The document describes a scene among the Albatross people. A man is pushing down on the head of an Albatrossian woman while others sit in a circle. The narrator initially thinks the Albatross are a sect but later realizes their social roles are different than assumed. Rituals like eating involve symbolic actions without speech as the Albatross communicate through sounds.

2. Interview On The Albatross Can you describe the scene of the Albatross? The scene of the Albatross is amazing because we are totally emerged in a different way of living or acting. At first, we could see few mans sitting on chairs while some woman are sitting on the floor. Moreover, one man is constantly pushing down the head of an Albatrossian woman. We could easily infer that this man is the leader of the group as he already have a woman by his side and choose another one to go with him. The woman offered food to the man and washed their hands.

3. What do you think about the Albatross? What is your reaction? At first I thought the Albatross was a sect. I did not quiet understand who they were and what they were doing so, I had to use my personal experience of what a society is and adapted to this specific situation. Indeed, I automatically used some stereotypes that were on my mind such as the woman were inferior to the man. My interpretation was reinforced by the attitude the man had toward the woman and by the role of the woman in the group. I was outraged to see that, but I understand the vision of this society.

4. How can you describe the symbolic actions in Albatross? During all the actions they were signals but no speech. Indeed, Albatrossians have their own language bases on few sounds such as clicks, hisses or hums. The man were giving little tap on the shoulder of other man. We could feel an atmosphere of respect between each person by their salutation or by the service the woman offered to the man.

5. What are rituals? Have you find any rituals in the Albatross? Rituals are principles or actions that people tend to follow in the same manner each time. It is a tradition in which people believe they can get something positive from it. A ritual is the application of an action in which different elements needs to be gathered to fit that action. In the Albatross, the ritual of eating or be served by woman is common. Moreover, the group is sitting and formed a circle. This position and the action they are doing are the different elements that can represent the ritual in a proper way.

6. You witnesses what just happened, but was it truth? I was shocked to discovered the truth and to see how my perception was totally opposed to the reality. Indeed, my assumptions concerning the inferiority of the woman reveals to be wrong as they are in reality superior and respected by the man. The fact that they sit on the floor was not a sign of inferiority but rather superiority as it represents the contact the woman directly have with the earth and the nature by emphasized their power to give birth.

7. What is language? Language is a way of communication. It allows us to develop and to express our ideas in the way we intend to. Human beings use language in order to be understand or to be in harmony with others. It's a tool that helps us to evolve and share our ideas with words or gesture. Body language represents more than fifty percent of what communication really is. People tend to underestimate the power of the gesture in their daily life, however, it is the key of a total communication with our thoughts.

8. What are rituals? Do you follow any? Rituals are principles or actions that people tend to follow in the same manner each time. It is a tradition in which people believe they can get something positive from it. A ritual is the application of an action in which different elements needs to be gathered to fit the ritual. I think I follow a ritual such as my daily ritual (wake up, go to school...).

9. What is culture? Culture is a way to determined and to classified people from different background or origin. A culture is what is defying a person according to his or her education in different environment.

10. What is reality? Reality is the act of being conscious of what is surrounding us. Our mind and reason give us the ability to think properly and to be aware of what reality is. Reality can be perceived differently by some person. Indeed, the point of view of what reality is can differ from one individual to another.

11. What are symbols/icons? Symbols are a representation of an image, an idea ,or a belief. People use symbols to represent who they are or what they want to belong to. They are different types of symbols such as religious symbol or on the contrary gothic symbols. There are for instance, some people who get tattoo on them to have a symbol in which they can be identify in it. Gangs uses tattoos or symbols to represent who they are. Other people use symbol to fit their convention such as the symbol of the cross with Jesus on it.

13. You Just Don’t Understand Tannen’s writings Who talks more? Even if woman are considered to talk too much, the reality prove to contradict this statement. Indeed, some studies showed that men are talking much more than woman usually do. The place represents an important part in the men’s talk as it enhanced their confidence and force them to expose their personality in front of other people. Moreover, the length of their speech tend to be longer than the women’s speech. For example in our classroom, I have noticed that men usually tend to speak much more than women with more persistence in the development of their ideas. I think that this type of behavior is the result of their self-esteem and confidence they have toward themselves. The speech may be an opportunity for them to promote their personality and to forge a place in the society . In opposition to the woman who not only feels unsure to speak in front of people, but also feels restrain to say something after the eloquent talk of the men.

14. Rapport talk and Report talk. What is your style? Women tend to have a rapport talk in opposition to the men who have a report talk. A rapport talk is a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships, whereas a report talk is a way to exhibit the knowledge and to keep a position in the society. As I am concerned, I definitely have a rapport talk. However, I think that to have a report talk is also needed in today’s society as it enhance our personality in a better way than to have a rapport talk. Indeed, nowadays women need to make more effort to prove their equality with men and the report talk is what we need to understand in order to have a better connection between people.

15. Lecturing and Listening. How do you hold the floor? Women and men are very different concerning the listening and the lecturing. Women tend to be really good listeners, however it is hard for them to understand the whole message at a time or to feel very interested by it. Men are on the contrary not patient and do not listen all the women’s idea. I am a very good listener, however, when I both do not understand or want to listen something (not interesting for me) I would say it to the other person with respect.

