An Old Colleague Of Mines Essay - 1932 Words

Introduction For my case study, I decided to choose an old colleague of mines named Rita Oduguwa. Rita was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. Rita moved to the United States 38 years ago, in 1978 with her husband. She fluently speaks Yoruba, English, and occasionally uses French. She began acquiring English in the third grade, at a private school in Nigeria. Both of her parents spoke Yoruba, but only her dad spoke English for his job. She began school in Kindergarten where her teachers taught her in Yoruba. On her first day of third grade she was totally confused because her teachers only spoke to the class in English and French. She learned that day she would no longer be allowed to speak in Yoruba at school. Rita found this very challenging, but she had no other option. If she did not learn English and French she would not be able to communicate with others and her teachers would take her lunch as punishment. There were no supplemental aids or translations of Yoruba to English/French. To help her and her siblings with school Rita’s dad hired them private tutors. The tutors would come and set up all over the house and Rita and her siblings would rotate around the house to the different tutors for two hours a day. Rita became trilingual at an early age. After getting married Rita’s husband John decided to get a new start by moving to the United States. They settled in a little city named Rowlett, that is north of Dallas in Texas. Rita thought that because she knew EnglishShow MoreRelatedThe Six Assumptions of Adult Learning Essay1342 Words   |  6 Pagesexperienced this day two years in a row, on my third year of â€Å"District Meetings† day, I did not expect anything to be different than the prior years. I arrived at the assigned school, signed into to my school at the sign in table, eyed the room for my colleagues/friends, found my seat, and prepared myself for the day to come. As expected, the introductions came and went, as did the recognitions of the highest performing school. Our guest speaker took the stage and began his lecture. This year the speakerRead More Birdsong Essay1256 Words   |  6 Pagesrecurring sub plot set in the seventies. We initially meet Jack Firebrace in the most horrific circumstances possible. Jack is a miner, tunnelling under enemy positions placing mines in the hope of halting enemy advances. Bizarrely Jack’s life is threatened by both sides. He faces either being blown to pieces by enemy mines or being picked off by sniper fire on his all too infrequent breaks on the surface. Should the enemy fail to get him his own side will. Turning on him when he is overcome by exhaustionRead More`` Cathedral `` By Raymond Carver And The Jewelry977 Words   |  4 Pagesalso for not so obvious reasons. Without the reader the age old question of â€Å"If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?† starts to apply to literature. A book’s meaning does not exist until a reader picks it up and adds his/her own interpretation of what a story is trying to convey. The two stories I chose are stories that brought out many interpretations not onl y from me but my colleagues as well. â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver â€Å"The Jewelry† byRead MoreHow Does Safety Influence Mining Industry1208 Words   |  5 PagesAustralian mining sector is a unique industry as a large number of its workforce is employed as fly in fly out (fifo) workers. Most mining companies’ employ workers on a 12 hour shift basis and accommodation is in company owned or operated camps. The mines that operate this model of employment and accommodation can be defined as ‘total institutions’, that is â€Å"a place of work and residence where a great number of similarly situated people, cut off from the wider community for a considerable time, togetherRead MoreApartheid : Do We Want For Just Get Over It `` And Move On `` Too Quickly?867 Words   |  4 Pagesunderstand it? These are the questions I ask myself when reading articles written by black students who just cannot comprehend what the â€Å"big deal† is or whe n interviewing an ex-colleague of mine about what it was like living under the oppression of the apartheid government. Lisiwe, my ex-colleague, is a thirty seven year old black woman from Komga - a small town in the Eastern Cape. She grew up during the struggle and transition of South Africa and is now a professional in the tourism industry. AlthoughRead MoreEssay on The Representative Poem1294 Words   |  6 PagesHis desire for information is ravenous. In the poem Ulysses Tennyson says, â€Å"How dull it is to pause, to make an end,/ To rust unfurnished, not to shine in use!† The Victorian spirit that Tennyson has is also shown when he says that although his is old his goal is, â€Å"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.† (Ferguson, Salter, amp; Stallworthy, 2005). The Victorian Era is also noticeable with a hint of distrust and aggravation. Everyone in that era seemed to be really tired with the unendingRead MoreArthur Miller s Death Of A Salesman1061 Words   |  5 PagesWilly expends enormous amounts of time and energy pursuing the money because he thinks it will improve his well-being and make him happy. In his visions, Willy constantly sees his older brother – Ben, who has fantastically grown rich on the diamonds mines in Africa. For Willy, his brother is the live embodiment of the American Dream, â€Å"What’s the answer? How did you do it?† (1574). Sadly, but Willy sees only the surface of his brother’s success. He doesn’t admit that pathway to success lies throughRead MoreLow Income Transition Women And Young Ladies That May Be Faced With Emotional Difficulties1251 Words   |  6 Pageseffect my students while on campus. â€Æ' Tameka Johnson is a 38-year-old African American woman with 4 children. Her children are school aged ranging from 13-8 years old. I met Tameka through her oldest daughters Lauren’s school. Lauren is a 13-year-old 8th grader at a predominantly Caucasian school. Lauren showed concern for her mother knowing that they had just moved to a new area in their town and her mom does have her â€Å"old† friends to talk to anymore. Lauren is a good student, but oftenRead MoreTheodore Roosevelt : President, Conservationist, Man s Man And An American Hero1433 Words   |  6 Pageswould last throughout his presidency, fighting the trusts. Roosevelt was known to believe that the government was too soft on large corporations, causing the nation to become subject to price inflation. He did his best to counter this by reviving an old law, the Sherman Antitrust Act, effectively ending the trusts put in place by the businesses and earning him the name Theodore the Trustbuster. John D. Rockefeller, owner of Standard Oil and history’s richest man, was among the billionaires affectedRead MoreThe Dominant Race: A Sci-Fi Short Story1347 Words   |  5 Pageswith the passing of the under ground city train. While walking through the New York City, the scene of a bustling workday and the towering steel skyscrapers transformed into a scene of jubilant children playing with miniature dragons surrounded by old brick buildings decorated with red lanterns and firecrackers. Red paper, ash, burnt-out firecrackers, and bits of lettuce covered the smoky streets. Adults conversed and smoked, while they watched the children dance in a line to an inaudible beat. Restaurants