Blog 4: Cause and effect

     My teacher in history had masters for history but couldn't even answer a simple question: "what sets Filipino culture different from the rest?" Its not her fault. If you would look it up in the history books, you couldn't find an answer which is not debatable. So I began to wonder is there really a cultural identity for us Filipinos?
     I strongly believe that in order for us to know more about our cultural identity we must study the history of it. We must trace back its roots from our fore fathers. But what good does it bring us when our approach of studying history is obsolete, I would even go as far as saying it is wrong. One major problem of our history and ultimately our cultural identity is that, we don't have written records or physical evidences that could prove that we have one. As a result, people would assume that the most significant part of our history is the Spanish colonization. For in this period written accounts about the Philippines were created but what about our civilization before the colonization.
     We can go and try to unlock the secrets of who we are, but most people wouldn't care and funding allocated for the said goal are often pulled out, historians who are really willing to seek answers often lose hope. Most of us can't really tell what a Filipino is, for we know most of what we say our 'cultural identity' is borrowed from different races. A simple question like, "what is the best Filipino dish?" Can be a good test question whether we really have our cultural identity. We could give answers without knowing that the whole thing, is borrowed from the traders and colonizers. An answer like 'lechon, pancit, iskabitse, halang-halang, and kinilaw are all debatable. Lechon and iskabetsi came from the Spaniards, it quite obvious from the way we call those dishes. Halang-halang is similar to a dish in thailand. Kinilaw is also present in japan but with a different name.
     Ultimately, we have blurred the image of a true Filipino. Because of our tendency to absorb and take-in whatever is being thrown at us, we forgot who we really are. Neglecting our history and focusing more on technological advancements and our ranking in the nations were not really as important as knowing who we really are.

Blog 3: Analysis

     Saw this ad in the newspaper its about a coffee and I am pretty much convinced by it. They have this catch phrase that goes "Stronger taste for a bolder you." The advertiser wants us to believe that this is the coffee for those people who works hard. Working hard in a sense that they participate, take risk and become more active in their jobs. As a matter of fact when dealing with situations as to making decisions, taking risk and becoming more active requires a lot of energy. In a life which you are pretty much pressured and stressed out, something as simple as a cup of coffee can help. There's just something in it that makes your day complete and I hope most of it is not in the caffeine. But I am not saying we should only buy 'Great Taste Coffee'. No, we should definitely try different brands. The secret to a great coffee is in the beans, that is one information I got from this ad. I don't think the brand being advertised here has those kinds of beans. 'Kopiko' is what I prefer, but you don't need to copy me go ahead and drink different brands of coffee. We must respect preference, I know most people like 'Nescafe'. The ad did a good job convincing his readers, giving good opinion as to how a cup of coffee can help most of the people. In the end, they didn't supply enough information supporting their products as the best. But I am pretty much convinced that a cup of coffee can help you through your day.

Blog 2

     Language is a tool in which people communicate, but what separates this tool from all the rest is its capability to evolve, change and adapt to the ever changing world. Through this changes, the slang was born as a supplement to the terms that our world would require. In order to understand the slang better, we must take into account that the English slang cannot stand on its own without the foundation of its formal descendant, giving them more similarities than differences. Take for example these two sentences: "Got to catch them all" and "Gotta catch 'em all." Which one would be more convenient to use? I believe the second one would be. But even if the slang makes the sentences shorter, fluid, fun and light. It still owes its respect to the classical way of saying and writing things. If we look close enough we could see that everything is the same. The slang is technically a modification of the classic, rigid, and formal way of saying and writing things. Convenient as it may seem, it still pose a big problem for the different users of the English language. The problem is that it would create a barrier between people of different age, race, and culture. For the modification applied to a certain slang wouldn't agree to all the other modifications that other people enforce. With so many differences and similarities between the two, one factor supersedes all of them. This factor is the personal preference of the speaker or writer. Ultimately, the English language offers a wide range of diversities and similarities so that the user could choose between these and modify the language to his own preference, even if a barrier would be created.

Blog 1

     There are always changes in life, yet some things remain to stay as it is. One good example, would be the English language. It has undergone many changes after being handed down from generations to generations. Until there was such a time that it became so diverse that people can be segregated into different social clusters by just listening to the way they say. But such an idea that people are divided into different groups through the way they talk is very judgmental and prejudice.

     The media, harmless as it seems, is injecting images and ideals into our mind in an inconspicuous and unnoticeable way. Take for example the cartoon "Totally Spies," to be specific let us focus our attention to a character named Clover. The animator gave her the following characteristics: blonde, model-like body structure, fashionable, dumb and has an accent that rapes the word 'totally'. Funny as she is in the cartoon, I think its kinda stereotypical and unjust giving those quality to a character like her. Once in a while I try to imitate some accents that different people use, so far I can imitate the Russian-American, Chinese-American, British, Indian-American, Arabian-American and Japanese-American accents. One accent in which I do 'overkills' is the accent of the stereotypical dumb blondes. Its funny, has a homosexual touch to it, and most people would enjoy seeing me do it. It may seem to be a harmless joke but in reality it instills an image to the people's mind that blondes are dumb and simple minded persons, still I do it otherwise I just cant help it. As far as I can remember this is not the only time that I did this kind of thing. There was this one time when I was really bored at home, like totally bored. So I decided to turn on the PC and went to this site called Omegle, its a site where you can chat to random strangers. I kept disconnecting with my partners, until I had a partner whose webcam  is covered. I cant see them but they can certainly see me. My partner had her microphone on so we communicated through it. As time went by I convinced my partner to show themselves. Then this two blond female appeared in the screen just as I imagined them in my mind.

     Guilty as I might sound, we still need to keep an open mind and try to avoid judging people by the way they talk. Not only on the way they talk but also their appearance.