Lang and Lit Rainier Fourie

Hozier Interview – LGBT Community   Interview with Andrew Hozier-Byrne, professionally known by the mononym, Hozier, is a singer song-writer from Dublin, Ireland. What inspired you to make a song like “Take me to Church”? “4 years ago, I was in my house fumbling around with some lyrics, chords and trying to find a right chorus for this song. I was frustrated with organizations, (especially religion like the Catholic Church) that has a history of mistreating gays or determining what is natural to humans. I feel like sexuality, and sexual orientation- regardless of the orientation – is just natural. So I made a song about it.” How did you get the idea of making the music video for “Take me to Church” “The music video itself,is a stark black-and-white clip about a homosexual man who gets brutally beaten by a gang of thugs while his lover looks on helplessly. The video refrences what is going on in Russia. They passed anti-gay laws, that restricted...

Memoir – Rainier Fourie Whenever people ask me what is my first language; I never really know what to answer. Do I say English or Afrikaans. Two languages, One answer, and both never really seem like the right answer. I suppose that part of my identity is shady, is mystified and I feel like I wont ever really know. I was born in Bellville, South Africa, a city that is part of the “Greater city” of Cape Town. I moved to Viriginia, USA just before my 3 rd birthday. So did I learn English first or Afrikaans. People say the best time for a child to learn a language is between that 1-4 age gap range. I was in America during 90% of that time. So did I learn English first or did I learn Afrikaans first? This question always puzzled me. It deosnt help when your parents say “Ugh, Don’t worry, you learned both at the same time because we spoke to you in both, English and Afrikaans”. To me, it just sounds like a “lawyer” answer. Answered it but skirted around a concrete ...

Blog Post 3 – The importance of One mother tongue – An Opinionated column on Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue”   Amy Tan’s article, “Mother Tongue” explores themes of the importance of one’s mother tongue, stereotypes of non-native English speakers, achievement tests, and how the school system directs students into subjects based on their ethnicity. All these themes center around someone’s identity relating to language. So why is your mother tongue important? Why not just speak English or whatever language is most spoken in your area/country? What’s the point is what I’m asking? Why learn your mother tongue, why learn English, Hell, why learn any language? The point that Amy Tan and I are trying to make is that, language, especially your mother tongue, define you as a character and define your identity. Researchers say that knowing your mother tongue and being bi-lingual, ensures better cognitive development, and aids in the learning of other languages. There are so many a...