Faith Week 1: Identity Crisis!

 Hola Amigos!  By Faith Tong      Currently this school year I'm taking Spanish 3 (kind of regret it) and I've learned tricks here and there to help me remember vocabulary and grammar rules better. While head empty thinking about what to write for this week's blog post, I thought about how I have a Spanish test this Friday and how I'm supposed to pass with an A...Then I made the realization that I could talk about my experience in Spanish 3 in relation to my memory (how smart of me).       At first when I started taking Spanish 1, I thought it would be an easier language since it's similar to English in numerous ways, and I was half right on that assumption. To prove myself right, I decided to search it up and turns out, Spanish is one of the seven easiest languages to learn according to Jumpspeak. Apparently "everything from writing, grammar, and speaking will come more naturally to the English speaker because of the similar rules, structure...

    Forgetful Faith :D By Faith Tong  Do you guys ever find yourselves feeling stressed as you try to remember that one word that you want to write on a paper or timed write? Well, I can say that I have experienced this way too many times, and that's not a good thing. Whenever I am writing a paper or speed-running a timed write, there's always that one word I forget and it ruins my entire train of thought. Then I become extremely focused to desperately remember that one word, and depending on my brain that day, I either surprisingly remember it or sadly forget it forever.      After this realization, I searched up my question to see if it could be proved by research, and indeed, it is! According to Universe of Memory, "a regularity of exposure to vocabulary can help us remember basic greetings and vocabulary". Most of us are usually exposed to vocabulary we use on a daily basis or use for texting or other forms of communication. Thus, we are less exposed to...

 a psychology lesson for you :)  Faith Tong      I would of never imagined myself writing a blog post about psychology! Psychology is a very interesting topic and now I’m gonna be an expert today to explain to you how the different types of memories we have can affect the way we speak or express ourselves.      Did you know that we have various memory parts that help us to remember information? The two main parts of memory that correlate with language are sensory and explicit memory. Sensory memory is actually divided into two smaller sections: echoic and iconic memory. Echoic memory is when you use listening to remember information while iconic memory is using observation to remember information. The way we perceive others expression while speaking can help determine the way we speak, and affect the way we use language.      Similarly, explicit memory is also known as “declarative memory”, where you have to say the information you ...

Music is super cool :D  by Faith Tong       Unfortunately, I have run out of brain cells to think about how language and power relate. So guess what? I decided to ask my mom for help! She explained to me that  language can be expressed through music, where through your music you can communicate your emotions and connect with people.  So I guess this is going to be what my blog is about for today! I have realized my biggest mistake is not asking my mom to help me on blog posts...      Not going to lie, I kind of expected my mom to relate language's power with music already. To give you some background information, my mom has always been interested in music since she was young. She started learning piano at only 3 years old (I know, shocking) and basically plays till this day. In addition, she loves singing so I guess that's why music was such an easy topic for her to relate to.      Anyways, back to how language c...

 the whole "journaling every morning" trend by Faith Tong      There was a period of time when my whole TikTok page was filled with repetitive videos of journaling and self care. It was honestly probably one of the most beneficial and positive trends on social media. I would scroll through videos and take a glimpse into every person's morning routine. One thing they all had in common was journaling. This got me curious about how journaling was helping people improve their day to day lives.      Of course, I had to pull up the good old ordinary definition of journaling. According to Merriam-Webster, journaling is a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use. On the other hand, the journaling trend online is used more for self-affirmations, goals, and gratitude. For example, most people would write down the things that would strengthen them mentally. This could include imprinting powerful words such as "I am enough",...

 Self Esteem Go Boom by Faith Tong     Do you guys every have those types of friends that just take jokes a bit too far? Sometimes I start to question whether they are joking or it's more of a personal attack. Anyways, I have noticed the differences between the friends who make the jokes versus the friends who take in the joke. I will be sharing my very important (emphasis on important) observations that lead to my conclusion of correlation between self esteem and jokes.      In this observation, I was mainly the bystander, kind of like Nick  Caraway (just had to use a Great Gatsby reference).   I first began to observe the two friends' characteristics and habits. I noticed how (let's called them Friend 1) Friend 1 loves to crack jokes all the time and laugh everything off. They did not care what others had to say about them and displayed self confidence. On the other hand, (let's call them Friend 2) Friend 2 was the one who was the one receiving ...

 Faith Tong- Week 1 language = universal     To be honest I never really noticed how big of an impact language was in my life. I kind of always took language for granted, as if it was just something that came naturally to me. But ever since I started learning Spanish, I realized that learning languages can be difficult but also fun since you get to explore the different aspects and cultures a language brings together. I found an article from Stanford written by Shashkevich that talked about the power of language and how it shaped people and culture.      Shashkevich starts off by emphasizing how important language is, saying, “Language is the primary tool for expression and communication.” Although we are also taught to write and read in our everyday lives, we use language the most to communicate with friends, teachers, and family. I guess you could say language is what brings people together and help us understand one another, which is why it is so cr...

