Blog Assignment #7

One of the claims with reason in the essay The Publication of Your Personal Profile is “Although Facebook and MySpace users may restrict their profiles to hide personal information that they do not want others to see, many private aspects of these profiles may still be accessed.”, which means they should not rely on restricting their profiles to hide personal information because these profiles can still be easily accessed. The writer mentioned a computer technician gained access to private pictures very easily. The writer also stated that a security company viewed social networks such as Facebook and MySpace not reliable to protect private profile information. I think the essay is persuasive because the writer pointed two appropriate examples. The opinion of social networks aren’t reliable comes from a skillful technician and a professional security company. They are more familiar to network. Thus their opinions are more persuasive than that of ordinary people. Though the writer also has some good things to say about Facebook from her own experience, the writer said she enjoys just relaxing and talking to her friends on Facebook after a hard day of classes. So even though there is all these worries about personal information being scrutinized, people still continue to enjoy facebook regardless of the risks.

Blog Assignment #6

In the essay A Way With Words, or Away With Words, the writer uses the quote in the sentence “Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University in Washington D.C., notes, “data suggests that when teenagers transition to college, they naturally shed some of their adolescent linguistic ways in favor of more formal writing conventions” (Baron 31).” The writer uses this quote to support the point that the bad writing habits because of texting are short-lived. The writer presents their research material in this way because using sources like professors provides legitimate.

The writer also uses the paraphrase “Some scholars have noted that the popularity of txt can recall poetic examples of non-standard spelling (Shortis).” The writer uses this paraphrase to present their research by using it to start and transition into a new idea in the essay. It supports the overall meaning of the essay by stating that writers of the past have changed the English language in their writings. The writer refers to people such as Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare and their contributions to the English language. That’s how the writer uses this quote and paraphrase to present their research and contribute to the meaning of the essay.

Blog Assignment #5

Since the early 19th century, westerner’s started the invasion of China. The invasion came in different forms, such as military, economic and even religious. Chinese suffered a lot. However, the westerners think differently. Some think this invasion is necessary and help Qing dynasty to develop economic and capitalism. They gave people job to work in the factory. The winners may admit these wars are started by them, but they would claim these invasions are unavoidable. They think these wars help open the door of economic development in China and brought the true civilization.
However, they didn’t realize that such change is painful because it is forced. If given enough time, Qing dynasty would develop capitalism by its own and become a capitalism country like most of the western countries. It is the invasion that disturbed the pace. Thus result an incomplete development in industry of China. Western winners also claimed that they introduce the glory of God to China. However, the truth was many people were forced to build the churches.
In fact, both opinions from most Chinese history scholars and westerners are partially true. However, some western views still sounds aggressive to me. History is fact, but people may explain it in different ways.

Blog Assignment #4 PART 2

Scrutiny

n

close or minute examination.

a searching look

The election results will undergo close scrutiny.

Refute

vb

T0 prove (a statement, theory, charge, etc) of (a person) to be false or incorrect

To deny (a claim, charge, allegation, etc)

You can easily refute his argument.

Consensus

N

Agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole

What is the consensus of opinion?

Blog Assignment #4 PART 1

Anyone needs time to fit in, Liu is not an exception. Living in an alien world is difficult for most of the foreigners, one always feels lonely. I feel the same way sometimes, especially when I was eating alone in the dining hall. It seems everyone around me is fine. They are sitting in pairs or in a group, talking laughing and having fun, except for me. Sometimes I feel I am in the desert of loneliness. That’s time I need to talk to a Chinese student to get rid of the endless feeling of loneliness. And it feels so good to know that they are going through the same process as I do. Although I am aware that I need to spend more time with American, I still need to be with Chinese to relax.

I completely understand Liu’s need to be with other Chinese, even if they never meet before. When I saw an Asian student on the street, I had the eager to talk to him. Because I assume he is just like me having some troubles as an international student. And I certainly have more common with him than other American students. In this way, we can have more depth conversations and more likely to be friends with each other.

