Reading Journal - Essay Example

Reading Journal Eva Hoffman’s “Lost in Translation” presents interesting experiences, especially in the third part of the book. Language and culture experiences are eminent in the New World part of the text. In Canada, Hoffman and her family can fluently converse with each other, but hardly with the rest of the community. The language factor is a critical issue in Canada for this family. However, this aspect changes once Hoffman and her family realizes that Canada is the new world for them.

Language gives many different people their identity. Language also brings sense of belonging and enhances personal and social relations among populations. However, this only happens when the people involved can relate or interact in one way or another, subject to the language factor that brings them together. Without language, therefore, personal and social relations and interactions become crippled to some significant extent. The manner in which Hoffman captures these aspects is thrilling.Another interesting factor of language is the development of culture.

Notably, Hoffman’s work demonstrates this by showing the relationship between her and Canada, and later the United States. On the same note, her family associates with Canadian culture through language and the sense of belonging that attaches this family to the new country of Canada (Hoffman 219). Every aspect of life exhibited by Hoffman and her family denote the presence and subsequent practice of language and culture.The theme of language and culture is further exhibited as the family gets used to thee Canadian life.

This is a new country and a new environment for both Hoffman and the family. The language they knew is foreign in Canada. The culture they were used to is a new phenomenon that does not feature in Canada or the United States. Amid difficulties, Hoffman and her family find it easy to engage Canadian people in conversations due to their ability to overcome language and communication barriers.Persons who once encountered difficulties in language now encounter ease in expressing themselves. In order to fit into the Canadian system of social life, there was need for a change and/or shift in language and culture.

Hoffman can now identify with her language and culture in the foreign land, and so does her family. Hoffman made a lifetime decision to have her accustomed to the Canadian way of life. Ultimately, her family took the same course of action. From the Polish way of life, Hoffman and her family undergo a state of language and culture change to embrace the Canadian way of social life.In conclusion, Hoffman encounters in life are thrilling. Through language and culture, she builds herself a new identity that identifies with Canada, and later the United States.

Her journey and that of her family from Poland to Canada and later the United States (Hoffman 259) enlightens me on the importance of language and culture in the society. Emigration is a critical practice that affects many different people in diverse and dynamic ways. For Hoffman, emigration brings with it new encounters of language and culture, all of which inform the completeness of her life in diverse and dynamic ways. Hoffman’s transformation and that of her family captured my attention in the third part of the text.

Works CitedHoffman, Eva. Lost In Translation: A Life in a New Language. New York: Random House, 2011. Print.