Month: September 2025

Unscripted Story

“Last year, I think this was, actually, this was December, 2023. Um, and my husband and I and a few of our friends decided to travel to Pakistan together. So we all booked the same flight and got our seats together, and then, um, we flew to Pakistan. This was really exciting because we were taking such a long international flight together for the 1st time. And We were really excited, looking forward to it because usually, uh, during long haul flights, um, You’re really lost as to what to do, especially with this airline because, um, the airline that we flew, uh, did not have any in-flight entertainment. Um, and so we were like, okay, we’ll have each other and each other’s company. So we packed a few board games in our carry-on so we could play during the flight and it was really fun. We could also talk to each other easily. Um, And yeah, it was a really pleasant flight and then when we reached Pakistan, we um, had so many weddings to attend. Um, One of my friends who flew with us, he also had his wedding. Um, so it was a really packed trip. Um, I remember we had to attend this one day we had to attend 3 weddings at the same uh, during the same day. 2 of which were also in the same time slot. 
Um, and so I I wanted to spend more time with my family, so I told my husband, I can’t do this. Um, especially because it was, um, weddings were of his friends. And so I said, I’m not going to attend. 
I instead spend time with my family and you can go ahead. And, you know, attend for the both of us. And so then what he did was he, um, drove to the 1st wedding of the people who knew, um, who he knew would start their, um, Pentagon time, and then he drove to the 2nd one and he changed his clothes in the car, and then he attended the 2nd wedding, and then at night he ended 3rd, and by the end of the day, he was so exhausted. 
And I was glad that I didn’t do that. Um, and then there were a lot more, um, weddings and we got to socialize with so many people. December and January is usually the time when all immigrants are usually visiting back home, Pakistan, and so we’re all able to sort of get together from different parts of the world. 
And um, yeah, just talk about life and it’s, it’s a very nice break. It’s also a very nice break from Um, the really, really cold Canadian winters. Um, because over here we usually feel the absence of family more during winters. 
Um, with the days being really short and um, People just preferring to, you know, stay at home, um, do their own thing, and then with like, um, during winters, the energy is also really like low and people are just, um, generally not up for making plans. Um, So yeah, um, this year I am looking forward to winters because now I have a baby and his uh, birthday falls uh, in January. And I’m also like determined to make this winter a lot of fun. 
Maybe plan a trip or do more activities and it’s also a lot of fun to plan the day with my kid because it’s lovely to see the world from his eyes. Um, And the way that he’s experiencing things for the 1st time. really makes me happy and excited to do things with him. Um, and he’s just so entertaining. 
So I really enjoy his company. So yeah, that’s my plan for the winter.”

My Observations

This was a very interesting task. I was unsure how I would speak unscripted into a microphone for five minutes but once I got going, I started linking things together and made it to the end. After I was done and I saw the written text, I was pleasantly surprised by the small number of errors. I used the voice memo application on my phone. Usually when I receive a voicemail which is converted into text, it is almost completely incorrect, so I was expecting something similar. But this was different. It was not 100% correct but it got pretty close. I have been an English speaker since the very beginning so I think that plays a critical role in this. I believe my accent is also not too heavy. I have been around English speakers for forever and living in a country where it is spoken daily so naturally I have a lot of practice. 

The written text however does have some deviations from a text that may be typed out. There are random capitalizations of words, numbers are mentioned numerically instead of in words, some words are repeated, all the things that make it easy to identify that it was not typed out thoughtfully. I know these things because as a student who has studied in English all her life, I have been made to follow very specific grammatical guidelines for the submission and acceptability of my work. So it is easy for me to identify when it deviates from the norm I have been taught. 

The text also reflects the mistakes I made while speaking and then how I corrected them. It also shows the many ‘um’ and ‘uh’ I say while speaking. In a way, reading back my mistakes and their correction looks like it may be helpful in some cases where I need to look back at my thought process. But the repetition of some words and unnecessary pauses as well as ‘ums’ would affect my reading speed and overcrowd the text. 

I think if the story was scripted, or I had done a few takes of the same story, or even was reading off of something, the errors would almost be non-existent. There may be some words that may be incorrect such as spend may be spelt as ‘spent’ or vice versa.

11:44 Dr. Boroditsky mentions if you read and write in a language that goes from right to left, then you’ll also organize time from right to left

This is an interesting thought for me because I am a multilingual speaker which includes languages that read from both right to left and left to right. So when I am thinking in English, I think of timelines as right to left, but when I think in Urdu or Arabic, my timeline switches from left to right. 

