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م2021 برمس�يد

dEaLInG WIth SocIaL anxIEty

after the coVId-19 pandemic

written By Sarah Almisned, Spectrum Club member

As the worst of the colossal coronavirus storm ebbs out, we more apparent.
vigilantly re-entered society and picked up where we left Take this matter seriously as it also affects your relationships
off. if you avoid all or most social interactions.
Not many people considered the significant psychological You can express these sentiments to people around you,
impact of returning to our pre-corona lifestyles, especially and they will likely have similar struggles.
after quarantine. Many have noticed a change in their behavior, particularly
People who have become accustomed to solitude when forming new friendships or maintaining old ones.
experience new or increased social anxiety and are having Fortunately, social anxiety caused by quarantine might last
difficulties adjusting to the social repercussions of the a short time, and you will be able to adjust adequately. Try
pandemic. allowing yourself to ease back into social situations by taking
If you feel uneasy with the return of regular classes and it slowly. It is expected after so long in quarantine to be so
going back to work, then you are not alone. apprehensive. Be open about our newfound struggles, as
The aftermath of the pandemic is an issue that billions of many will be able to relate and share their own experiences.
people are currently experiencing. But social anxiety is not something to sweep under the rug.
Negative social impacts such as crowd anxiety and If the feelings linger, you should seek medical advice to help
apprehension of pre-pandemic behavior are becoming speed up your recovery.

Language and thought:

an academic discourse

written by Sumayyah Shaikh, College of humanities

Does the language you speak have an effect on the way was regarding the Russian language, which categorizes the connotations and associations that we may associate
you think? Could our differences as people be linked to the dark blue and light blue as two completely separate and with it. For instance, as the word “bridge” in German is
different languages that we speak? distinct colours, each with its own name. Consequently, feminine, German speakers used adjectives like “slender”
On September 30th of 2021, The Digital Literary club Russian speakers view these colours as being exactly that, and “petite” when asked what words they associate with
hosted its first virtual session of semester 211 titled separate and distinct. Compare this with speakers of the it. On the other hand, in Spanish, “bridge” is masculine
“Language and Thought: A Sapir-Wharf Hypothesis”. The English language who perceive dark blue and light blue to and Spanish speakers replied with words like “strong” and
online session was presented by Ms. Amena Naseer, a be merely two shades of the same colour. To get a better “sturdy” when presented with the same question.
junior transfer student at PSU studying Applied Linguistics, grasp of this concept, try asking yourself this: would you To conclude, Ms. Amena described the immense indirect
and delved into the fascinating subject of language and label pink as light red? Why does that sound weird? After influence that language can have on our perception,
thought. Ms. Amena began her talk with a warm welcome all, it technically would not be wrong. through hidden information that is implicitly carried
to all of the guests and briefly introduced herself. She then The second point that the host discussed was related to within words and language. Although we may not always
introduced the topic of interest – language and thought our view of accountability and blame. When someone be fully aware of it, information can be indirectly attached
– and explained the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis, the theory says “I broke my arm”, they do not mean they intentionally to a word depending on its conjugation, tense, category,
that suggests our perception of the world is determined hurt themselves, yet the structure of the sentence places grammatical gender, context, and structure. This can (and
by our thought processes, which is governed by language; the blame on them, despite the fact that they may not surely does) have an effect on our perception and outlook
thus, language affects our worldview. She then posed the be responsible at all. As the structure of certain English of events, our lives, and the world itself! The session ended
question “What does language mean?” to the audience. sentences implies that someone must be held responsible with an insightful quote by philosopher Bertrand Russell:
One of the guests enthusiastically replied “communication” for an action or occurrence, English speakers are more “Language serves not only to express thought but to make
and another answered “identity”. likely to place blame on people and remember who was possible thoughts which could not exist without it.”
Afterwards, Ms. Amena moved on to the topic of involved rather than the details of the event itself. On the Overall, the first virtual session of the semester was a great
multilingualism and its array of advantages. She pointed out other hand, in Spanish, the person involved in sentences success, and most members of the audience expressed their
that, as well as being able to communicate with people from that convey accidents is omitted, making Spanish speakers satisfaction with it. Many of the attendees commented that
other cultures, people who speak multiple languages tend less likely to place blame and more likely to remember they found the topic to be “very interesting”, “amazing”,
to be more open-minded and they possess the ability to see the details of what happened as opposed to who was and even “mind blowing”.
things from more than one point of view. Because of this, responsible. Ms. Amena pointed out that the language a Stay tuned for more interesting and engaging content from
multilingualism can prove to be incredibly advantageous in person speaks can greatly influence the parts of a story that The Digital Literary Club and follow them on their social
business situations as it expands our comprehension of the they consider to be most important. media accounts to stay updated.
world around us. The third element that Ms. Amena presented was specific Instagram: @digitalliterary
Following this, the speaker discussed a few various aspects to the gender of words (masculine and feminine). Of Twitter: @digitalliterar1
of language that can influence perception. The first of course, this point could not be applied to the English Blog: digiliteralclub.wordpress.com
these was related to vocabulary, specifically, names of language as this is not a feature that is present here. She YouTube: DigiLit!
colours. One of the examples that Ms. Amena provided explained that the gender of a word can massively impact