Culture shock was the biggest problem I faced when I arrived at UR. For me, culture shock was like getting punched in the face again and again for an entire year. I was always dazed and confused with the new terms, accents and cultural references. Therefore, it was easy for me to relate to the international students in the video. However, what I could most relate to was the plight of the Jordanian student whom Dr. Essid talked about in the video. According to Dr. Essid, the Jordanian student had a difficult time doing analytical writing because the system he was taught in did not emphasize critical thinking. I had a similar experience when I first started doing analytical writing. The education system of my country does not encourage critical analysis. It expects students to write an essay to restate the established opinions because those opinions, much like the individuals who came up with them, are infallible. Therefore, I had a difficult time transitioning from a system where passivity is encouraged to one where such aloofness is looked down upon.
Evaluation of weeks 4 and 5
I feel I was relatively successful in learning the counting in Siraiki. I expected there to be a pattern in Siraiki counting, which there was. And the pattern was easier to learn than the one for Urdu. That is not to say that there wasn’t any similarity. For example, in Urdu and Siraiki 29 is pronounced as combination of the words for thirty and nine unlike in English where the number is a combination of twenty and nine. I was also able to pickup the Siraiki accent. The accent is similar to that of Punjabi, which I am used to hearing. All in all, I feel that I was largely successful in completing the tasks.
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