13:25 Dr. Boroditsky mentions in mandarin the past is up and the future is down

The concept that time does not solely exist on a horizontal axis in all languages is very unique and eye-opening to me. I always thought this has nothing to do with language and just how people think but actually many languages differ in how they think of the past and future. It’s also almost disorienting for me to think that the future is backwards and the past is forwards when gesturing.

18:39 Dr. Boroditsky mentions language has causal power so you can change how people think by changing how they talk

Five minutes after I heard the previous concept and was still wondering how it’s possible, Dr. Boroditsky addressed my question by talking about how we know language is what’s causing people to think about time in different ways. So I realized it is not just language but also other aspects of culture that may be playing a part in this.

25:03 Dr. Boroditsky mentions that hurricanes are given female names because people underestimate their strength and do not evacuate

This was such an interesting fact that Dr. Boroditsky highlighted and even though it made me a little angry, I got to thinking if I do the same. And it’s true. In Urdu, everything has a gender and so whenever I have to describe something that has a female grammatical gender, I use feminine adjectives and vice versa. 

35:32 Dr. Boroditsky mentions that if you want eight potatoes, you say I want elbow potatoes

This was also very interesting to hear. You never stop and think that numbers may not exist in some languages or there may be a different way of describing them. It is obvious that other languages have different alphabetical scripts or letters but you almost never think about numbers. 

42:00 Dr. Boroditsky mentions that if you renamed prunes to plums, then young people would be more excited to buy them

This point really hit deep as it made me realize how deep-rooted some of our stereotypes are, relating to some words. And how products are marketed to make us want to buy them. A similar example would be ‘organic’. Ever since having a baby, I’ve been looking for more ‘organic’ options to buy but even those sometimes have a million things in their ingredients that I do not understand. This makes me think that sometimes just writing organic on the product packaging may push you to buy it when really it may have many preservatives and additives in it. 

References:

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Hi everyone. My name is Momina Abid and I am currently living in Toronto, ON. Presently, I am a stay at home mom to an almost 8 month old. Previously, I have worked in a wide range of roles, my most recent one being a Learning Designer and teaching coding to students and teachers across Canada. This is my last MET course. 

For this task, I chose the bag I have been carrying around everyday for nearly a decade now.

I’ve been carrying around this bag with pretty much the same items for years now. Even after going through major life changes such as graduating from college, getting a job, getting married, moving countries, and then having a baby, the contents have more or less remained the same. I find that this size and these contents work best for me when I am on the go, no matter what phase of life I am in.

For instance, having a hand cream has always been a constant because I have very dry hands which really irritate me. I am also a no-makeup person, so having a lipstick that I can apply during commute makes me look ready for the day. I also always keep a hairclip because I hate when my hair gets in my face. I also always keep some cash on me in case I need to use it. Even though almost everywhere you go now, you have the option to pay digitally but I still encounter people only accept cash transactions.

I have a cardholder which holds all of my important cards such as credit and debit card, Driver’s license, and health card. Even though all payments can now be done via phone, I still like to keep my cards handy in case my phone dies. After Covid-19, sanitizer became a common item in my bag. And I always keep a pad in case I start my period out of the blue and do not have access to one. The key is to a storage locker where my sister in law’s furniture is stored as she is in the process of moving. Not pictured here but usually in my bag are my own house keys as well as my phone and any receipts I may have acquired during the day. However, I clean out my bag regularly so you will not find any extras or things not needed in here.

The items in my bag have a lot of printed text on them giving them a name, identifying manufacturer, instructions of use among other things. There is a lot of text on the cards I carry as well. Especially my driver’s license which includes my current home address and other personal details. The hand creams and lipsticks were made in different countries, and bought from different countries around the world. They have text in different languages apart from English as well. And they all have a barcode as well. The cards I carry also have barcodes or microchips embedded into them. All of these things show that communication in today’s world is not limited to words only. It also takes place via numbers, patterns, and microprocessors. 

Since I am in my late twenties, this bag would not have existed 15 or 25 years ago. I only started carrying one, once I moved out of my parents’ home and started college. 

An archeologist would be able to identify that this bag belonged to a female, younger than the average age for menopause, and would know exactly where I lived and in which time period (probably post COVID-19). Also would be able to guess the languages I used to speak, my banking preferences, my ability to drive, and my obsession with hand creams.