hello everyone hola mis amigos well one
massive my name is Jenny Butler and I’m
an international boarding student from
Jamaica for 16 years I lived among my
people saturated in a very unique Island
culture the way I speak dance and even
cook is all particular to my people for
16 years I lived in a place where I and
all 2.7 million people around me share
the same culture now what could that
possibly mean I feel as if we’ve taken
the idea of culture for granted it’s a
simple term for quite a complex concept
culture as I’ve come to understand it is
but a means of communication
the gift of someone handing you a bowl
of warm soup when you were ill is
communicating care love compassion
handing someone a bouquet of roses at a
funeral it’s seen as a sign of respect
solemn gratitude and sympathy however
involve these traits are shared among
the diverse groups pocketed around the
world engaged Island Sora yes mom yes
dad when my parents are speaking with me
is respect for my people but saying yes
mother or okay would invite Swift
discipline language is one of the most
commonly used methods of communication
and even this when tackled in all its
realities has more depth than it
initially seems I told you a group in
Jamaica for 16 years and some of you may
be wondering where’s her accent when I
first came to HPA people used to tell me
that they couldn’t understand me they
asked me to repeat myself
I was so confused because I was speaking
standard English in terms of language
understand this much how you speak your
intonation the breadth of your lexicon
your go-to phrases and idioms I’ll make
you use what you say and how you say it
are of crucial importance to your
identity one of the first things I
learned as an international student is
that there are many words that I use and
thought were commonly practiced in other
languages that don’t even exist outside
of my realm for instance there’s a
Chinese word die that does not exist in
the English language die is kind of
between idiot and dumb it’s kind of
coulis and it could
insult but it’s kind of cutesy nan Chi
in Korean is akin to walking on
eggshells around others being cautious
and observant of them and furthermore in
North North California people have a
tendency to see kiss a banana slug this
wooden apparently give you good luck
what’s fascinating to note is that
whilst I learned of this a young woman
from South California told me she’d
never heard the saying before language
involves according to province district
from country to country as an
international citizen the moment I left
my home was the moment I changed I speak
differently yes but now I hear my own
accent how I interacted my teachers my
friends and even my parents has changed
I’ve adopted more American dances engage
in an increasing number of American
politics and this is just the beginning
my study patterns have changed the media
I like to consume has shifted from my
norm Oh in all I have changed this isn’t
just me ask any person who has been
removed from their culture or even just
from their norm and you’ll hear the same
thing going back to language though this
is where it gets interesting our
language is more than the conversational
stuff it’s poetry art music debate our
language is our life when I call home
now I almost like I almost feel like I
forced an accent I’m so definitely
afraid of losing my accent because of
the first obvious indication to anyone
back home that I’m different however if
I get too highly spirited and I start to
speak quickly I get tongue-tied I’m
incapable of keeping up with myself I
have friends who speak Russian Italian
Turkish and they all tell me the same
thing when they speak to their parents
they translate words from English to
their native language they use different
sentence structures forget pronouns
speak in English without even realizing
it they’ve begun to think in English and
dream in it they understand English
jokes all of a sudden this is great news
they have adopted and adapted to an
entirely different language but at the
risk of losing part of their own and
that’s just the thing we make
compromises with ourselves for parts of
our identity wouldn’t it be nice if we
could just not if we could branch out
learning
while still maintaining the integrity of
ourselves I think there are those who
have this figured out they are wholly
themselves no matter the circumstance
the issue is just that we are social
creatures the main reason why I speak in
this adopted accent is so that I can
have conversation with people I want to
relate to them instead of every
interaction I have being about my accent
I can learn more about them and whatever
it is that they are doing and they can
do the same with me they’re not
distracted by me so they can focus on
what really makes me who I am I can
explain to them what Sunday dinners are
so important to my people and why it is
that we turn every bad situation into a
joke it no longer becomes about my being
very interpretation of a Jamaican it
becomes about me as a Jamaican I am
better able to be me when I put away a
part of myself and this is just the
beginning to the benefits of being
exposed to other people’s never before
in my life had I seen so much importance
in being in the know with regards to my
history economy artists sportsmen and
women I hold fast to my traditions and
more regularly show love and
appreciation towards my country now I
defend and examine my people all because
I was no longer surrounded by them and I
could do the same with other peoples
when we heard about the Paris attacks
last year each individual at my school
felt it we were all in some way or
another connected to the French to other
students and faculty members here any
news in Turkey or Mexico or Kazakhstan
becomes my business I am more of a
global citizen of the world now than I
was before this is a prime example of
the interrelationships of culture we are
more connected less ignorant more woke
however and there is a however sometimes
the negatives do prevail in a highly
globalized world we are on the precipice
of large-scale culture shock removal and
change I really a real-life example of
this would be kpop beloved by the people
who participate in it it has somewhat
unfortunately taken the spotlight away
from more traditional Korean music this
Western influence may be seen in a
variety of ways how we dress speak and
even how we like to look are all
typically affected by the Western namely
American idea
overall we should remember that we are
as we are and it is important that we
were made so no matter where we go and
who we impress ourselves upon your you
is important and should be preserved
thank you
[Applause]
