DCSZ TOK Class Blog

I have never really think hard and take the languages very seriously, but after hearing the radio program in the last Tok class, it change my perspective about language on whole new level. The radio we listened in our last TOK class mentioned that when we’re talking, we don’t realize that we are actually [...]

In TOK class, we had a group discussion about languages, culture and communication. I was group with Andrea, Jeong Jay, Michael, and Sung Jin.

One of the interesting question we came up with is what would happen if there is only one language in the whole world? I think that this is very hard [...]

A police officer encountered an after-crime scene on a Sunday night in a bar: The windows were bashed into pieces, wine bottles were broken, and a file of money were scattered on a snooker table. Later the police women saw a group of men running away in a distance. An old lady shouted ‘catch!’ [...]

Last week during TOK we split up into small groups and talked about different things and for in our group we discussed about the movie we watched previously called baraka. In our group there’s Michelle Z, Chloe, Ji Won, Sabrina and I, we discussed the most memorable part of the movie. Each of us came up [...]

In last Tok class, we were split into groups to discuss, discuss and discuss. My group consist of Jay, Tal, Joseph, Storm and me. We started off discussing wether we like TOK, then we talked about Korean, Israel, Swedish languages. I indeed enjoyed discussing and felt that 1 hour’s discussion is not enough. Through [...]

Last wednesday in TOK class we discussed the silent movie that we watched earlier. We talked about what scenes that were most memorable and why they were. I had said that we may remember the things that were scary to us or that we could relate to. We talked about religion and how different [...]

I thought the other day in class was very productive. In groups we talked about different subjects on language, including the handout we received before. The discussions resulted in more of an understanding about what we’ve been doing in TOK lately for all of us.

We talked about everything we’ve been doing in class lately. We [...]

I thought that last class a very productive one.  The small groups were a great success.  There was a hum of conversation going on for nearly the whole lesson, something that almost never happens when in our large circles.  I believe that in the small groups people felt less pressured about what they were [...]

On last TOK class, all the people were divided into groups with one leader each group. My group consists of: Jarand, Brad, Justin, Mike and me. It’s quite interesting to me since I seldom have discussion with these guys, and I have very little know about the new student —Brad. I think the discussion [...]

In ToK today, all of us were split into groups of 4-5 people. My group consisted of Justin, Mike, Daisy and Brad. We had a good discussion, about the different aspects of languages and how we can better understand a culture through the language. We had two native Chinese-speakers so the discussion led on [...]

At wednesday TOk class, we divided into several groups and talked about our views about the language. In our group, we discussed a question together. What happen If there is only one language in the world. In my view, if there is only one language in the world, there will be less conflicts and wars [...]

The radio we listened to was basically talking about languages, but the part my attention was really paid to, was the perfect pitch section. First, English language and Chinese language is compared. Chinese has four tones, so if you get even a tone wrong, meaning of the word completely changes. A test (a Chinese [...]

In class we were given a handout call ‘Does your language shape how you think?’. After reading through the handout i found several things interesting. At first i didn’t think that different languages could change the way we look at different things, and before the hand out i don’t recall the idea even ever occurring to [...]

Today, me, Joseph, Joon hi, Storm and Tal discussed about culture and language. I found that there are a lot of difference exist between countries. Storm said that when he first came to China, he couldn’t differentiate that which language is Chinese, Korean or Japanese. Also he told us his country is very cold [...]

In todays ToK class we were in groups. We started of discussing what we like and dislike about ToK. I like the fact that there are no wrong answers in ToK, and that you can’t really sound stupid. However, it really frustrates me that some questions have no answers, ToK is full of theories [...]

Language is being communicated in our daily life, we use our sense of hear to perceive and to understand the language speak by people.

In the article ‘Eight Questions’, I actually don’t agree with the writer, which she said that Chinese people speak rudely. China is country that is divided in many provinces, and [...]

Today in TOK it was very interesting because we had a chance to take part in group discussions with our peers. We learned a lot about each other and our different cultures. I now understand better that the Asian languages tend to be easier to learn if you are already Asian as it’s quite [...]

i think there are a lot of advantage if you learn second or third language. It will help you understand about other countries culture. In my case, I learnt Chinese and Korean at the same time. so i can use both language quite well. Also I can understand very well about chinese and Korean [...]

