Interesting Article on Justifying Culture

Alain de Botton, a contemporary writer and philosopher, writes in The Guardian about justifying our views of culture.

A Point of View: Justifying Culture

Annotating a text (Communication and Cultural course)

Look: It is a leaflet about AQA Communication and Culture. My first impression is this leaflet seems very serious and attractive. The image makes people feel comfortable and the red color fans attract people’s attention.

Read: This leaflet sends by the AQA’s Company and the register is very formal. The purpose is to promote the Communication and Culture course. It says to the teachers and students who want to come and join the Communication and Culture course! The mode of address is to inform people there is a course that is about communication and Culture. I think the leaflet will appear in school’s notice board, education magazines and newspapers. The leaflet doesn’t have too many words. There is only “Communication and Culture” which is in white color type in the middle part of the leaflet. Although some words are in the same size with “Communication and Culture”, they are more difficult to see. Also, there are some small words types in the leaflet, but seems they are not so important. Therefore, I think the topic of this leaflet is about the Communication and Culture course.

Explore/Analysis: There are images and words in the leaflet. Although the image doesn’t have any sharp color on it, some people are holding the red fans, I think this mean that to learn different culture, like the Chinese culture, because red fans are famous in China. Both of the image and words are giving the topic of the communication and culture course.

Review: I think the people that design this leaflet should put more colors on the image. If not, we may only notice the “Communication and Culture” in the middle, but not also the image!

'Be a Loser'

'Be a Loser'

                

In the poster, we can see the twisted meaning. Generally, the meaning of ‘Loser’ is negative. But, in this text, Loser was used in a different way to encourage people to lose your weight if you have Special K cereal. The color of font in the text is red. Basically, the color of symbol of Special K is red. Probably, it is also used to promote to burn your fat behind meaning.

The main image of this poster is the attractive woman, who looks glamorous and healthy. Through this image, it is appealed to attract people to consume the product. And the contents in this poster provide additional suggestions how you can improve your diet.

When we look at this poster at the first time, we can know the purpose of this poster is advertisement to promote sales. And we can usually see this poster in magazine, newspaper, or printed media. Although the text’s contents are not formal because of twisted metaphor, via this poster, we can be inspired by message directly.

This poster’s syntagm is the woman with attractive body. Our first impression of it is sexy, healthy, attractiveness, and stereotype of beauty of women. This text triggers women who care about appearance.

What I felt the first impression of this poster is typical and stereotype. There are many advertisements to use women’s body to appeal their products. For example, when we have a look at cosmetics products, most images have a beautiful woman who has a perfect makeup, smile, body like icon of Greek goddess. Although it is typical and old way to show product’s image, it is still effective. I think that in this poster, the image of woman attracts people’s attention and provide fantasy that you can be like this woman if you have this. It is classic but it is still working.    

Text No.6 -Celia Chan

Look: an attractive text- with different colour of fibers mixing together in the background. A white and large font size of ‘ Culture’ in the middle. 

What is it? It’s a poster saying ‘ Here is holding a exhibition about different culture’ to the people who are interested in culture. It wants us to visit and have a look of the exhibition. The sender is the council.

 

Read: A question is in the middle of the poster. Different colors of fibers are the background. However, some of the colours are very similar/same, like purple, yellow and green. Colour is clearly very bright and sharp.

 

Explore: the dominant signifiers are the words and the fibers.  

The meaning of the colours of the fibers is very essential to the poster. Since each colour means different countries/ culture, the variety of the colours in background represent the distinct cultures. Concerning the similarity of some colours, similar cultures are revealed, for example, light yellow and pale green. On the other hand, some of the colours are used for more than 1 time, they seem to represent the widespread of that culture.

 

A very large contract is seen compare to the background. The words ‘your culture’ is especially in bold. The use of the font style is to highlight the message and draw people attention, forcing on the largest font ’culture’ .

 

Review: A very interesting and colourful text, with obviously colourful design of the different colours of fibers, meaning the differences of cultures. The right hand bottom has the logo of the council, which is the organizer of this exhibition, providing information for the reader if they have further questions. The exhibition is for who are interested in cultural history.   

