Taking A Dive

     Let's take a dive into my language of Malayalam. I had used a resource of Youtube and found a video of an American woamn who was able to fluently speak in Malayalam. I suddenly was boosted with motivation. I then tried to use context clues to figure out her message. After little progress and an hour passed by, I took the video to my parents. After they filled me in, I took her advice to respect and appriciate my culture and heritage.  After replaying the woman's video multiple times, I tried to speak with her and see if I was able to keep up with her. Although it took several attempts, I got the gist of it. American woman speaking Malayalam link
    After listening to the video and my parents, I am beginning to pick up on some patterns based on past, present, or future tenses. ഞാന്‍ നിന്നെ പ്രേമിക്കുന്നു (njan ninne premikkunnu) is "I love you." The "-ikkunnu" is a present tense verb. Now if I were to say a verb for present tense, all I would have to do is add "-ikkunnu". I told my mom this phrase and she was astonished of how quickly I was able to acquire the accent. Although she said it was fine, I believe there is still much room for improvement.  After about 15 minutes of constant practice, by repetition, I went back to my mom and she said I sounded much better and that I spoke the phrase quite fluently.
    Time to take a look in my cultural food. I know for sure we are the post popular country for our famous spices and curries. This must be the reason for my strong desire for spicy food! After asking my mom to create some chicken curry, my mouth began to bubble with various flavors and textures. It was honestly amazing. After seeing how wonderful the curry was, I began to wonder how I could miss out on these cultural experiences. This boosted my motivation and now I was even more determined to learn as much as possible about my heritage. Stay close, as we continue to venture into the unknown.

      

   

Question and Answer

1. What was your favorite part of the topic you chose?
   -Just being able to dive right into my culture and being able to speak my language.

2. What was your least favorite part of the topic you chose?
    -I would have to say it would be learning to write Malayalam. Although it is fascinating, it is based on memory, and since not being plunged into the my heritage, has made it only more of a challenge.

3. What do you like best about Genius Hour research?
     - Being able to learn more about myself and my origins. This research project has made my cultural root feel stronger than they ever were.

4. What do you like least about Genius Hour research?
     - I would have to say it is the limited amount of time that we have. I still am fully of motivation, so I believe I will continue to research in the summer.

5. What was the most important thing you learned about yourself, how you learn, or research in general as a result of this work?
     - I learned a whole new side of me, and it felt amazing. I found out that I actually remember more when I fins little tricks or loop holes to something. For example, the ending part of words depends on the form you are using it in. With this pattern, speaking became a little easier.

Rocky Road

     This week was difficult to learn more Malayalam due to all the testing and family chaos,  but I got a new idea.  Since we usually have a family prayer,  it would be a challenge and helpful to pray in Malayalam.  As I continued to pray,  it just became easier and easier to pronounce words and fluently speak.  I noticed a new found confidence and it felt as if I never new English!
     Over the course of this whole research project,  I was able to find deeper meaning not only in my uncovered heritage,  but also in me. I began to see what I was capable of,  and how fun it was to learn something important to me. I also saw how learning my heritage has brought a smile to my parents' faces when I speak to them.  Even though it was difficult and my parents were not always home,  I was able to learn something new every day!
     I believe I can only get better by continuing to practice and many refresher lessons.  Since I will be having some free time in the Summer,  I believe my skills will exponentially increase. I also am  hoping I will be able to write in Malayalam and have more knowledge about my language. With much practice,  I believe I can read and write Malayalam as easily as I do with English. Thank you all for joining me to uncover my hidden heredity.  There's still things left uncovered,  so let us bring them into the light!

നന്ദി ~ Thank you (Nani) 

Amnesia

  Even with all my motivation, I still face a major problem. With being far from my heritage for so long, it has become very diffiult for me to remember what I had written and it has become difficult for me to keep what I had learned, in memory. Even with continuous practice,  I could not recall previous written information when being away from more than a few hours.
   This week,  I decided since my parents spoke some Hindi,  I should try to also,  as well as Malayalam.  I thought it would be fun to learn a song,  since India is famous for it's many Bollywood productions. I recently heard this beautiful love song and I thought it would be a great song to learn!  With much determination,  I learned the song.  With only a couple days,  I got it down and it was on constant replay.  I hope to song this song at church when we have a music night,  and show everyone what I have learned! Unforgettable Hindi Song Link
  After going to church today,  I thought it would it be a great idea to talk to the audience about God in Malayalam.  It was shaky,  yet I managed to pull through. It was somewhat difficult to pronounce some words, so it might have sounded a little awkward. After looking back though,  I saw that I have come very far, very fast. I realized that I have mostly uncovered my hidden heredity.  I am extremely happy I took this journey into the unknown,  am I am even more excited that you came along with me! Stay close as we begin to get back our memory and continue venturing into the unknown! :)

Wedding Fun!

    The wedding was extremely fun with many stories being told and with people dancing all around. Most everyone was clothed in traditional clothing, and so I.  It felt very comfortable to have worn my outfit,  and I finally realized what I had been missing out on.  With my huge family together,  I was able to communicate with them in Malayalam and understand! It felt amazing, and my parents were in shock of how fast I was learning.  After the cultural plunge,  I felt as if I was super close into finding my hidden heredity.  After these past weeks,  I felt super accomplished from these past few weeks of learning. I can't wait to learn even more! Stay close,  because there is more to find out about my hidden heredity!

Time to Change Your Clothes!

   It has been a while since we have been adventuring, so it think it's time to change our clothes. As we look into the Indian culture, we can easily see the attire change. Being away from India for so long, I haven't worn traditional clothing since I was young. I miss the feeling of looking like a Bollywood movie star and singing in my traditional language.
                                              
     These are some examples of traditional clothing in India. Today, I only see people in their traditional clothing for special events such as weddings, funerals, birthdays, and church. I actually hope to buy some when I next travel to India. Also, with a wedding coming up, I will be able to submerge myself in the traditions of my culture. Here is where most to all who attend the wedding will be speaking Malayalam and some Hindi. Therefore, I have an even stronger drive to learn my heritage.
   
         

What is my heredity?

    In my English class, we have started a project called Genius Hour. I chose the driving question of, "What is my heredity?" With my parents orgiinating from India and being in America for 19 years, my cultural roots have seemed to be growing thinner and thinner each day. With America itself being so culturally diverse, I grew lost in the American cultures with little regard to my own. During this research time, I hope to become better in touch with my roots and know more about my heredity.
    With my native language and culture being one of the World's oldest, it has now become my mission to learn it and experience it. Although it may seem as not a difficult task, I believe I may face many problems. How can I give my presentation and be able to express my heredity to its full, great value? How can I be able to explore my whole culture? Suddenly, a great idea came to mind. My parents were a great resource to use, but even this poses as a problem, because they are not always home. Although there are many problems, my perseverance will pull me through, with becoming fully aware with my heredity.
      I hope to learn conversational phrases and be able to get the accent of the Hindi and Malayalam language. I also hope to learn all about my culture and my origins. I am very ecstatic to learn who I am and about my heredity.  If I am able to complete this research, I will find deeper meaning of who I am and be able to share my heritage with the rest of my family, friends, and maybe even strangers.           To first start out, I thought it would be best to at least know how to write my name in Malayalam.

 സ്റ്റാൻലി ഫിലിപ്പ്


I hope to even further this, so stay tuned for an adventure into a hidden heredity!