I've been writing about language and the fun(ny) things you can do with language. My first language was, surprisingly enough, Thai. My father was at university when I made my way into the world and he was preparing to write his Masters thesis in Thai. Hence, everyone at home spoke Thai. My mum, still now, speaks Thai very well but her English is iffy (never having had to use it, you see).
Well, anyway. My bit on language today was about postcolonial theorists and what they think of English (or French or any other "colonizing language"). I'm not sure what I want to say here. I'm writing about decolonialising so I guess the question would be how can we decolonize language-use. Dismantle the way we write and think of something new. But, how? I'll leave that as a question for now and just point towards this map.
It's a map of regional Australian dialects. I went to undergraduate in Far North Queensland (which, for those unfamiliar with Australia, is considered pretty much far out there by the rest of Australia) and then did my Masters (and lived afterwards) in Sydney. The cultures are very different. The populations are very different. And the language is very different.
As I found out when, as a newly-arrived 17-year old, I was told the sentence that forms the title of today's post as folks were getting ready to head off on a road trip. But, what was I supposed to bring?!
Well, anyway. My bit on language today was about postcolonial theorists and what they think of English (or French or any other "colonizing language"). I'm not sure what I want to say here. I'm writing about decolonialising so I guess the question would be how can we decolonize language-use. Dismantle the way we write and think of something new. But, how? I'll leave that as a question for now and just point towards this map.
It's a map of regional Australian dialects. I went to undergraduate in Far North Queensland (which, for those unfamiliar with Australia, is considered pretty much far out there by the rest of Australia) and then did my Masters (and lived afterwards) in Sydney. The cultures are very different. The populations are very different. And the language is very different.
As I found out when, as a newly-arrived 17-year old, I was told the sentence that forms the title of today's post as folks were getting ready to head off on a road trip. But, what was I supposed to bring?!
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