 

Coursework Preparation work

Figure 6: What’s your culture? (Kris)

 

Look:

My first impressions for this picture are colorful; about identifying your own culture, everyone supposes have their unique

It is a picture with a big title ‘what’s your own culture?’ The sender is Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.

 

Read:

The image says about ‘culture’. It is presented in administration form, which wants people, who look at the picture, to think more about their specific culture.

It consists of just a few words in form of a big bolded title in white color; and with a bright colorful background, in red, purple, orange and green.

The big title in the middle of the picture makes this text an administration.

 

Explore:

The dominant signifiers are the words and the background. The syntagm is ‘culture’, and the paradigm could be people’s countries background, religion, growing environment or education level. It is presented in semi-formal register.

The significant vocabulary is the word ‘culture’, its mode of address is very direct (telling people to think about their own culture). It doesn’t show any bias as the background is in several different color, it shows culture can have their own color and can be different with others.

 

Review:

A really good text, it shows people to think more about which culture they belong to or if they have their own specific culture. An idea may be included in the text is that people in different cultural background can be mixed together and new picture can be created when different culture are mixed together. In fact the idea of mixing the cultures and people with different culture are now already appear in most of the countries.

It can be says that my review is as what I originally thought about.

Just a little question about the color of the background, why is every color has a significant different with the color next to them but not in color that might be similar to each color?

Sammie Tsang Lok Man---analysis

My first impression of this picture is it is very attractive, because it seems to be an advertisement of food and a woman wearing a sleeveless garment who shows her beautiful body to others.

This message is from Kallogg’s Special K, the content of the message is to attract people to buy their brand’s cereal, and the receiver is the people who want to reduce their weights. The method of sending this message is using a poster to sell their brand’s cereal for breakfast. The word they use in the poster is informal. They want to send this message to people who want to lose their weight, attracting them after eating this food for breakfast everyday, people can lose their weight easily.

In this advertisement, they use red colour and a larger font size to project those three words, ‘Be a Loser’, it is especially attracting people to read the poster continually. The woman who wears the sleeveless garment in the poster owns a big space, it is also attracting people to this advertisement, just like saying to people, if people use this cereal for the breakfast, they will be as sexy as this woman. To be more convincing, there is some additional information saying that if people use this as breakfast, they can enjoy normal meal without caring about weight.

The end of this poster has an idiom, which is negative if you use it normally. But in this poster, you will find that this idiom is positivly asking people to lose weight, which is a very interesting usage of idiom.

Grace: AQA flyer for New Communication and Culture course (pp.156)

LOOK:  The purpose of making this flyer is to introduce the New Communication and Culture course to all the teachers, high school students and their parents. The effect is to let people trust in AQA Teacher support and believe this course is useful.  The sender is AQA Teacher Support.

READ:  The channel is a flyer. The flyer consists words and a picture at the bottom of the page.  Colour is not very bright but well defined and can see the words clearly. Bright red fan gives me a feeling of new, fire and energetic. 

EXPLORE:  From the dark red background, the form of writing in the bold title and subheading, it gives me an impression that this course is formal and professional. The red fans, Asian city background and the fan-dance make me feel like it is relative to different cultures, not just only British culture.  The fan represent ‘culture’ and they are brighter than the people who are holding them, which suggest that ‘culture’ is the main topic of this course.

The course name (“Communication and Culture”) and the company name (“AQA”) are in large size and the colour is white. This shows a connection between the sender and the course. It also highlighted them as the main focus in this leaflet.

The logo of the sender is in formal form. This shows that they are professional and trustworthy. There is an arrow pointing upward in the letter ‘Q’. This design symblises the idea of their company that they will help you increase you skills like rocket. Also it gives you a feeling that they are able to bring you a brighter future by study their courses.

In Asian culture, people do fan dance in the morning as an exercise (like morning-run). Therefore, having this fan dance picture on the flyer can suggest that study the New Communication and Culture course can give you a fresh start, like morning run.

REVIEW:  After a deeper study about this leaflet, I think there are more meanings than I originally thought. The reason of having fans on the flyer is to represent ‘culture’, people represent ‘communication’ and red fans show that this course is new and refreshing.

