LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

The topic of language and culture explores the relationship between language and culture; how they are intricately linked to each other, as well as how they both influence the way people in a society communicate. According to simonandsimon.co.uk, there are roughly 7164 known languages spoken by people worldwide, along with countless number of cultures. Therefore, by learning this topic, the learners will gain a new understanding of how language & culture are connected, and their impact on society as a whole. The research for this topic is conducted through the examination of similarities and differences in many languages and culture, along with their word choice and sentence structure.

This video is related to the topic of language& culture as it contains both of the concepts mentioned above. The example that I picked for this topic is a video of a conversation between Jimmy Kimmel, a talk show host and Ben Affleck, a famous actor. As seen in the video, when Mr. Kimmel was conversing with Mr. Affleck, he noticed that his guest was wearing an unusually big coat. He later joked with him about it, and that was when Affleck revealed that he was carrying his best friend and Kimmel's longtime 'enemy', Matt Damon. Upon finding out, Kimmel was 'enraged' and began throwing negative remarks to Damon. One of the remarks said by him was ''Nobody wants you here''. 

This remark is a good example of what gendered speech and same gender talk look like in real life. This is because when men talk to each other, they tend to talk directly, assertively, as well as using ''strong language''. Jimmy Kimmel saying ''Nobody wants you here" represents a form of strong language. He directly insinuated that Matt Damon was not welcomed on his show and that he should leave. Despite this seemingly harsh remark, Damon, Affleck, and the audience only laughed, and they continued bantering with Kimmel after that. This indicates that men are generally more tolerant and accepting of hearing such direct talk and it won't cause hostile reaction from the party that receives the remark. Compared with that, if Kimmel had said such remark to a female guest, it would probably cause the other party to feel awkward or uncomfortable, and Kimmel himself might receive backlash for what he had said.

In addition, through the conversation between Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon, we could see that the two individuals seemed to have a rivalry or feud between them. This is very normal, especially in a male friend group since as mentioned before, men love to compete with one another. Of course, it is also obvious that their so-called 'feud' is not serious and look more like a playful game between friends. Thus, he won't mind if Kimmel said such remark to him.

The three people featured in the video are Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck. Jimmy Kimmel is a popular American television host and comedian. He was born on November 13,1967 in New York, USA and is known for hosting and producing a late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003. As of June 2024, the talk show currently has 19.5 million subscribers on its YouTube channel. Jimmy Kimmel has also hosted major award ceremonies such as the Academy Awards, and the Primetime Emmy Awards.

Matt Damon is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. According to IMDB, he was born on October 8,1970 in Massachusetts, USA to a stockbroker, realtor and tax preparer father, and a mother who worked as an early childhood education professor at Lesley University. He also has an older brother. He attended Harvard University as an English major. Along with Ben Affleck, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing the screenplay of the film ''Good Will Hunting", which they also starred in.

Ben Affleck is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born on August 15,1972 in California, USA to his father who was a social worker, and his mother who was a schoolteacher.  He has a younger brother who also works as an actor. He is the recipient of two Academy Awards, one for co-writing the screenplay of ''Good Will Hunting'' with Matt Damon, and another for producing the historical drama thriller film "Argo''.

One interesting thing about the rwe is that we could see how the normal friend group's dynamics played out throughout the video. Be it a male or female group of friends, whenever two members argue or have a fight, there would always be another member of the friend group who acts as a peacemaker and helps to solve the fight. In this instance, Jimmy Kimmel and Matt Damon continuously 'provoke' one another and Ben Affleck would chip in the conversation to interrupt them from going further. Besides that, this video also shows the interesting and complex relationship between male friends in real life. Most male friends have competitive relationship and like to fight over anything, whether it's video game, sports, and even who among them spends the longest time in the toilet. These fights happen verbally, and sometimes even escalate into physical fights. Male friends would also ''trash talk'' one another, calling the other person with silly, insulting names. 

In spite of all this, the friends would maintain a close relationship and deep bond with one another. Each time they have a fight, they would quickly make amends. In the video, Jimmy Kimmel uttered several negative remarks towards Matt Damon, but he didn't seem to mind and kept talking playfully with Jimmy Kimmel. This conveyed the closeness of their friendship and thus proves that even with the cut- throating nature of the showbiz, one could still have a genuine friendship.

The conversations between the three public figures is an interesting example of how people in the society interact in their daily lives. Some prefer close interaction and could easily make friends with strangers. Meanwhile, some other (like me) prefer to keep boundaries and stay within our comfortable space. There also people who love being in groups and doing everything together, and there are people who love being alone. 

In addition, the video also showcases the difference between a rigid, extremely professional conversation and a relaxed, more laid back one. Jimmy Kimmel, as the talk show host, and Ben Affleck, as his guest, could've chosen to keep the conversation extremely professional and not saying jokes to one another. Instead, they were very chilled with one another and could joked without fearing that they would hurt the other person's feelings. As a result, this made their conversation funnier, and more interesting to watch. 

In conclusion, language and culture are inseparable from one another, and thus are what make us human. If we do not understand language, we won't understand culture. As a result, it would prevent us from assimilate into a society and become part of the people. 

By understanding language, we also show respect for the different cultures that exist within society. We should not be like a frog living under a rock that are totally ignorant of everything surrounding us. We should do our best to learn other languages and cultures since it would help to strengthen our relationship with other members of the society and avoid unnecessary conflicts that could stem from misunderstandings that is caused by lack of knowledge. Only when we could learn to respect and appreciate cultures different than us that we could live in peace and harmony.

DEFINITION :

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Language. In Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved June 16, 2024, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/language

BACKGROUND :

Simon and Simon. (n.d.). Global language statistics by country. Simon and Simon. Retrieved June 16, 2024, from https://www.simonandsimon.co.uk/blog/global-language-statistics-by-country

Language Magazine. (n.d.). Blurring the line between language and culture. Retrieved June 16, 2024, from https://www.languagemagazine.com/blurring-the-line-between-language-and-culture/

BACKGROUND OF REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE:

IMDb. (n.d.). Jimmy Kimmel. Retrieved June 16, 2024, from https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0453994/

IMDb. (n.d.). Ben Affleck. Retrieved June 16, 2024, from https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000255/

IMDb. (n.d.). Matt Damon. Retrieved June 16, 2024, from https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0000354/