Hi,
A student of mine engaged me in a discussion regarding an essay she was
supposed to write and she proved what Harvard's celebrated professor had been
saying all along -- that those who start learning a second/foreign language
sooner learn at faster - but those who learn it as soon as possible (in early
years of life) tend to lose command over their mother tongue - of-course this
is more true if you are learning English in USA as a second language.
She is learning English as a second language and her younger brother is
learning is as a first language (though born in a non-English speaking nation)
and losing command over his "mother tongue" . She wrote in her essay that to be
a patriot you must know your language.
As luck would have it I was wearing my "stars and stripes" tie for the first
time ever (ever since I was persuaded not to wear it by my Harvard classmate
Anisa and her mother Amy at Vancouver, Canada's US consulate for my work visa
interview. Ofcourse her Bahai faith follower, Iranian refugee-family husband -
now medical student at www.ubc.ca speaks Irani as well as English though he
came at age 6 12 hours on horseback across the border into Turkey at night in
snow).
The question arose in my mind about who is a patriot? When I walked around
wearing the tie - I felt people stiffen a bit. Initially I felt it was
strangely Borat-like (who wore a hat of US colors in his documentary) but later
I realized it was due to respect for the US colors (stars and stripes) and even
old men looked me up and down - while in the bus and on the raod.
The road is called Pickett Road named after the Civil War Confederate general
who fought against those who wore these "Union" colors. (I always confuse
between Confederate and Counterfeit which mean fake.) I pass by the Army and
Navy Golf Club and reach my home on Lee Highway - named after the top
Confederate General who surrendered to US forces under Abraham Lincoln. 200
yards down the road is a memorial dedicated to the first soldier/casualty of
Lee's army who died on that spot.
( Coordinates: 38°51'52"N 77°16'39"W
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=38.864479&lon=-77.277623&z=19&l=0&m=a&v=2 )
Later, in the elevator/lift I met a soldier in uniform who could perhaps feel
my emotion and the responsibility I felt while wearing the national colors of
the nation he had chosen to serve and defend. As I exited the elevator he
wished me a good day and a great weekend and I wished him the same . Perhaps I
should visit the US Army recruitment center once again (like last year) after
getting a Green Card. How can one feel part of the crowd unless one has been
ready to defend its inhabitants? Thats a good reason to keep in good shape -
fighting fit, isn't it?
Umesh
Umesh Sharma
Washington D.C.
1-202-215-4328 [Cell]
Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005
http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)
www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used )
http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
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