RESPOND:  I think there should have a few more pictures to represent others cultures too, not just only Asian culture. And if the flyer is more colourful, it will be more eyes catching and more attractive to students. 

DOCUMENT D: Dudley MBC’s ‘What’s your culture?’

Critical process

At first impact, I would say the image is colourful, attracting and interesting. In the middle of the image there is a big heading and as a background there are different coloured lines representing the different cultures.

Referring to Lasswell’s model the sender is Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, the message included probably wants us to really know and discover more about our culture and the sender is everyone who might see it. Dudley MBC probably used advertisement as the channel trying to get people attention.

Following the classification of the text, I will now focus on the genre and then consider in detail what in fact we are being offered. First of all, defining the formal structure we can talk about the signifier, which, in this case, is represented by the words and the coloured vertical lines. Besides, we can notice the syntagm in the image with vertical lines, different colours, not perfectly straight. The register is semi-formal English and the vocabulary is direct, explicit and easy-understanding since it tries to trigger a positive reaction in people. The Mode of Address is constituted by a short question and few words, precisely because it is direct to its aim. Furthermore, the message contains also bias and hidden believes: for instance, we can predict that MBC thinks people don’t really know enough about their culture. The main function is making curious and eager of discover, learn and know more about themselves and their past and new traditions and habits. Lastly, the significance of the background is surely connected to the difference of the use of colours, which reminds to the existence of different cultures around the world.

 Besides, it means that everyone has his own ‘background’, which might be mixed with other cultures as well. In fact some colours are in sharp contrast representing the cultures that are completely different and far from being similar; others, referring to the purple one, are slightly shaded to let us intend the existence of cultures that might be similar to others or might have inherited codes from others as well.

Special K Be a Loser advert

No.6 Special K Be a Loser advert

Look: It is eye-catching because of the actress’s appearance; beautiful woman, sexy dress and looks healthy body. It is an advertisement of Special K (cereal) saying ‘Be a Loser’ to health conscious people. It wants us to buy the Special K. The sender is Kellogg’s (producer).Picture of Special K’s box is printed in right-down side, it is not so big, however, ‘K’ is very clear to see.

Read: ‘Be a Loser’ this is written by red colour, it is the same colour of the logo of Special K, therefore it is clear and well defined. Also the text said ‘You’ve got nothing to gain and everything to lose’, in this case, it is positive meaning to lose weight. Other texts said that eat this for breakfast, replace to snacks and enjoy other meals as normal. As a result, people can lose weight.

Explore: Much of the intended meaning of the advertisement depends on how much conscious about their weight; for example, people who really want to loseweight, they are interested in buying and trying this cereal, however, people who do not need to worry about their weight or who do not like cereals, they will just see through this advertisement. This picture of actress is wellselected; in generally speaking, blond hair women are symbol of beauty in some countries. Also she is not too thin or fat, everybody feels she looks healthy; this can affect various age groups, sex and the degree of healthconscious.

Review: This text is well-organised; at the first sight, this actress is very attractive and Special K’s logo is easy to see because of the colour (based white and K is red). This suggests us how to lose the weight and in the terms of‘loser’ is basically negative meaning, however, in this case of losing weight is positive meaning. This is clever and ironic way to advertise.

Respond: To catch the trend of health conscious is very clever way to gather attentions. And subconsciously, we are looking at blond beautiful woman, this advertisement use this tendency well. Also this actress is not extremelythin, therefore they can appeal this food healthy food. In addition, they use the term ‘loser’ as a positive meaning, it is also clever way to catch the attentions.

What’s Your Culture?

The third text, titled “What’s your culture” illustrates different colours, they represent diversity of cultures.

The noticeable thing from the text would probably be the question asked about our culture, the author wants to find out how much we know about our culture, because our culture determines our relationship and communication with others.

Colours like yellow and purple appear in two different forms. They mean that although people have their various traditional backgrounds. Many cultures seem to have similarities or are inter-woven to each other, but differ with major or minor differences.

The text can also be interpreted as showing different aspects of our culture, with colour red representing attractiveness, yellow shows the sacred and imperial feeling of our culture, purple signifies the royalty and wealth of our cultural sophistication, and colour brown shows the durability of our cultural heritage.