 Faith Tong Week 8 Land of the Freeee Since I wasn't really sure what to write about for this blog post, I searched up interesting facts about America and I found something quite shocking. Apparently, the White House was built by slaves? When America is called the Land of the Free? This is starting to sound a lot like hypocrisy, which I have come to a realization America does quite often throughout its history.  (my face after realizing slaves really built the white house) It all started when the government officials realized they needed workers to build the White House. So they decided to ask workers in Europe to help them build the White House. Since not enough workers from Europe came, the government officials decided to ask enslaved and free African Americans to help build the White House for them. So picture this: a small amount of European workers alongside a majority amount of African-American workers. Is that really "The Land of the Free"? Not only did they help b...

   Freedom Is Given And Taken Away? Faith Tong   This year in history, my teacher really discussed more in depth about the harms and cruelties the Native Americans had gone through. It led me to ponder this question: How can America be considered a country of freedom when we stole it from another group of people and stripped them of their culture and heritage? The contradictory nature that America has truly amuses me but is also disappointing at the same time.      The president behind all these actions is known as Andrew Jackson. He’s also the person I wanted to research more in depth for the Person of American Significance project. Jackson was the one who allowed open prejudice against Native Americans, signing laws here and there to prevent the Native Americans from living their way of life peacefully and constantly used violence to suppress and drown out Native Americans’ voice. I believe the government also backed him up on it, responding with full sca...

Week 1- How Influential Language Is By Faith Tong Speaking English is normalized in America, since it’s one of the standard principles to learn. I always just accepted it as a fact even though I did not always like speaking English when I was little. Through the article called “Do You Speak American?” I realized the effects language has on not only me but probably everyone else in America. Language is much more important and influential than I thought it would be. Someone’s level and ability to speak English can affect how they’re treated by peers, teachers, bosses, coworkers, etc.  Do You Speak American? Something that stood out to me was when the author stated, “Language can separate insiders from outsiders.” I thought to myself, who are the insiders and outsiders? Are the insiders the Americans who have always been here, and immigrants such as my family and I are outsiders? If so, it now makes sense to my 5-year-old self. I always felt like I didn’t quite belong here, in Fremont...

Faith Tong Week 4: Identity in Materialistic Things     A thought came to my head one day, about how much I care about what I have. Do I have the latest iPhone? Are my clothes in trend? What do I not have that others' have? All these ideas are somehow built into my mindset, telling me that I need all of these "things" to be normal or even accepted. I was really curious if this was an psychological kind of need so I found an article about "The Psychology Of Stuff And Things".  psychology of stuff and things :0 In this article, the author tells us that "materialism peaked at middle adolescence (I'm assuming teenagers) just when self esteem tended to be lowest". This caught my attention, which was ironic since I am a teenager myself and hear about the issue of low self esteem a lot on social media. I never looked at self esteem as something that could be linked to materialism, so this was really eye-opening. I always assumed people liked buying stuff ...

 Faith Tong Week 3: How does race affect our identity?  Ever since the coronavirus breakout, I have seen a lot of articles and news reporting of Asian hate and violence, especially targeting the elderly. At first, I tried to ignore it because it deeply upset me and brought back some unpleasant memories with racism. But as I continued to see the same Asian hate and violence news everyday, I couldn’t help but read more about it and try to find out the cause behind it all.  Asian Hate and Violence This article explains Asian hate and violence really well, and it just caused me to rethink race, identity, and environment. Since I grew up in Fremont, I would technically be considered an “American” but I never really felt like I fit in ever since I was little. My classmates would make fun of how my lunch smelled, and I remember feeling really ashamed for just eating my own culture’s food. I would try to “americanize” myself just to fit in with the rest of the kids. Many of my cl...

 Faith Week 2: Does School Affect Our Identity?  Maybe it’s a surprise or not, but I have never really complained about school until middle and high school. School used to be “fun” for me. I enjoyed the mini breaks and the feeling of wind blown in my face as I bolted across the playgrounds, my voice echoing laughter that joined the union of laughter of everyone around me. There were no toxic friendships, everything was pure. There was no feeling of pressure or comparison of grades, every score was accepted among peers. The teachers were caring and engaging, allowing us to learn and flourish. It was perfect. But perfect things don’t last forever, do they?  All of a sudden, I was pushed into a new, social environment, where everything I did mattered. The friends I made determined my social stance in school. The scores I got affected the way I was viewed by my peers. The teachers had too many periods to care enough for anyone. That’s when I realized, school wasn’t fun a...

Faith Week One: Identity Crisis!  Identity is like a fleeting reflection, something I can never quite grasp a hold of. I have always struggled with holding true to my identity and who I am as a person. I never really touched base with having an identity moment very vividly because my days were always filled with school, homework, and friends. I never really thought or cared about sitting down and actually thinking about how I am as a person, what I identify as, who am I to other, and etc. until last year. During quarantine, the things I didn't want to face or remember began to unravel in front of me whenever I was still (not busy). I was lost in the midst of trying to find myself through all the emotions and thoughts. That's when I realized how important identity is. Identity defines us as a person and it brings purpose, confidence, and security into one's life. Trying to untangle all the beliefs and words that echoed in my head took time and patience. It was like solving a...