16. Compliment receiving and giving. Which reflect your style? A compliment needs to be giving with sincerity. Women tend to give a lot of compliments toward other women or men. However, men tend to give less compliments than women do, maybe because of their report talk. As I am concerned, I give compliments to anyone who deserves it. I don’t like compliments from people when they are not honest. Some people tend to give compliments just for an interest which loss the quality and meaning of it.

17. Who’s interrupting? Conflict resolution. Confrontational styles. Cultural difference. Men are interrupting more than woman usually do. The conflict are part of their life as they see it as an opportunity to win something from the battle. Woman on the contrary tend to have more care when someone is speaking and try not to interrupt the speaker. Moreover, women try to avoid conflict as much as they can because they are more sensitive and can be easily hurt by the words. The cultural difference is present in all the society. However, stereotyping this idea is not an appropriate way to deal with the cultural difference. Each person is different and the culture and way of living he or she has only depend on the person itself.

18. Reflection on “Opening lines of Communication ”&”Can Genderlect be taught?” Women and Men have a different way to express their feeling or ideas. The rapport and the report style clearly illustrate these differences. However, if we want to have a good communication in harmony with both gender, we need to adapt to the other style. “Understand” the style of the other is the key word to improve our communication and our relationship between us. Both rapport and report style are needed and have a value ,in this way we should not avoid one style for another one, but we rather put both style in their complementarities.

19. Sports' Expressions

21. Text Message Lingo CUL8r = See You Later LMK = Let Me Know AEAP = As Early As Possible LYL = Love You Lots LMIRL = Let's Meet In real Life RU/18 = Are You Over 18?

22. WYCM - Will You Call Me? PIR - Parent In Room ASL - Age/Sex/Location F2F - Face-to-Face PAL - Parents Are Listening MOS - Mom Over Shoulder HAK - Hugs And Kisses C-P - Sleepy LMIRL - Let's Meet In Real Life ALAP - As Late As Possible GNOC - Get Naked On Cam AEAP - As Early As Possible P911 - Parent Alert ILU - I Love You IWSN - I Want Sex Now ADR - Address KPC - Keeping Parents Clueless KOTL - Kiss On The Lips CD9 - it means parents are around 420 - Marijuana Reference

23. Reflection: Is it possible to understand what someone is saying but not understand the meaning? It is possible to understand what someone is saying without understanding the meaning. Indeed, our reason and conscious help us to understand the whole idea of a message or a word. For example, some people can understand that IRSC is a school where students go and get a diploma at the end of their year. However , they may not have noticed that IRSC stands for Indian River State College. The meaning of these letters brings more information to the people, however their previous thought about IRSC were right as it a place to study. However, sometimes, the meaning can contradict the understanding of what someone thought was being true.

24. Creative uses of language-advertising

32. Final Reflection: What does it mean to know a language? Why are language and culture inseparable? By definition a language is a “communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols”. Language is what maintain our species to survive as it represents an indispensable tool we use in our daily life. Indeed, language is used to express our ideas, our feelings, our thoughts ,our behavior or our opinion. Language can be compare to a mirror in which our personality and thought are reflected from it. This reflection of our thoughts and ideas are represented by the use of symbols. Symbols can have different appearance as it can be spoken, signed or written. The use of a symbol is associated with a meaning or with an idea. In this way, one’s can understand a word by its symbol or by an idea he or she had in mind. However, the meaning of something differ from one individual to another depending on the perception he or she has on it. Indeed, the perception plays an important part on the understanding of an idea or a word as it brings the individual to use his or her conscious and reason to define what is the reality and how it is link to the perception of the word and language itself. Knowing a language means being able to understand the different elements that a language has. The body language or the physical appearance brings more details on the characteristic of a language.

33. For example, the Albatross scene enhance the importance of the gesture as a mode of communication. The hisses, the clicks, or the hums not only shows us the complexity of what language is, but it also shows us how it affects our understanding of the action. Knowing a language means to understand the words, the symbols ,the different perception and also the gesture. However, we should take into consideration the important weight culture has on the language. Indeed, by definition the culture is “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another”. The influence of the culture on the language is significant as it separates one group of people to another. In fact, knowing a language means also to understand his cultural aspect in order to find its real meaning and value. Some language are considered as an heritage and are only used in the family’s circle. By keeping in mind that language and culture are inseparable, we broaden our vision and understanding of the humanity’s history. The way in which we think about the world is directly influenced by the language we use to talk about it, in this way, we can affirm that language and culture have evolved together and are inseparable.

34. Consequently, the path to know and fully understand a language depend on our ability to open our mind to diverse culture in different society. Our reason and perception influence our ability to comprehend what a language really is. In this way, we can avoid to use some stereotypes that are forged into our mind in order to adapt and handle diversity with more respect toward humanity. Nowadays, linguists are playing a major role in the transmission of our heritage, by gathering all the different languages that exist in the world ,and also by learning how to love a culture and its language in a proper way. To conclude, the key to know a language and understand its culture is to appreciate its value by getting rid of all our previous stereotypes or ideas that are forged into our mind. The love and respect we bring toward the language and its culture affect our understanding in a positive way as it allows us to learn and discover things in a much simple and beautiful way. Sarah Hoxha

37. Works Cited http://www.netlingo.com/top50/index.php http://www.lbhat.com/advertising/26-examples-of-clever-typography-in-advertising-design/ http://sb058.k12.sd.us/multiple%20meanings/multiple_meaning_answers.htm http:// esl.about.com/od/glossary/a/sports_idioms.htm