Biography Literacy - Essay Example

Biography Literacy Biography literacy can be defined as an account of personal development in understanding variousaspects in life. In reality, human beings, especially children, learn virtually everything they do from other experienced people. In addition, the fact that different people embrace cultural diversity expressed in different parts of the world creates a platform for people to learn about each other. Considering the fact that I am a Chinese student from Zhejiang Ningbo currently studying in the U.S, I have a rich literacy history stemming from my childhood to my current age. More importantly, I have interacted with many of my friends and people I interact with mostly come from very diverse backgrounds hence offering me an opportunity to learn new aspects in life. On this basis, this essay will reflect on different aspects of my literacy history by exploring personal experience on various events, practices, and values. To start with, being a Chinese student born in Zhejiang Ningbo, I learned several aspects of culture linked to the town in my childhood. Ideally, almost every community in the world has unique activities associated to their culture undertaken by members. Ideally, young children are training on the various aspect s of their culture at different stages of their life. Moreover, the most important cultural aspects are included in day-to-day life activities of a community. Therefore, it is inevitable for everyone to associate with the key cultural activities in their community. In this regard, Zhejiang Ningbo is a Chinese seaport city that is rich of culture that has been embraced strongly by the locals from generation to generation. According to the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, major traditional events that take place in Zhejiang Ningbo include Spring Festival, National Day and Dragon Boat Festival (1). The Spring Festival and National Day celebrations are events that take place yearly during the months of February and October respectively. These events are regularly and were and were not hard for learn about them because everybody was involved in the events. Dragon Boat Festival was the most interesting cultural event to learn while in Zhejiang Ningbo. The event involves boat racing by local teams in Dongqian Lake and participants of this event have to be mature and well trained to represent their community (Absolutechinatours.com 1). I participated in this event at the age of 20 years after training and participating in amateur competition for two years. On the other hand, I have experienced generational gap while dealing with elderly people in different areas. To begin with, I experienced a generational gap while dealing with my parents back at home. Considering the fact that I am a last born in a family with three other siblings, my parents belong to a very different generation to the one I belong. For instance, my parents valued the cultural arts, specifically the folk songs. Many occasions in our home always featured traditional arts in one or another, something that did not go well with me. Similarly, other elderly people in my community treasured ancient culture hence incorporating cultural activities in many occasions. According to Zhejiang Provincial Government, people in the province value their traditional folk activities such as “dragon dance, lion dance, hobby-horse dance, stilt walking, and various lantern shows” (1). This indicates that the indigenous people in the region value greatly their traditions. However, due to the technological advancement experienced in the recent years, the newer generations incorporate external cultures in their traditions. For instance, in many occasions, I clashed with my parents for listening to music performed by artists from the west. This is because my parents believed that western music lacked moral values and eroded our traditional culture. However, technological influence in Zhejiang Ningbo has infiltrated every sector hence making the new generations to be adaptive to the current issues of technology. According to Ningbo Municipal Peoples Government, technological advancements help in improving Ningbo’s economy and society in many ways (1). Moreover, moving to the U.S for further studies made me to experience linguistic gap from the starting point. Before joining my college, I was required to complete an English proficiency examination in order to get an admission letter because I came from a country where English is not a principle language. According to Rutgers State University, students from other countries have to get acceptable grades in their English proficiency examination before admission in the U.S colleges (1). This criterion of evaluation is strictly followed by many colleges in the U.S hence forcing students from other countries to study English even if they never took it in their core studies. In my case, English is not a principle language in China and therefore had to take extra classes to learn the foreign language. This was not an easy task but I was able to get good grades in the proficiency examination because I was determined in advancing my studies in a U.S college. Considering the influence of my traditional language, it was