The different cultures also represent different barriers to communication. In order words, people experience limitations while communicating, due to the fact that everybody has a different culture, compared to others.  Until people cope with other cultures, difficulties will be encountered by both parties involved.

It demonstrates a wide variety of cultural interests which we all possess. This shapes our personality and determines how we relate and communicate with others. This goes as far as distinguishing the type of people we associate ourselves with, our moral standards, codes and ethics.

 The colourfulness of the image shows the beauty of our diverse cultures, when we interact in togetherness. The colours display our emotions and the way we respond to things, ideas and the society at large. The colour red is a sign of passion and love. Moreover, it signifies danger. Yellow symbolises wisdom, joy and happiness.

The process of all colours of different shades coming together is the definition of communication and culture.

Analysis

I see a poster, rather an advertisement of a cereals “Special K” by Kellogg's. A big image of women which is standing in the underwear is attracting people’s attention. Firstly, I paid my attention on the picture of women, and only then started to read an advertisement.
The ad speaks about an attractive way to lose weight. It consist of a picture and a motto, which looks very encouraging and interesting. Everything is written clearly, and the whole contrast is also selected very properly. Also there is a data, when products have been completed.
As for the structure, it is easy to notice the domination of the women on the poster. Undoubtedly, text and the picture are selected very harmoniously; there are no excesses, just the main information to inform the reader, and the picture, to attract his attention. The result of combination of two very incompatible concepts, like cereal and women in the underwear is quite simple - it will works independently of whether you are a woman or a man. The idea of comparing two completely different things looks very smart and appropriate. But we have to pay attention to a very important detail, that makes whole ad very ambiguous, the phrase – "Be a Loser" provokes the reader also as women in the underwear. This device plays here a role of a great provoker; it induces the reader to find out why and for what this word is written here. However, the true value of this word here was picked up greatly. "Loser" is not for a person, who lose the game or don't have a power, it's for a person, who try to lose the weight.
Analyzing this poster I have discovered for myself that the key for successful advertisement is to compare two different things, even if they aren’t connected with each other. Of course, to find original and unique duo, requires a great skill. Originally, I thought that this kind of idea can be useful but now I’m convinced that it is not only appropriate, but also very effective.
As I said in the previous paragraphs, my reaction on this advertisement is very positive - I liked the main idea and the execution was also on the high level, but I think, the motto should be bigger and needs to be written with different color than the text in the whole advertisement. In my opinion, people have to see the motto instantly, because it makes a large part of success.

Coursework Outline

University Foundation/Pre-Masters Programme

Subject Pathway Coursework

Communication and Culture Studies

In the process of doing the coursework for this module, you will have the opportunity to use your analytic skills to examine a range of texts. 

Relation to course objective:

·        You will be able to use the process and semiotic approach to carry out own in-depth analysis of texts, using practical examples and case studies.

Part One

See pages 160 – 161 of your coursebook 'AS Communication and Culture'

Respond to the three questions asked for each document H, I and J. 

For each of the documents:

·        Question 1 is worth 4 marks

·        Question 2 is worth 6 marks

·        Question 3 is worth 10 marks.

Total = 60 marks

Words = 1000 words minimum.

Part Two

See pages 172 and 173 of your coursebook 'AS Communication and Culture'

Analyse the two texts featured on these pages using the process developed in class.  You should write about what you think about them and consider how else the texts could be interpreted.

Total = 30 marks

Words = 500 words minimum.

Overall number of marks available = 90 marks.

Preparation for Week Five: Launch of Coursework

Your coursework will be an analysis of texts using the Process and Semiotic Approach.

In preparation for next week, read Chapter Four from your coursebook: 'Toolkits: The Process amd Semiotic Approach' (pages 97 - 147)

Social Media and the End of Gender?

