The document summarizes three different readings:
1) The evolution of the English language, which was influenced by Latin, French, and other languages as it spread globally through British colonialism.
2) The story of Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee who started a women's peace movement that helped end the civil war in Liberia in 2003.
3) A man's search for an exercise regime to help recover from back pain, where he found relief through simple yoga and breathing exercises during a two-week retreat in Rishikesh, India.
The document summarizes three different readings:
1) The evolution of the English language, which was influenced by Latin, French, and other languages as it spread globally through British colonialism.
2) The story of Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee who started a women's peace movement that helped end the civil war in Liberia in 2003.
3) A man's search for an exercise regime to help recover from back pain, where he found relief through simple yoga and breathing exercises during a two-week retreat in Rishikesh, India.
The document summarizes three different readings:
1) The evolution of the English language, which was influenced by Latin, French, and other languages as it spread globally through British colonialism.
2) The story of Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee who started a women's peace movement that helped end the civil war in Liberia in 2003.
3) A man's search for an exercise regime to help recover from back pain, where he found relief through simple yoga and breathing exercises during a two-week retreat in Rishikesh, India.
The English language has been subject to many influences over the centuries. What developed as a result is a language with a very rich and large vocabulary. The first influence is that of the Romans and their language, Latin. Later,when William 1of Normandy conquered Britain in 1066, he established French as the official language,but instead of replacing English, French was assimilated into it and Middle English, a close relation to the language, is still spoken in Britain today.This is a language made up of German vocabulary and simplified German grammar mixed with French- derived, often Latin based, words. The language continued to remain quite organic until the invention of the printing press and the wider publication of the written word, when it started to become standardized. Then from the 17th to 19th centuries British colonialism thrived. This had two implications for the English language:the first was the importation into the language of yet more words, such as pyj ama and bungalow, for example, from India;the second was the spread of English around the globe to India, America, East Africa, and so on.With its spread carne adaptation. People have argued that English was successful in its global reach because it was a versatile and flexible language. But in fact its spread had far more to do with economic factors. People needed a language to do business and English was in the right place at the right time. Reading Leymah Gbowee 1 Read the story of Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee. In2011Leymah Gbowee, along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female president in Africa, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their part in bringing peace to the war-tom country of Liberia. Leymah Gbowee started the women's peace movement that led to the end of the civil war in 2003. The problem that faced Gbowee was how to reconcile different parties after years of conflict and how to begin the process of healing among victims. She trained as a counselor helping victims of war overcome their trauma. Gbowee began to realize that this was a man's war and it was to mothers that she could most effectively appeal to end it. Her message was that every society's future líes in its children. In2000, Gbowee and Thelma Ekiyor of Nigeria formed the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) of which Gbowee became the Liberian coordinator. She continued her trauma rehabilitation work by day and by night planned actions for WIPNET. These actions were peaceful and involved groups of women going to markets and other public places and spreading the message: "Women, wake up-you have a voice in the peace process!" They handed out flyers with these words or drawings for those that could not read. The movement grew. In2003, Gbowee had an audience with the then president and got him to agree to hold peace talks with the opposition. Four months later in August 2003, the war officially ended. Gbowee remains a tireless campaigner and believer in the power of communities and particularly women to effect social change. Reading a healing regime 1 Read about a man's search for an exercise regime to help him recover from an injury.
In 1968, the Beatles turned up in Rishikesh to
study transcendental meditation at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram. They wrote about 40 songs here, many of which ended up on their famous White Album. 1hadn't come to write music, but to get over chronic back pain-one of my vertebrae being severely out of line-or at least put off the day when 1would have to face back surgery.
Perched above the Ganges River, Rishikesh is
now a shopping mall for those looking for mental and physical healing, pulling in hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors each year. My chosen retreat was the Parmarth Niketan Ashram, which is less strict than other ashrams and allows guests to come and go as they please. 1had also been attracted by the fact that it supports around 200 disadvantaged boys, sorne orphaned, putting them up in simple accomrnodation, and providing them with food and a basic education.
At 6:50 a.m. on the first day, 1found myself sitting
in a plain room with a wooden floor, white walls, and a metal roof. We worked on a breathing technique that involved inhaling and exhaling through one nostril at a time. There were no other distractions-no New Age tunes playing, no yoga outfits, no blinding heat, no incense, and no attitude;just students and a teacher. Meals were conducted in silence, something which 1found odd at first but carne to appreciate. During one of the meals, another guest sitting across the table broke this silence to comrnent on how fast 1ate. 1felt a little taken aback, but thanked hirn and noted the point.
The yoga carried on in a serene way for two weeks,
never causing me even to break sweat. Infact more than once 1wondered how it could be helping me. Yet by the end of my visit, the simple lessons- stretch, breathe, eat more slowly and more healthily, relax had an effect. 1can now touch my toes and even sit cross-legged for 30 minutes through a meal. My back? The persistent pain hasn't entirely gone away,but it has subsided. More importantly,1can now put up with it because l've given up worrying about it.