Blog Assignment #3

There are many differences between Chinese and American in nonverbal communication. The most obvious difference is eye contact. In America, if one avoid eye contact while speaking, he may considered as dishonest or tries to hide the true facts. When I was preparing the interview with the American officer in order to get the VISA, I was told to look straight into officer's eyes, even without blinking. However, in China, it is rude to stare at people, especially to elder. Another difference is the body space. The driver of the school bus won't pick up more passengers if there is no more space on the bus. While in China, the driver always want to pick up as many passengers as possible, even it is already crowed. People may feel they are pressed as a piece of photo. In fact, Chinese people want space too, but due to the overpopulation problem, there are just not enough room for everyone. Another interesting thing I found out is gesture in counting the number. Chinese can use one hand to count the number from one to ten, but Americans have to do it with both hands. That's is what I find about differences between Chinese and American in nonverbal communication so far.

Blog assignment 2: option 2

Compared to the American, Chinese people are not open at showing their personal sorrows and joys. I remember when Olympic committee announced that Beijing will be the host of 2008 Olympics games, people in Tiananmen Square jumped to celebrate. They drove their car to the city center. The streets were blocked by joyful people, who had gathered together to celebrate this historical event. That’s probably the craziest celebration I have ever seen in China. However, compared to the American, especially the youth, this is probably just like any regular celebration. Americans seem to cheer or shout for every joyful moment.

Chinese people tend to hide their feelings, especially their negative emotion. There is an old saying “A man doesn’t cry easily, even he has sorrow in his heart.” Actually, people who can hide their feelings are considered as desirable, especially in ancient China. Also, Chinese people want to leave a good first impression on other people, that is, they want others to think that they are optimistic.

The Chinese don’t demonstrate their affection for others in public. It surprise me when I realize that people shake hands the first time they meet and say “Nice to meet you” to each other in America. Also, two people can hug each other even though they only knew each other for two days. As far as I remember, my parents hugged me once just before the time I’m about to leave for America. So compared to Americans, Chinese people tend to hiding their feelings.

Response to “Mother tongue”

After reading the article “Mother Tongue” written by Amy Tan, I begin to realize the different languages used in my daily life. In my opinion, language may vary when speaking to different generations, used in formal or casual situations or to express meaning more directly.This is especially true when comparing English to Chinese.

The language used among my peers is different from another generation in various ways. First, we use English more. For example, when I meet a friend, I say "Hi" to them, and say "Bye" when I'm leaving. That's pretty much the same here in America. However, I can never imagine my parents say that to their colleagues. Another difference is that we use lots of abbreviation, those words often come from Internet chatting, for example, BTW means “by the way”, B4 means “before”. Youth use numbers to express our thoughts too; some boys may write the number 131421 to his girlfriend, which means love you forever, because the pronunciation is similar to that in Chinese. Again, I guess my parents will never understand that.
As for the languages I use in formal situation, basically are the same languages I use in my daily life. But since the formal speech usually occurs when I'm reporting to my teachers and classmates, I may choose to use more political words, such as harmonious society, environmental protection. These words can often be heard on the news, using these words can make my report sounds more advanced and convincing.

Since I am in American now, I become to realize the difference between English and Chinese in conveying meaning. Some say language is power because it carries the thoughts of people. Since English is more direct than Chinese, I may form a more outgoing characteristic during my staying here. For example, when speaking, Chinese tend to be reserved. They always say half of the sentence, and leave the other half for listeners to guess, hoping they will know the meaning naturally by themselves. However, when I live in this English speaking environment, I use English to think more. That is, I choose to express my entire feeling in English. For example, if I dislike something, I will just say the word “hate”, but I never use the Chinese character before. This example shows that English is more direct than Chinese. Overall, language use differences reflect differences between cultures.

Self Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Dichen Liu. You can call me Dana. Actually, the name is given by my new friends on my floor. I came from Beijing, the capital city of China. It is really exciting for me to study in this brand new environment. My major is business undeclared right now, so I have time to figure out what I am really want to be in the future, but I guess is something about accounting or operation management. I'm here to experience in a different culture, but surprisingly, I just find out it is a great way to learn something more about my own culture as well. Immersed in another culture will give me a new view about the world. I hope to make friends with all of you and enjoy my college life.