not only hard to spell English words, but my pronunciations seemed to source of humor for my English tutor. Nonetheless, I was determined to learn the language and become proficient in both written and spoken English. Even though I passed my English proficiency examination excellently, there are some English words that I find difficult to pronounce correctly as like my fellow students whose native language is English. Additionally, living in the U.S for the last one year has exposed me to a different culture hence making me to experience a cultural gap. As explained earlier, the west and particularly the U.S, encountered technological advancement earlier than the rest of the world. As a result, other countries in the world experience ‘westernization’ of their culture. According to Houston Institute for Culture, advancement of telecommunication systems in the west made it possible for America to have influence over other cultures around the world (1). Compared to my homeland, the American citizens are very liberal in many activities they undertake. For instance, social relationships of people living in the U.S have different emphasis compared to those of Chinese. In the U.S, marriages are not given strong emphasis like in china, where couples command live amidst high society expectancies. Similarly, I also experienced cultural gap when it came to experiencing the ‘American food’. In the U.S, people are used to taking fast foods from many restaurants distributed in institutions and towns. Contrastingly, although there have been ‘Americanization’ of foods in Zhejiang Ningbo, many Chinese residents still value their traditional etiquette. Therefore, I had to get used to the modern types of food offered in restaurants close to where I live. In addition, in order to fit in with majority of my friends, who in most occasions invite me to their functions, I had to learn and accept the variety of foods they consume. Finally, my stay in the U.S has helped to learn the geopolitical gaps that exist between the U.S and china. Firstly, the two countries have different economic systems exercised by their governments. The U.S is the strongest capitalistic nation in the world, whose currency is mostly preferred in international trade. On this basis, private ownership of property commands a lot of attention from the legal authorities and is protected by the U.S constititution. In addition, forces of demand and supply play a major role in setting prices in the U.S market. Except in matters of crucial interests to Americans, the U.S government does not interfere with the forces of demand and supply of commodities in the country. Of more importance, the U.S government has put into place effective business laws that protect the U.S citizens from exploitations from unscrupulous business people. In addition, the U.S is a multi-party democracy state headed by a president elected by the majority of electorates. On the other hand, the Republic of China is a communist state consisting of a single party leadership. The National People’s Congress (NPC) elects the Chinese president, who normally is the sitting general secretary for the Communist Party of China. Similarly, China has also enacted effective business laws to shield exploitation Chinese citizens. Concisely, I have learned various geopolitical gaps that exist between the Republic of China and the U.S. In conclusion, my biography literacy has highlighted various events, practices, and values in relation to personal experiences. From the above discussion, it is evident that my biography literacy started from younger age while in Zhejiang Ningbo state. Of more significance is that the biography literacy resulted from learning experiences gained through interaction with other people in the society. In addition, it is evident that shifting from China to U.S led to the enrichment of my biography literacy by encountering cultural, linguistic and geopolitical differences. However, it is important to point out that biography literacy lasts as long as a person lives. This is because people continually learn new things in their everyday activities. Moreover, modern technology has led development of a platform where people learn different aspects of life. Works Cited Absolutechinatours.com. 2014 Dragon Boat Festival Top Destinations. 2013. Web. 3 Jul 2014. < http://www.absolutechinatours.com/news/2013-dragon-boat-festival-destinations-3930.html >. Houston Institute for Culture. Globalization. . n.d. Web. 3 Jul 2014. < http://www.houstonculture.org/global/ >. Ningbo Municipal Peoples Government. On 2013 Ningbo Week of Talent, Science and Technology, Zhejiang China. 2013. Web. 3 Jul 2014. < http://english.ningbo.gov.cn/art/2013/9/16/art_421_641118.html >. Rutgers State University. Undergraduate Admissions. n.d. Web. 3 Jul 2014. < http://admissions.rutgers.edu/applynow/moreforinternationalapplicants/RequiredTestScores.aspx >. The University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Local Events. n.d. Web. 3 Jul 2014. < http://www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/life/ningbo-city-life/local-events.aspx >. Zhejiang Provincial Government. Culture and Arts. n.d. Web. 3 Jul 2014. < http://english.zj.gov.cn/col/col1117/index.html >. Read More