Check out this TED Lecture:

Johanna Blakley: Social media and the end of gender

The Concept of 'Self-Esteem'

Listen to these views about self-esteem.  What are their approaches to self-esteem?  Make notes while you listen!

http://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p010hfpr

Article related to the radio programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20756247

Living Human Treasures and protection of intangible culture heritage

Ex) Korean Pottery – Apprenticeship culture

To preserve intangible Korean cultural heritage and culture, living human treasure, who has traditional experiences and knowledge, has been designated as a cultural asset. But this is not only beyond preserving traditional values but also elite education related to apprenticeship. Some Korean believes that arts can be preserved by and inherited from minority, who could create and enjoy arts. 

A sample from the canon: All The World's a Stage by William Shakespeare

All the World's a Stage

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

William Shakespeare

Example of the 'Canon': L.V.Bethoven

                                                     

Ludwig van Beethoven (17 December 1770 - 26 March  1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 concertos for piano, 32 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets. He also composed other chamber music, choral works and songs.

Beethoven's stylistic innovations encompass two achievements. First, they brought the Classical form to its highest expressive level, expanding in formal, structural and harmonic terms the musical idiom developed by predecessors such as Mozart and Haydn. Additionally, they proved immensely influential over the musical language and thinking of the Romantic era, whether as a source of direct inspiration, as with the music of Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms, or in terms of defining a musical reaction against his stylistic language, as with music of Mendelssohn.

I choose these because I always have been interested in classical music. Also I finish high school musical, which helped me to know more about different musical styles and famous compositors, like L.V.Bethoven.

Example from the 'Canon': Lysistrata by Aristophanes

    Lysistrata is a play written by Aristophanes, a comic playwriter from the ancient Athens. It is the story of women's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War. I personally enjoy this play because it represents the empowerment of women. I also think it is amazing how it is still valid nowadays. Here you have a simple example.

Example from the 'Canon': Music (Beethoven)

Music in the Canon

Beethoven (1712–73)

- the first and the prototypical – canonic composer of the European tradition

- Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music

- Famous pieces: 

• Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 (1st movement)
• Für Elise

Example from the 'Canon': Mona Lisa (from Celia)

It is an oil painting which is a half-length portrait of a woman by a very famous Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.  It is believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506. It has been commented as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world''.

The facial expession of the woman described as enigmatic, the monumentality of the composition, the subtle modeling of forms and the atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work.

It is now on permanent display at the Musee du Loure in Paris.



Why I chosse this for the example form Canon?

As I mention above, everyone knows and have heard about this drawing already.
This drawing has a very great deal of contribution to the art study nowadays.
Vinci had influenced and inspired many artist.

Example from the 'canon': Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach(1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque period. He enriched many established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivicorganisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Many of Bach's works are still known today, such as the Brandenburg Concertos, the Mass in B minor, the The Well-Tempered Clavier, his cantatas, chorales,partitas, Passions, and organ works. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.

I chose this person because he is known as the father of classic music. I believe that almost all people admit this fact, so he must me the 'canon'. Also he lived in

Example from the 'Canon': Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Daffodils by William Wordsworth


I learnt this poem last year, since I studied English literature at high-school and I liked it soon.

Example from the 'Canon': The Great Tradition

The Canon: The Great Tradition by F. R. Leavis

 F. R. Leavis' The Great Tradition, first published in 1948. The date is important. It helps explain the central aim of the book, to determine the significance of the novel after the war, the atom bomb and the concentration camp. Leavis' central criterion for great writing, that it has "a vital capacity for experience, a kind of reverent openness before life, and a marked moral intensity" is a clear reaction to an age characterised by the ideologies of fascism and communism. Where they sought to define, control and close down, literature creates, explores and opens up.

The Great Tradition survives because it throws down the gauntlet in a way no other work of criticism does. Sadly, few bother to read it through. If they did, they would find far more to inspire, provoke and engage them than can be found in many a current work.

Example from the 'Canon': The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard. D'Artagnan is not one of the musketeers of the title; those are his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, inseparable friends who live by the motto "all for one, one for all" (Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno in Latin phrase), a motto which is first put forth by d'Artagnan.
The story of d'Artagnan is continued in Twenty Years Afterand The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later. Those three novels by Dumas are together known as the d'Artagnan Romances.
The Three Musketeers was first published in serial form in the newspaper Le Siècle between March and July 1844.

