Student Speeches for Analysis
1
My Three Cultures
Sandra Baltz
Several years ago I read a newspaper article in the Commercial Appeal in which an American journalist
described some of his experiences in the Middle East. He was there a couple of
months and had been the guest of several different Arab families. He reported
having been very well treated and very well received by everyone that he met
there. But it was only later, when he returned home, that he became aware of
the intense resentment his hosts held for Americans and our unwelcome
involvement in their Middle Eastern affairs. The journalist wrote of feeling
somewhat bewildered, if not deceived, by the large discrepancy between his
treatment while in the Middle East and the hostile attitude that he learned
about later. He labeled this behavior hypocritical. When I reached the end of
the article, I was reminded of a phrase spoken often by my mother.
"Sandra," she says to me, "respeta tu casa y a todos los que
eatran err ella, trata a tus enemigos asi cotno a tus amigos. "
This is an Arabic proverb, spoken in Spanish, and roughly it translates
into "Respect your home and all who enter it, treating even an enemy as a
friend." This is a philosophy that I have heard often in my home. With
this in mind, it seemed to me that the treatment the American journalist
received while in the Middle East was not hypocritical behavior on the part of
his hosts. Rather, it was an act of respect for their guest, for themselves,
and for their home--indeed, a behavior very typical of the Arabic culture.
Since having read that article several years ago I have become much more
aware of how my life is different because of having a mother who is of
Palestinian origin but was born and raised in the Central American country of
El Salvador.
One of the most obvious differences is that I was raised
bilingually--speaking both Spanish and English. In fact, my first words were in
Spanish. Growing up speaking two languages has been both an advantage and a
disadvantage for me. One clear advantage is that I received straight A's in my
Spanish class at Immaculate Conception High School. Certainly, traveling has
been made much easier. During visits to Spain, Mexico, and some of the Central
American countries, it has been my experience that people are much more open
and much more receptive if you can speak their language. In addition, the
subtleties of a culture are easier to grasp and much easier to appreciate.
I hope that knowing a second language will continue to be an asset for
me in the future. I am currently pursuing a career in medicine. Perhaps by
knowing Spanish I can broaden the area in which I can work and increase the
number of people that I might reach.
Now one of the disadvantages of growing up bilingually is that I picked
up my mother's accent as well as her language. I must have been about four
years old before I realized that our feathered friends in the trees are called
"birds" not "beers" and that, in fact, we had a
"birdbath" in our back yard, not a "beerbath."
Family reunions also tend to be Confusing around my home. Most of my
relatives speak either Spanish, English, or Arabic, but rarely any combination
of the three. So, as a result, deep and involved conversations are almost
impossible. But with a little nodding and smiling, I have found that there
really is no language barrier among family and friends.
In all, I must say that being exposed to three very different
cultures--Latin, Arabic, and American--has been rewarding for me and has made a
difference even in the music I enjoy and the food I eat. It is not unusual in
my house to sit down to a meal made up of stuffed grape leaves and refried
beans and all topped off with apple pie for dessert.
I am fortunate in having had the opportunity to view more closely what
makes Arabic and Latin cultures unique. By understanding and appreciating them
I have been able to better understand and appreciate my own American culture.
In closing just let me add some words you often hear spoken in my home--adios
and allak konn ma 'eck--goodbye, and may God go with you.
* * * * *
2
UNTITLED
Siok
Tan
Good
morning, classmates. My name is Siok Tan. I am an international student from
Temasek. You don't know my country by that name, however. You know it by the
name Singapore. My purpose this morning is to tell you interesting details
about my country because I want to help break an American student stereotype
that everyone from Asia like the Japanese. Don't misunderstand my idea. I like
the Japanese, and this idea of mine does not attack the Japanese people. But
Singapore is different.
My
country is a small island country in Southeast Asia. It is about as big as the
city of Chicago. It is only one-fifth as big as your smallest state, Rhode
Island. And in fact when you come to my country, you think you are coming to a
large United States city. I will tell you where we are located, some brief
facts about our history, and interesting ideas about our economy.
When
you look on your map, you will find Singapore just at the southern tip of the Malaysian
Peninsula. (Points to map) Right here. We are separated from this big island of
Sumat by the straight of Malacca. You can see that we're close to Borneo, Viet
Nam, Thailand and not far from Sri Lanka and India. This tells you about our
population and our culture. We are about three million people, including
Chinese, Indian, Malay, and others. We have four official languages--Chinese,
English, Malay, and Tamil. And we get along great.
Singapore
has an ancient history, but we are a new nation. In fact, we didn't become an
independent country until 1965. Before that, we were part of Malaysia for two
years. From 1824 until then, we were controlled by Great Britain. Now we are
proud to be an independent republic.
In
ancient times, Singapore was known as Temasek. It is a Japanese word that means
"sea." We live on a tiny island surrounded by the sea. In fact,
Singapore was destroyed at the end of the fourth century by the sea. As the
saying goes, Temasek was not discovered again until the eleventh century A.D.
Prince Nila Utama landed on the island, and he saw a strange looking animal.
Later, he learned that the animal was a lion, so he named the island Singapore,
which is from two words. Singa means
lion, and Pura means city.
To
tell you about our economy, Singapore is one of the twenty richest countries in
the world today. This is because of many factors. For example, Singapore has a
literacy rate of about 90 percent. And we have always been a financial center
in the region, since we have had a stable political environment. Our government
has worked hard to make Singapore a place to attract big banks from around the
world. Our seaport is the world's busiest seaport. Did you know that? And also,
we have only small unemployment 1.7 percent. So you can see that we have a very
strong economy. In fact, we're so busy that Singapore has three hotels that
were voted to be among the top ten business hotels in the world. This was a
study by a British publication called Business Traveller.
So,
in conclusion, I have explained to you our history and our economic background
and where Singapore is located. I am proud of my country and my people.
So
in conclusion, I invite you to come to Singapore for a visit. Thank you.
STUDENT
EVALUATION FORM
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Attention-getter
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credibility
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Presented a central idea
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body
Body
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recognize
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or illustrated
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Transitions present
& effective
Conclusion
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Refocused on the
central idea
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Closing effective
Delivery
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