Engkent's Mother's English

Engkent's mother does not want to learn English because she does not find it necessary.  I think it is extremely necessary for her to learn English because Engkent probably is not always going to live with her.  Without Engkent around she would not always have someone there to translate for her.  This is why it is necessary for her to learn English.  The benefits of learning English are to be able to understand everyone around you and she would not have to depend on anyone to translate for her anymore.  The limitations for Engkent's mother learning English are she would not use her Chinese language as much anymore.  Also she might have a hard time learning English due to the fact that she does not think it is necessary, so she is not going to try as hard.

Literacy

Literacy can be decribed as how much someone knows about a certain thing. Being literate or illiterate all depends on where you are from and how you were raised. Gender, class, and race also play a big part in being literate or illiterate. Such as i would be decribed as being literate in school, but illiterate with street smarts. Literacy is important to me and i tend to try and become more literate with everything around me. Becoming more literate makes me feel like a smarter person in general. But being illiterate about something does not make you dumb. It just expains a little about where you came from and how you grew up, because that plays a big role in how literate a person is.

Understanding Language

In the book Mercury Reader Richardson explained many different meanings of language and what they meant to her. I really liked how she broke things down to explain her feelings so well. Some of her personal experiences relate to me a lot. Such as I went to a high school where the majority of the students were African American and i was treated the was Romelda was. A lot of the other students tried to say i thought i was better than them, but that's not the type of person I am. My mother always told me that everyone was equal and to treat people the way I wanted to be treated. So i do not look at different races, class, or gender as less than me. Also with Richardson's experience with sexism, when someone yells a comment of "Hey baby" I feel disgusted. I think it is a way of someone trying to get into your pants, or just a pervert trying to have sex with me. Richardson has a very unique way of looking at things and I think it makes her more aware of her surroundings and more intelligent.

Where im From

I am from late night mac & cheese meals.
I am from running around bare foot.
I am from the long sunny days on the beach.
I am from the long dirt roads within the woods.
I am from the smell of Li lacks in the morning.
I am from fried potatoes for breakfast.
I am from big Thanks Giving dinners.
I am from cuddling with my dog Blue.
I am from sitting around the bomb fire on dark nights.
From the small block of gossipers.
I am from shopping at Twelve Oaks.
I am from a family of supporters.
I am from eating rocky road ice cream.

Introduction

My name is Tiffany and i am a freshman at western michigan university.  Im 18 years old and have three sisters and one dog.  I am from Warren but currently live on campus in Kalamazoo.  I love to go to the beach and hang out with my friends and family.