massive my name is Jenny Butler and I’m
an international boarding student from
Jamaica for 16 years I lived among my
people saturated in a very unique Island
culture the way I speak dance and even
cook is all particular to my people for
16 years I lived in a place where I and
all 2.7 million people around me share
the same culture now what could that
possibly mean I feel as if we’ve taken
the idea of culture for granted it’s a
simple term for quite a complex concept
culture as I’ve come to understand it is
but a means of communication
the gift of someone handing you a bowl
of warm soup when you were ill is
communicating care love compassion
handing someone a bouquet of roses at a
funeral it’s seen as a sign of respect
solemn gratitude and sympathy however
involve these traits are shared among
the diverse groups pocketed around the
world engaged Island Sora yes mom yes
dad when my parents are speaking with me
is respect for my people but saying yes
mother or okay would invite Swift
discipline language is one of the most
commonly used methods of communication
and even this when tackled in all its
realities has more depth than it
initially seems I told you a group in
Jamaica for 16 years and some of you may
be wondering where’s her accent when I
first came to HPA people used to tell me
that they couldn’t understand me they
asked me to repeat myself
I was so confused because I was speaking
standard English in terms of language
understand this much how you speak your
intonation the breadth of your lexicon
your go-to phrases and idioms I’ll make
you use what you say and how you say it
are of crucial importance to your
identity one of the first things I
learned as an international student is
that there are many words that I use and
thought were commonly practiced in other
languages that don’t even exist outside
of my realm for instance there’s a
Chinese word die that does not exist in
the English language die is kind of
between idiot and dumb it’s kind of
coulis and it could
insult but it’s kind of cutesy nan Chi
in Korean is akin to walking on
eggshells around others being cautious
and observant of them and furthermore in
North North California people have a
tendency to see kiss a banana slug this
wooden apparently give you good luck
what’s fascinating to note is that
whilst I learned of this a young woman
from South California told me she’d
never heard the saying before language
involves according to province district
from country to country as an
international citizen the moment I left
my home was the moment I changed I speak
differently yes but now I hear my own
accent how I interacted my teachers my
friends and even my parents has changed
I’ve adopted more American dances engage
in an increasing number of American
politics and this is just the beginning
my study patterns have changed the media
I like to consume has shifted from my
norm Oh in all I have changed this isn’t
just me ask any person who has been
removed from their culture or even just
from their norm and you’ll hear the same
thing going back to language though this
is where it gets interesting our
language is more than the conversational
stuff it’s poetry art music debate our
language is our life when I call home
now I almost like I almost feel like I
forced an accent I’m so definitely
afraid of losing my accent because of
the first obvious indication to anyone
back home that I’m different however if
I get too highly spirited and I start to
speak quickly I get tongue-tied I’m
incapable of keeping up with myself I
have friends who speak Russian Italian
Turkish and they all tell me the same
thing when they speak to their parents
they translate words from English to
their native language they use different
sentence structures forget pronouns
speak in English without even realizing
it they’ve begun to think in English and
dream in it they understand English
jokes all of a sudden this is great news
they have adopted and adapted to an
entirely different language but at the
risk of losing part of their own and
that’s just the thing we make
compromises with ourselves for parts of
our identity wouldn’t it be nice if we
could just not if we could branch out
learning
while still maintaining the integrity of
ourselves I think there are those who
have this figured out they are wholly
themselves no matter the circumstance
the issue is just that we are social
creatures the main reason why I speak in
this adopted accent is so that I can
have conversation with people I want to
relate to them instead of every
interaction I have being about my accent
I can learn more about them and whatever
it is that they are doing and they can
do the same with me they’re not
distracted by me so they can focus on
what really makes me who I am I can
explain to them what Sunday dinners are
so important to my people and why it is
that we turn every bad situation into a
joke it no longer becomes about my being
very interpretation of a Jamaican it
becomes about me as a Jamaican I am
better able to be me when I put away a
part of myself and this is just the
beginning to the benefits of being
exposed to other people’s never before
in my life had I seen so much importance
in being in the know with regards to my
history economy artists sportsmen and
women I hold fast to my traditions and
more regularly show love and
appreciation towards my country now I
defend and examine my people all because
I was no longer surrounded by them and I
could do the same with other peoples
when we heard about the Paris attacks
last year each individual at my school
felt it we were all in some way or
another connected to the French to other
students and faculty members here any
news in Turkey or Mexico or Kazakhstan
becomes my business I am more of a
global citizen of the world now than I
was before this is a prime example of
the interrelationships of culture we are
more connected less ignorant more woke
however and there is a however sometimes
the negatives do prevail in a highly
globalized world we are on the precipice
of large-scale culture shock removal and
change I really a real-life example of
this would be kpop beloved by the people
who participate in it it has somewhat
unfortunately taken the spotlight away
from more traditional Korean music this
Western influence may be seen in a
variety of ways how we dress speak and
even how we like to look are all
typically affected by the Western namely
American idea
overall we should remember that we are
as we are and it is important that we
were made so no matter where we go and
who we impress ourselves upon your you
is important and should be preserved
thank you
[Applause]
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