Adaptations

Musical theatre (William Anthony McGuire in 1928, Xyndas in 1855, Visetti in 1871, Dionesi in 1888, de Lara in 1921 and Benatzsky in 1929), Films, Records, Games, Television, Comics

 

Influence on later works

In 1939, American author Tiffany Thayer published a book entitled Three Musketeers (Thayer, 1939). This is a re-telling of the story in Thayer's words, true to the original plot but told in a different order and with different points of view and emphasis from the original. For example, the book opens with the scene of Milady's youth and how she came to be branded, and more development of her early character, making her later scheming more believable and understandable. Thayer's treatment of sex and sexual politics is more explicit than typical English translations of the original, occasionally leading to consternation when this book found its way to library children's sections and school libraries. The modern Chinese author Jin Yong is also said to have been influenced by his works. The Khaavren Romances by Steven Brust are fantasy novels heavily influenced by The Three Musketeers and its sequels—indeed they are almost a rewriting of the Dumas novels in a fantasy setting.

Example from the 'Canon': Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare

The play, set in Verona, begins with a street brawl between Montague
and Capulet supporters who are sworn enemies. The Prince of Verona
intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be
punishable by death. Later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about
marrying his daughter, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two
years (then he later orders Juliet to marry Paris) and invites him to
attend a planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliet's nurse try to
persuade Juliet to accept Paris's courtship.

Meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Montague's son, about
Romeo's recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from
unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulet's
nieces. Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at
the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead
meets and falls in love with Juliet. After the ball, in what is now
called the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the Capulet orchard and
overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love to him in spite of her
family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes himself known to her and
they agree to be married. With the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes
to reconcile the two families through their children's union, they are
secretly married the next day.

Juliet's cousin Tybalt, incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the
Capulet ball, challenges him to a duel. Romeo, now considering Tybalt
his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalt's
insolence, as well as Romeo's "vile submission," and accepts the duel
on Romeo's behalf. Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to
break up the fight. Grief-stricken and wracked with guilt, Romeo
confronts and slays Tybalt.

Montague argues that Romeo has justly executed Tybalt for the murder
of Mercutio. The Prince, now having lost a kinsman in the warring
families' feud, exiles Romeo from Verona, with threat of execution
upon return. Romeo secretly spends the night in Juliet's chamber,
where they consummate their marriage. Capulet, misinterpreting
Juliet's grief, agrees to marry her to Count Paris and threatens to
disown her when she refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride." When she
then pleads for the marriage to be delayed, her mother rejects her.

Juliet visits Friar Laurence for help, and he offers her a drug that
will put her into a deathlike coma for "two and forty hours." The
Friar promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan, so
that he can rejoin her when she awakens. On the night before the
wedding, she takes the drug and, when discovered apparently dead, she
is laid in the family crypt.

The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo and, instead, Romeo
learns of Juliet's apparent death from his servant Balthasar.
Heartbroken, Romeo buys poison from an apothecary and goes to the
Capulet crypt. He encounters Paris who has come to mourn Juliet
privately. Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in
the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to be
dead, he drinks the poison. Juliet then awakens and, finding Romeo
dead, stabs herself with his dagger. The feuding families and the
Prince meet at the tomb to find all three dead. Friar Laurence
recounts the story of the two "star-cross'd lovers". The families are
reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent
feud.

New Zealand Dialect- "The Kiwi Accent"

New Zealanders (the "Kiwis")find it irritating that foreigners say that their accents are just like those of Australians. If you have lived in New Zealand for some years, you will find out that they are different.

   

Local people of New Zealand like to think that their country has no accent (Actually almost every countries think they have no accent!) They will admit though that those from Southland have an accent that is a little bit different. This is because a large number of those that settled in this area were Scots. This is why they have a tendency to roll the "r" sound when they talk.

The Maori also pronounce in most of the New Zealand English, which makes New Zealand English a unique accent.

Here are some "Kiwis English":    

• But= "Buh"
• School= "Schoow"
• Wellington= "Wullington"

Pronounce words with short "e" sounds into long "e" sounds:

• Catch= "Cetch"
• Ready= "Reedy"

Sound of the "a" becomes a short "e" sound:

• sad= "sed"
• mat= "met"

The classic "day" and "die" misinterpretation is shared by both Kiwis and Aussies English.
"Nice day today, isn't it?" would sound like, "Nice die to die, isn't it?"

