Who Am I?

Born on the 21st of June 1999 in Cochin, Kerala; I emerged from my mothers womb with the sole intention of creating a blog for what would soon be my 11^th Grade English Class! Well, in spite of the fact that that might not be entirely the case I do look forward to this opportunity as it gives me a chance to showcase all the complex language I acquired from ‘goodwords.com,’ so in short I approach this task with alacrity. In all seriousness however, as this is an assessed assignment apart of my Language and Literature course I must abstain from the use of colloquial speech. This means refraining from using abbreviations and terms such as ‘i,’ ‘alot’ including the common mix up between ‘your’ and ‘you’re.’  These terms though considered acceptable in textual speech are unfortunately a source of pain to a sect of people known as English Troglodytes, who seek to nullify the pain inflicted upon by them by these subtle nuances by conjuring up imaginary beasts, alleviating the stress that often forces them to act as what is commonly referred to on the internet as a ‘Grammar Nazi.’ It is for this reason that this blog shall be written in a formal register with the exception of my prevalent and often considered ostentatious sarcasm that is intrinsic to my affable personality. Alas I digress as I have yet to fully introduce the main and most important part of this blog, me.

My official name is Joshua David Toor, however through life experience I have come to answer to the following sobriquets, limited too but not excluding: Josh, Joshy, Toor and as I am often referred to by my fellow countrymen, George. Indian by blood, I lived in India for a total of two weeks after I was born before I was whisked away to Bahrain, at which time I began my life as an expatriate. Since then I have only lived in one other country, which is in fact the one I am still in today, Abu Dhabi. Having lived in the Middle East region for quite a while I have become accustomed to its traditions and culture in a fashion greater than my awareness of my own country’s. My interests include sports, socializing with friends in addition serving in my church in my aspiration to be a good Christian. My life goals, which as of now are primarily focused on my life directly after school are to study in an IV league University and graduate with a Business Degree and following in its associated line of work. As mentioned before this blog is a new exciting practice for me as it is a new median through which I can express myself as I craft carefully thought out posts inspired by my insatiable love for language! Though sarcasm cannot be fully understood through written text the previous line was a slight exaggeration. This blog should however appeal to the everyday reader as well as obligated 11^th graders tasked with reading and commenting on fellow student’s posts.

The question posed to us when we were given the task of writing this first Blog post was, “What role does language have in my life?” in addition to “Why is it important to study language?” To me language is the means through which we communicate or according to the renowned, teacher approved website known as Wikipedia, “Language is the ability to acquire and use complex systems of communication.” Present since the beginning of time, Language has many different forms and variations, but what distinctly defines language for me is the vast amount of choices given to an individual on how to express themselves with words that each convey a similar yet somehow different meaning. It is used to pass on knowledge from generation to generation in addition to generating entertainment for those looking for something more. Additionally it is important to teach and study a language as if a language is not learned and studied it cannot be spoken. According to historian Miguel Leon-Portilla, “ In order to survive, a language must have a function.” This function is communication, however without the learning or studying of language, which in this case is English, cannot be preserved and is rendered useless when it cannot be used for this sole purpose.

Through the course of this year I will be posting updates in regards to developments within the course in addition to put my thoughts into action by actually studying the English Language. Feel free to leave any comments regarding the posts and in addition, apologies for the length of this post I seemed to have gotten carried away in flurry of my eagerness.

Finally Stay Safe and Stay in School (Unless you’re an adult)