DUE: Wednesday, 12 September 11:59PM
As you know, I'm from Hawaii. In Hawaiian, we have a saying: "I ka 'ōlelo no ke ola, i ka 'ōlelo nō ka make." Translated, it means: "In language there is life, in language there is death."I just finished reading a play about a language archivist which stated that every 14 days a language dies. Many of you speak a myriad of languages in addition to English. My question this week is this: How do YOU balance your heritage with where you live, the language you speak at home, and the English of your educational world? For those of you who only speak English, focus on the location part of the question (heritage is cultural, too). Do any of you feel in danger of losing your "home culture" as you live in the academic English world?
Please make an effort to read and incorporate other's posts in your responses. If you are one of the first responses, visit again again later to comment.
This type of question can be answered from different aspects. French is my first language but I am more comfortable speaking in English. Firstly, my definition of a first language is not the language you know better but the language which you learnt first. In my case, this language is French. At home I only speak in French, with the workers I speak in Lingala, with my mom’s side of the family they speak to me in Swahili but I answer them in French and at school I speak English. Personally I don’t think I’m capable of losing my culture living in an English community, and there are numerous ways in which I balance my heritage with where I live. Congo, being my homeland and living here makes it easy for me to interact with others in French and Lingala, including in TASOK, a diverse community of individuals. All my current friends and entourage speak both French and Lingala which are the two languages in which we communicate in other than English. For example, at times, certain jokes sound funnier in Lingala than they would in English. Under those circumstances we would say the joke in Lingala, laugh about it and continue our whole conversation in Lingala or in French. As you can see, it’s practically impossible for me to lose my home language in an English community. However, I do think that in college this would be a different story. As we all go to university, we all take different paths, we end up in different places, and we meet completely new people. If we’re lucky enough, we can find ourselves in a community of individuals who have the same ethnic backgrounds as us, however, sometimes we have to meticulously search for those who are like us. In such circumstances it can be hard for one to stay attached to their home because they have no one to speak to in their native language and this can lead them to “getting lost in the English world”. Overall, in college, all it takes is finding a community of people in which you can easily exchange a few words with so that you can reminisce being at home.
ReplyDeleteYou have so many languages in which you are comfortable. Interestingly, so do so many of your friends and family members. While you are right about things changing as you move into adulthood and face the possibility of new lands and living communities changing this fact, I question whether or not you understand how singularly diverse your languages families are. While most of the people you know here speak English, French, Lingala, and Swahili, I think you will be hard pressed to find this combination in other parts of the world. But then again, maybe I'm out of touch with my own homeland - the world is getting flatter every day.
DeleteWhy is it that the majority of us who travel to other places forget our original background and traditions that once defined who we were? Why do we forget where we’ve come from and who we really are?
ReplyDeleteI’ve realized that in our modern world, several of us don’t take culture and tradition into consideration. Our reasons may vary but when it comes down to it, we have simply lost our roots. Maybe its because we feel like outcasts or outsiders that need to be part of other cultures in order to fit in or because of how we’ve been brought up, our environment, our friends. Or maybe it’s simply because we’ve adapted to our new environment and picked up aspects of the different cultures surrounding us. Take us Indians for example. A lot of us don't know how to speak any of our native languages. We forget where we’re from and as small as it sounds, the language you speak plays big role in describing who you are, how diverse you are, and how open you are to different cultures. You can blame not knowing your native language on being brought up in a foreign country but honestly; choosing to follow your customs or those that surround you depends completely on you. Yes, my ethnicity is Indian, my parents are Indian, but the customs I choose to follow vary. I can say I’m Indian, Kenyan, Congolese, Canadian, American, and Pakistani. I have integrated characteristics from different parts of the world and I’m not ashamed of it. I am diverse. Having grown up in an international school filled with people from all over the world has influenced who I am today. My culture has become a mixture of everyone else’s, and this is what defines who I really am. I may not be fluent in my native language but I manage to speak it because although I grew up speaking only English and French, I was able to pick up Gujurati as well as parts of Hindi and Urudu because of my parents and the many Indian movies I’ve watched growing up.
There is no harm in being diverse and multi-cultural. Your ethnicity may be French, Indian, Russian, or Chinese but so long as your values and background remain strong, balancing the language you speak at home and the English language you speak in your educational world, should not be difficult at all.
