Blog 2

Breaking through the language barrier

I picked this article because I've thought about this even before I had taken a foreign language. It is really interesting that there is so much out in the world but if one can't understand it, then what's the use even though every human uses language. This is related to language because it shows how companies now are trying to close the gap that language builds. The thing I found most interesting is that IBM had its own people translating words to help out. Not only were the employees benefiting the company by knowing two or more languages, but they were helping themselves out and people around the world by translating. Another astonishing fact was that within the course of a month, 400,000 words had been translated by that company showing just  how diverse the business world can be. It also shows the importance of knowing multiple languages has. I absolutely agree with this article because with all that there is to connect with in this world, language barriers seem like a tiny hindrance in the path to knowledge. This article makes me want to learn more about what companies are doing to close the language barrier. I think that since this article was written in 2010 that there must be new software out that even furthers the translation of businesses and even programs to help people to learn new languages fast. This topic definitely affects the world because the internet is worldwide and business is done worldwide. Doing something like communicating and making it easier to communicate with each other through translation impacts the lives of someone not only in the U.S. but as well in Japan. 

Blog 1

The Language of Flowers

I picked this article because I like how everything has a language and a meaning that can even transcend time. One of the most interesting pieces of information about this article is how that flowers and plants had meaning back in biblical text and that practice has held up well into the Victorian era. I agree with this article because one can only express so much through language. Expressing thoughts through the symbolism of flowers in a time when saying one's feelings aloud was looked down upon, giving meaning to a physical object is a wonderful and inventful way to use language. This article made me want to learn more about what other plants mean and how that has changed over time just like the meaning of flowers have changed. This affects the world because the use of flowers to convey emotion or meaning is universal even though the meaning changes from place to place. It's a tradition spanning eras giving people a different form of communication. 

Introduction

Hello. My name is Ashley Farnsworth and I am nineteen years old. I've lived in Phoenix Arizona for the majority of my life. One fun fact about me is that I'm a twin and the older one. Including an array of things, my interests are in movies, Netflix, and languages to name a few. My hobbies include solving puzzles and going for walks. While I was in high school, I took German for two years and then Japanese for two years. I am taking ENG 213 because languages interest me and it's something I feel I could do as a career. Some experiences I have with learning language is when I lived in Oklahoma for two years. I had previously lived in Phoenix Arizona and spoke how I thought everyone spoke. As it turns out, there are several different southern accents that all have different pronunciations for the same word.