This year i have many aims to accomplish and one of them is being a better friend to my friends. Life becomes easier when friends are around, as they fill our lives with hope and happiness.A lot of times, they are the only ones who keep believing in us even if anyone else doesn’t.

 

These are some possible ways of becoming a better friend –

Being a good listener- Listening to what our friends have to say is very important if we want to maintain the friendship. If only one person talks, it gets quite boring and the other person thinks that they are not interested in listening to what they have to say.

Presuming positive intentions-  Sometimes we misunderstand what our friends have said, in this type of situation it is essential to presume positive intentions.

Respecting other’s opinions- It is important to let our friends express their ideas, even if we do not agree with them.

Being kind- Not judging anyone or being rude. Lets be considerate.

Helping and supporting each other- We should help and support our friends through ups and downs, it is wrong to expect help and support but not give it in return.

I will be following these tips to accomplish my aim by the end of the school year.

 

“There is nothing on this earth to be prized more than true friendship.” – Thomas Aquinas.

 

 

 

I had recently read an article about forced language assimilation.It was written by a person whose parents were Spanish immigrants in the United states but had become citizens in due course.The article-https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/10/donald-trumps-fear-spanish-power-language-identity

 

The journalist in the article, feels that forced assimilation requires policing people’s language and that it is liberating and empowering to not give into it. She also feels that forced language assimilation is oppressive.She believes that getting rid of your accent means giving away your identity, If someone tells us to get rid of this identity, they are indirectly telling us that our voice does not matter, that we are powerless.

 

 

The journalist speaks English but her mother tongue is Spanish. Early on she had tried to assimilate as well, as she wanted to feel a sense of belonging. In my opinion, we should try and learn a new language if we have got a chance to. Learning a language can help foster a better appreciation of the culture and ease communication with the locals. But no one should be forced to communicate in a language. The language learnt could just stay as an extra, secondary language.

But having said that, lets consider, “Why do we judge people who speak broken english?”