Language is stereotypical and hard

Not many people realize that we stereotype before we meet a person, if we see someone with a unique name we might assume what kind of person they are. Or if their name is from a different country, say Iran, then some might make assumptions. That's what happened to Firoozeh where she vividly describes in her essay, The "F" word". During her application for jobs she never got a single interview, even though she, "graduated with honors from UC-Berkeley" but it wasn't only after she began to add her american name "Julie" into the conversation that job interview began flowing in. 

This example not only shows that you can be limited solely based on your name, but stereotypes can also be made. Many people assume that I can speak, write, and read chinese, which to a degree I can. However, truly, I can barely read or write. But speaking is the easy part, because at home your always speaking your native language to your family and maybe friends. 

As I enrolled to take chinese class I realized that it was easier for me to learn the language as I could already speak it pretty fluently, but for the peers around me, that would be a different story. The teachers tactics seemed to make sense to the learning students, but to me, it felt as if it made no sense as to what they were doing even though I completely understood everything. I felt as if I was actually learning along with them, all these new rules that you have to coincide with while speaking or writing was something I never new, I just spoke Chinglish (Chinese + English) at best. The phrasing of time and person or event can be switched around in English and Chinese which make no sense, yet it does. 

At this point right now, I'm in the same position as Sedaris, wondering if any of the tactics my teacher is using actually have any meaning or if I'm just wasting my time and taking in this torture. We'll see, maybe I'll come to realization and want to stay.