"Fish and Chips"

(Australian) "Feesh and cheeps"

(New Zealander) "Fush and Chups"

Italian Dialects

Italy is subjected to thousands of dialects. Each little village has got its own dialect, people are proud of their languages and habits and until few years ago they were not willing to code switching with the official Italian language. Besides, it is important to highlight the fact that every dialect is absolutely incomprehensible for that people from another city.

There are exactly 20 regions in Italy and there are 4 main groups of dialects: Galloitalico, Mediano, Meridionale, Meridionale estremo.

Each group has hundreds and hundreds of little spoken dialect.

Nowadays, dialects are spoken from an exclusive percentage of 15% people and in the last years, things have slightly changed and more people than before know more about the Italian grammar and speak it as well. More than 70 % of people who deal with strangers will not have problems to code switch his own dialect and start speaking a correct and common Italian.

I wrote down some examples of my own dialect from Milan:

Voeuja de lavorà saltom addòss che mì me spòsti = “Come to me desire of working so that I’ll move”

It is related to lazy people.

Te gh'ee l'oeucc pussee grand del boeucc = “Your eye is bigger than your stomach”

It is related to who usually eats too much or in general who exaggerates doing something.

Chinese Dialects

Chinese Language comprises many regional language varieties sometimes grouped together as the Chinese dialects, the primary ones being Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min. These are not mutually intelligible, and even many of the regional varieties (especially Min) are themselves composed of a number of non-mutually-intelligible subvarieties. As a result, the majority of linguists typically refer to these so-called "varieties" as separate languages.

Chinese consists of several dialect continuums. Differences in speech generally become more pronounced as distances increase, with few radical breaks. However, the degree of change in intelligibility varies immensely depending on region. For example, the varieties of Mandarin spoken in all three northeastern Chinese provinces are mutually intelligible, but in the province of Fujian, where the use of the Min variety is dominant, the same variety has to be divided into at least 5 different subdivisions since the subdivisions are all mutually unintelligible to one another.

Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million), followed by Wu (90 million), Cantonese (70 million) and Min (50 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility.



Mandarin (Standard Chinese) is the dominant variety, much more widely studied than the rest. Outside of China, the only two varieties commonly presented in formal courses are Mandarin and Cantonese. Inside China, second-language acquisition is generally achieved through immersion in the local language.

For Hong Kong people, we common use Cantonese (粤语/廣東話), the other varieties of Chinese. Cantonese is influential in Guangdong Province and Cantonese-speaking overseas communities, and remains one of the official languages of Hong Kong (together with English) and of Macau (together with Portuguese).

Chinese people make a strong distinction between written language and spoken language. As a result the terms Zhongwen (中文) and Hanyu (汉语/漢語) in Chinese are both translated in English as "Chinese". Within China, it is common perception that these varieties are distinct in their spoken forms only, and that the language, when written, is common across the country.

The Chinese orthography centers on Chinese characters, hanzi, which are written within imaginary rectangular blocks, traditionally arranged in vertical columns, read from top to bottom down a column, and right to left across columns. Chinese characters are morphemes independent of phonetic change. Thus the number "one", "yi" in Mandarin, jat in Cantonese, all share an identical character "一". Vocabularies from different major Chinese variants have diverged, and colloquial non-standard written Chinese often makes use of unique "dialectal characters", such as "冇" and "係" for Cantonese, which are considered archaic or unused in standard written Chinese.

Written colloquial Cantonese has become quite popular in online chat rooms and instant messaging amongst Hong-Kongers and Cantonese-speakers elsewhere. Use of it is considered highly informal, and does not extend to many formal occasions.

More examples:

"Dream": 夢(Cantonese)/梦(Mandarin)

"Lion": 獅子(Cantonese)/狮子(Mandarin)

"Television": 電視(Cantonese)/电视(Mandarin)

"Good night": 早抖(Cantonese)/晚安(Mandarin)

"Morning": 朝頭早(Cantonese)/早上(Mandarin)