On the one of the TOK lessons, our class listened to an unusual radio program. The program was talking about the rhythm of language. It was interesting that speaking can be music. We unconsciously speak as we are singing (speaking rhythmically and melodically). In addition, I found out that language is related and affected by [...]

The other day we listen to a podcast talking about how words sound different if it’s constantly repeated in the same tone and can almost start to sound like some sort of music. I think the reason this happens is because every person has a unique voice and everyone say words differently and so [...]

On last Wednesday, we listened to a radio program which talked about the rhythm of language. According to the radio program, we put rhythms on words we say without consciousness. In the past, I did not realize that and had not thought about that, but after I listened to the radio, I found out that is [...]

I think that language is affected by culture,  many words means different things in different languages. There are words said in English that sounds very casual unlike in Chinese the same word is very formal to say. For example: ‘I love you’ in English is very casual to say to friends, family and animals. [...]

The article, ‘Does Your Language Shape How You Think?’ , written by Guy Deutscher, is about what the title proclaims – how language affects our behavior. I didn’t find anything particularly novel within the article itself. In a nutshell: language affects a heck of a lot of stuff. Languages affects how much information we divulge, [...]

In ToK, we were given a handout to read and the title of the handout is ‘Does Your Language Shape How You Think’. The article was written by Guy Deutsher. I specially liked the part in the article, when he was comparing Spanish with German. He took one word ‘bridge’ and compared the different [...]

After I read the article, which is titled as “Does Your Language Shape How You Think?”, I got a very interesting idea. The idea is that people can think differently on objects by using languages; have genders according to the objects. I have never thought about it before because my mother language which is [...]

The title for the article we got handed is ‘Does Your Language Shape How You Think.’ I didn’t think the language we speak would affect how we think. I only thought that it would affect the way we think, by only affecting what we think in. So if you are bilingual, then one language [...]

We were given three packets to read regarding concepts of language: The Bilingual Advantage, Eight Questions: Deborah Fallows, ‘Dreaming in Chinese’, and The ‘myth’ of Media Bias. I’ve read these packets in their respective order.

Nothing in the the interview with Ellen Bialystok really popped out to me as anything new – but I [...]

The TOK class on Wednesday, we talked about how another sense of human help us with knowing.

It is common that everyone thought about music when we discussed about sound. What is really impressive to me is the video we heard, it is amazing that a sentence can turn to be music when we [...]

We use languages to communicate in our every day life, this is what makes it so important.

In the article ‘Eight Questions..’ I find it very shocking that it says Chinese people are rude and they never say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. I am a Chinese speaker and I don’t think it is true. [...]

  Last TOK lession, we listened a radio and discuss the language. I think language can repersent culture, different countries have different culture, they will develop their own languages to communicated with other people. For example, the radio we listened on wednesday compared two different languages—-Chinese and English, they said each Chiness word have specific sound, but you can say same [...]

When I read the three different handouts I expected them all to tie in together somehow, but to me they were all quite different.

I found that what was said in ‘Eight Questions: Deborah Fallows, ‘Dreaming in Chinese” and the radio podcast was very relatable. Because we live in China, we can relate to [...]

In class we watched a movie that carried a message and communicated that message without the use of words but merely by observation on our part and music. The movie started off by showing us beautiful landscapes in all different parts of the world illustrating the world’s beauty. It displayed shots of people like [...]

In last lesson we looked at how important language is and what it is. Languages are either spoken or shown through body language. A language is a communication tool that our brains uses to communicate with others. As the psychologist, Ellen Bialystok said: “Bilingualism is a “brain exercise””, which means that bilingualism (when a [...]

On wednesday, class listened a radio program, which is about sound and hearing. It was so interesting that someone might think that other people are singing, actually they are speaking. One of the example was a phrase of “Some times they behave so strangely.”. When the person spoke this phrase out loud continuously, it [...]

In the last TOK class, we watched a film called ‘Baraka’ which has no word, dialogue or narration. Before I watched the film, I knew that it does not have any word, so I thought it will be really boring. However it is not. Even though it does not have any dramatic and interesting [...]

In ToK on Friday, we saw a movie, without words and its called Baraka. In the beginning it showed different types of religious rituals. It shows us how different we are. We can communicate through our belief and we can meet other people through their religion. For some, religion is very important and they [...]

What is being communicated?

In our life, there is a lot of way to communicate with other people. Language, gesture, eye contact… However, I watched a film in TOK class and it made quite a new impression on me. There were no language, no story. However, the background music and movie was quite accord [...]