Life And Christ Essays - Chitto Harjo, Muscogee People,

Life And Christ In 1994 my Pa (Grandfather) died and in 1995 my Dad died and now just last month my other Grandfather died. When my Pa died I lost Faith in God for a day or to because I thought God did it for some bad reason or the other. When my other Grandfather died nothing affected me I guess because I didn't know him that well but it did bring back memories of my father dying and another thing was that when we were at the site of the grave my Grandfather was being buried right next to my Dad and they set up all the Chairs where my Dad's grave was and hid it. It may not seem like a big deal to most people but it had affected me. When my Dad died I lost faith more than any other time because he was so close to me he was sick with cancer and he still made time to play with me. The times I remember most was when he would sit in his recliner chair and watch T.V. and during the commercials we would throw a miniature Nerf football back and forth. Another time would be when it was lighting and thundere d outside in the middle of the night I would wake up immediately to go see my father sitting on the couch and I would go sit next to him because I was scared of thunderstorms. He was scared of thunderstorms too; I didn't know this till after he died, and I always went in there so I wouldn't be scared of the rain. When I found out he was scared of thunderstorms it made me think that we were protecting each other from the same fear. I think that is something that only happed because God was with us both. When he was in the Hospital a thunderstorm had started and he called the nurse in to open the curtains for him so he could watch and during the storm he said he saw an Angel and after that he was no longer afraid of thunderstorms. When I found out he had died I just came back from SeaWorld. After that I had lost Faith in God and stop praying. I let myself think about what had happened and realized that he had so many problems with his body that I was glad God took him into Heaven So h e would have a better life. I asked God to help me with my recent problems by praying to him and one to two years later I met Joe, my stepfather, he has help me to take care of these problems, learn about the Bible, My school problems, and much, much more, he also took over the job my dad had. I probably wouldn't have Joe here right now if it weren't for God. I think God put him here to help mold me. Religion Essays

Describe situations when your use of spoken English Essays

Describe situations when your use of spoken English Essays Describe situations when your use of spoken English has caused some problems for you. Either the person you were speaking to didnt understand, got the wrong message or may have even become offended by what you said (though this was not your intention). Analyse the situation and explain why communication broke down. You will need to reflect on your performance in light of what the literature says about pitfalls in learning to speak English as a second language. People live in the world of communication. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (Moore, 1997), communication is defined as, The activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information. The significance of communication can be found within the context of a human existing as a social being. As a human being manages his or her life in the course of the interaction between other members of the entire society, communication is inevitable. Communication occurs through the medium of a language and it is presented in two different forms which are written and spoken (Brown & Yule, 1983: 1-10). The importance of spoken performance of a language is becoming more prominent over the written performance capability. It is because the ability to speak a language reflects a persons personality, self image, knowledge of the world, ability to reason, skill to express thoughts in real-time (Luoma, 2004: ix). These days, due to the global trend of internation alisation, the ability to communicate in English is needed as an essential skill. Whenever the international exchange happens, the use of spoken English entails. However, it is not always an easy task for people who use English as a second language to be able to speak to the level of a native speaker. They have to perfectly understand the sound system of English, have almost instant access to proper vocabulary and be able to place words together intelligibly without hesitation. Moreover, they also have to perceive what is being said to them and need to be able to respond appropriately to acquire amiable relations or to accomplish their communicative goals (Luoma, 2004: ix). Therefore, non-native English speakers encounter these barriers and they are subject to make mistakes often. In relation to this matter, this essay argues that there are socio-cultural factors as well as linguistic factors that affect non-native speakers communication in English. It provides analysis of several d ifferent situations when the use of spoken English has generated miscommunication problems in regards to authors personal experience. Based upon the analysis of different situations, this essay also explores the reason for the miscommunication in relation to the difficulties in learning to speak English as a second language. There are a number of elements that facilitate or impede successful spoken communication. They can be divided in two types in general. One is linguistic factor and the other is socio-cultural factor. The first type commonly refers to the elements of English as a language itself, which include the grammar, vocabulary, and sound systems (Robinett, 1978: 3-140). The latter part, which is cultural aspects, includes history and worldview (ideology), socialisation, non-verbal communication, and social organisation (Scollon & Scollon, 1995). In addition, according to Barraja-Rohan (2003: 101-15), it is argued that a number of socio-cultural elements such as verbosity (including overlaps and silence), approaches to interpersonal relationships (including proxemics, greetings, compliments and self-deprecation and small talk), and politeness (including directness and indirectness) may affect communication. In short, fluent English speaking becomes possible when the speaker is completely aware o f not only the linguistic aspect of the language, but also the social and cultural context that the language is used. Thus, most of the ESL learners, who are not accustomed to English-speaking environment, are frequently challenged with English communication. Reflecting on my personal experience, there were many occasions that caused embarrassment and puzzlement from imperfect command of English. First of all, there were numerous cases generated from insufficient knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. For example, there was a problematic situation when I first travelled the United States several years ago. During the conversation with the Immigration Office personnel to check the visa, he questioned the purpose of the visit. He was asking, Are you here for a