I'm curious. How can you hold fast to your "native culture" without the language that accompanies it? There are so many concepts and ideas that can only be expressed in the language that supports it, without the language how can the specific ideas survive? Things like "pono" or "mana`o" in Hawaiian, or "guan xi" in Mandarin. There is simply no equal in other languages. i've also been in many places where bi and tri lingual people code-switch constantly and fluently without even knowing it as they express ideas that support each cultures ideas. You mention you have made an attempt to learn "a few phrases" in your family's languages. Can you communicate in any of them? Would it be important to you to have your children know the languages?
ReplyDeleteThere’s a famous saying “one can lose a diamond or a watch, but one can never lose knowledge”, and this saying goes with language. English is one of the most dominant languages today and a large sum of the world speaks it today.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself Pakistani/ Canadian. I live in a French speaking country and I go to an English speaking school. Living in Congo I haven’t really got the chance to learn my native language which is Urdu. I understand Urdu pretty well and I can speak enough to keep me alive if I was stuck in Pakistan. Although I cant write in Urdu, I’m probably never going to forget the language because my parents speak it at home and I visit Pakistan every 6 months.
Personally, I prefer speaking in English because I speak it the most, compared to Lingala, French, and Urdu. I’m an outdoor person so I spend most of my time with the locals here in Congo, which helps me with Lingala and French. When speaking to the locals, I end up mixing both languages up which gives me practice.
For moment the languages I speak and understand will not be lost, but when I travel I get a little rusty with my Urdu and Lingala. I don’t forget the language but I lose practice. Its natural and you can always get it back slowly.
Although I may not be fluent in my Native language, I have realized that with the world evolving. English, French, Mandarin, and other dominant languages are the main languages being spoken. And who knows? Maybe in 500 years those 3 languages might be the only languages spoken. As small languages die, the big ones get more people speaking it. This process might in fact remove a lot of the languages from this world.
Will removing these smaller languages and allowing the bigger, more dominate ones to grow even more dominate, are we losing the diversity of culture along with diversity of language? If we are, does it matter?
DeleteEnglish is my first one only language (if you don’t consider the few words I know in French, Korean, and Quenya. I also know a good portion of C which is a programming language, but I’m guessing you weren’t referring to that in the question.) With my limited knowledge of languages I feel less able to answer the question than I’d like. Though I have had the opportunity to hear many different languages around me, which I always miss when I go back to the states; I miss when I can’t eves drop. Language is an extremely important difference between cultures.
ReplyDeleteJ. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the trilogy The Lord of The Rings (as well as The Hobbit, and many other books which all take place in the same world known as “Middle-Earth”), was a linguist and studied many different languages during his time at university. Before he wrote his books, however, he created several different languages that he later incorporated into his books. Each language he made was very unique, and later as he wrote his books he built the different cultures around the different languages. The race of Elves was created around the languages Quenya and Sindarian, whereas the Dwarves were created around the very different language of Khuzdul. Tolkien used his languages to create these two very different cultures, which can be related to the real world.
In my opinion it seems like languages are the main aspect that keep cultures different from each other. Its more than just how people talk, it’s how people learn and understand the world. Like Jennifer said “…certain jokes sound funnier in Lingala than they would in English,” the joke is funnier in Lingala not only because the words are different and sound different than how it would in English, but the culture tide with the language makes it funny because that culture has a slightly different way of looking at the world (I could be wrong about this, but it’s how I see it.) Language is culture, they are too closely tied together to talk about one without the other, that is why when you take a language class you learn about the culture (where the language is from) as well as the language it’s self.
In America, as millions of immigrants arrived, there was a great mixture of culture. However, since America only has one (official) language everyone had to almost change to become “Americans” and leave their old culture (and language) behind. That is how the new culture of America came about. The American “culture” is not actually theirs; it is a mixture of everyone else’s. With that having been said, I don’t think it is possible to completely lose your culture if you move there, your next generation may, and you may even forget your previous language, but you will never lose who you are and how you see and understand the world (which is a result form your previous culture and language.)
I love your use of the phrase "culture tide." And I agree with you about the American dominate (we really still don't have a legal "official") language usurping the independent cultures that come into it. I have a friend who is 3rd generation American. Her grandparents came from Taiwan and the joke among other 3-g kids is "that means my parents speak English without an accent."
DeleteI was not referring to C language, but in considering it, I think you are right. It is very much a real language with a real culture around it. And they are co-dependent on each other.
Strong, thoughtful reply. You open up some new avenues of thought. Thank you.
