as identity, 'is it the context of your name or is it who you are as a person.' Identity is very complex and can not be understood by anyone person. However, there are clues that tell you what type a person you maybe not necessarily will be accurate but will give a little more about you and where you come from. This clue sprawls in your own name, for example, I will be giving you a deeper understanding of who I am and where I come from just by showing you the context of my name.

     

       My name Hasan Khan, the first part Hasan it stands for good it is a direct translation from the Arabic word Hasanat (حَسَنَات). With this, we know that I would have Arabic origins as given such an Arab name, this is, in fact, true as I would have Arab origins especially given the fact I am Muslim. However, just by hearing my first name you would be confused that I have an Arabic name, yet I don not look much Arab if meet in person and this is where my third name would be introduced.

  

      My third name is Khan, there is a lot of history when it comes to khan most people think of the great Genghis Khan and true my name has the same meaning as Genghis Khan does not necessarily mean I have Genghis Khan origins. Khan is a widely popular name in Pakistan and most people are familiar when to meet a person named Khan that he is from Pakistan. Khan has the same meaning as Genghis Khan which means 'king' a name given to Asian kings at the time. This tells a little bit more about where I may be from, the name Khan can give the impression that I am from somewhere in Asia most probable Afghanistan and true I do have Afghanistan origins.

    This concludes my full name which means 'Good King'. This isn't  much but if looked at the history of my name in its actual way of saying it can tell a lot about the Afghani and Arab origins and the popularity of the name in Pakistan would tell a person my a lot about my culture. 

The misconception of culture

       I have been in the U.A.E for about 10 years, however, I am originally from Pakistan and was born from America. I consider myself more Pakistani than I do compare to the other countries and therefore know a lot about the culture in Pakistan and how people perceive us.

       Cultural marker for me is important as it signifies what your true origins are, not to be confused with who you are because you can be born from one place and be raised to believe something else in another place. 

      With me being from Pakistan there are many misconceptions, for example, most people think we are very violent, however, that is just a stereotype agreed there are some parts that are not quite same but all in all we are actually very peaceful. Another stereotype is that we are a very unclean country this again is not really true as we are sometimes associated with India which is known for its pollution but we are very different such as religion wise, traditional dresses, and even politics. 

     I feel like promoting the right image of Pakistan would offer a lot more tourist and foreigners would be a lot more accepting of someone from my culture if it was shown in the correct image and not painted with stereotypes.

    This is not just my culture that gets stereotyped there are many cultures nearly all of them have at least one misconception and is viewed through that misconception, which is wrong since it is not shown in the correct light this forces us to believe in these misconceptions and give a wrong understanding of the culture.

     

       

The History of English Language.

    To start with this blog, my first entry will be about the history of English and its development. The English language is made up of mostly latin words and has changed over time. This can be shown as the English in someone lets say Shakespeare time was much different as it is today with the addition of technology humans have abbreviated most words due to the ease of texting such words like 'by the way' can be said 'btw', 'laugh out loud' can be abbreviated to 'lol', etc. Shakespeare played a very important role in the English language as he invented many words that are used today, likewise, the Scientist such as newton have invented a new world for different discoveries each scientist is responsible for words like 'ovary', 'gravity', etc. 

   King James bible was introduced in 1611, this was the King James IV and I version which was an English translation. A little background about King James IV and I born in 1566 he was a Scottish King James IV from July 1567 and also was the King of England and Ireland but was considered as K James I, hence the named King James IV and I, his death was recorded to be 1625. He made the King James bible which had terms include, Psalms 23:4  "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (source: By This Shall All Men Know That Ye Are My Disciples, If Ye Have Love One to Another. "King James Bible." POPULAR BIBLE VERSES. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2016.). This paved the way for the English language that we know today.

Introduction: Who Am I

   
       Hello, my name is Hasan Khan and I am an IB student studying in Raha International School. Now there might be questions on what type of person I am this way you the audience will be informed of what are my goals for this blog and why I would be interested writing one. The first question that I think you might ask is,

     -What are your interests? My interests would be learning new exciting things so I can evolve my knowledge of the world around me.

    -What do I care about? For this I would say I care about my family, friends, teacher etc. but that would be cliché. For me, the thing I care about the most is time, this is a strange thing to care about especially for someone my age (being 16) but for me, time is the most relative thing cause once it is gone it is gone I am unable to gain what I have lost. This is why I like to get my work done as soon as possible.

  -What are your dreams for this year and in the future? My dream is simply to finish school and go on to a university of my choosing then to have a career of my choosing, these are my main goals however I have a few 'sub-goals' I like to call them which are important but if one isn't completed then it won't bother me as much but my 'sub-goals' would be to learn a new language (preferably german), To start the drums soon and join and help my friend start a band (his dream is to play in front of a live audience), To start to read H.P Lovecraft book named The Call of Cuthulu.

     I hope this might tell you a bit more about me however I have not stated what is my intent with this blog. My intent for this blog is to keep a weekly update of what happens in my English class and to share the information that has been taught by my English teacher (kept anonymous due to privacy). The reason why I decided to make this blog is for one I feel that many students that have English as their second language would be struggling heavily to keep up with their other classmates.

    For me, language is very important as it helps us communicate and learn, another why it is so important is if said right can show a sign of intellect in new people since us humans often judge a person by how they speak and if they have good grammar, pronunciation, punctuation, etc. then they are more times than not rendered as intellectual.

   I have never had any language barriers as for me my first language was English but I can see how most people can struggle with language as most people have a 'language barrier' as it is not their first language.

   I would say that language is important to study for a simple reason being that it helps you communicate better with people and for writing wise. I like to analyze stories go deeper than what is on the surface of the story, likewise for articles, poems, songs etc. This way it makes it more interesting for me to read as each sentence has contained for detail than what is shown.


    Now you may wonder what I look like but that will be secret because I want some privacy however you can see the best representation of me as a baby next to a panda.