Your question was how do YOU balance your heritage with where you live, the language you speak at home, and the English of your educational world? Many people in today’s world don’t even know what their native language is. The world is completely dominated by the English language which isn’t a bad thing but it keeps some from their culture/language. As for me, I’m an Indian who’s spent all my life in Congo. I visit India once in like two years. Does that mean I’m completely unaware of my native language? No, i speak Gujrati fluently and so I do speak English, French Hindi and Lingala. It merely depends on how close you hold to your culture and tradition. In my opinion I don’t think it is possible to lose your culture living in an English community, because there are numerous ways in which people can balance their ethnicity and keep up to their language. The language you speak plays big role in describing who you are. I’ve had great experience in this, when someone in India notices you don’t speak Gujrati or Hindi all they say is “you don’t belong here”. India is culturally very diverse and not knowing your native language is a shame. I personally cannot write or read Gujrati but just by speaking it makings me feel I’m aware of my culture and traditions. Many people feel that being able to speak English is enough because English the dominate language. True it is, but i feel that your language defines who are and where you originate from. It shows your diversity and capability of holding strong to your heritage. Languages are what keep you unique from other cultures. I believe mostly half of the world’s population speak English but do most of them speak your native language. Languages make you stand out and as an Indian I’m quite familiar with people not knowing their native language. It doesn’t seem to be the consequences of living in an English community; it is just the way things fall down nowadays.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is my first language, but it wasn't always the language in which I was the most comfortable. I did most of my schooling from kindergarten up to the 7th grade in French, then transitioned into an English speaking education. The transition was not as hard as one would expect, because I could read and speak English well. The only problem was that, as I transitioned into an English speaking education, I was also moving to the English speaking countries of Uganda and later the US. It never occurred to me, that in the transition I could possibly lose my French or my Kinyarwanda (language spoken in Rwanda), but slowly over the years, speaking has become harder due to a lack of practice. I still understand both languages pretty well, but unfortunately speaking is not as easy as it used to be. Now that I am back in a French speaking country, speaking French is practically unavoidable, though I try really hard not to. So I have been getting some practice. Kinyarwanda on the other hand, is always a challenge, especially when with relatives who expect you to speak it.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to losing "home culture", I have never been afraid of losing it. Though I have lived in different countries, my culture is never at stake. As I grew up with traditions that my parents often talk about and incorporate into our lives, regardless of where we reside. It’s become part of who I am.
Again, you talk about culture and language together, but you don't attempt to explain how they support each other. You also say you are trying to avoid speaking French now, but you don't explain why. How did moving to English speaking countries affect you? You say it was a problem, but don't explain why this is so?
Delete
ReplyDeleteInterracial marriages can be seen as a trend in today’s society, being brought up by a Taiwanese mother who grew up in South America and an Indian father who grew up in the DRC, I feel quite ethnically diverse. Having parents whose cultures drastically differ from each other is always a learning experience to me. Getting a taste of the authentic foods from both cultures is always appealing, travelling around the world every year is a great adventure, learning about the different religions my parents follow, and of course listening to a variety of languages on a daily basis is like music to my ears.
My first language is English but I picked up Mandarin simultaneously since it is “mother tongue.” Residing in the DRC for my whole life introduced me to the romantic French language, as well as picking up a few phrases of the local language Lingala. Hence, I’m known as the “Trilingual Chindian.” Unfortunately, I never picked up Urdu, which is my dad’s native language but thankfully I can understand a solid amount of it. Balancing my heritage with where I currently live is never a problem since my surroundings are also culturally diverse and supportive of all religions, and backgrounds. I don’t feel in danger of losing my “home culture” while growing in an academically American English influenced world since TASOK is a school that encourages accepting and mingling the virtues of worldwide nationalities. I consider myself a representative of the US melting pot.
Preserving your native language is very important, because it is part of your culture and who you are. In my case, I have been educated in English since I was in fourth grade, but my first language is French. I speak English as good as I speak French. I try to keep some balance between the two languages, by using them in different environments. . Adding to English and French, I also speak Swahili, and most of my family members on both of my parent’s sides speak Swahili, including my parents. Thus, I speak Swahili and French when I’m around them. Coming to answer the question on whether I ‘’ feel in danger of losing my home language is no I don’t feel that way. I just can’t forget French because I’ve always spoken it even while, living in the academic English world. Thus, it makes me hard to forget and I also put efforts in keeping it as fluent as possible. At school, I speak mostly English, but I have times when I think in French and i put some of words in French when I talk with my friends ,because after all it’s the language I learnt first. I would encourage people to keep their native language because it is an essential part of your culture and it helps you interact with other people from home land. Another advantage of to preserve your home language is that, you never know how it can be helpful in a certain way in your life. In addition, I feel very proud knowing that I still have my language heritage and I am more than interesting in learning different languages besides English. Every language has its beauty and a certain meaning for its people. To some extend, some language are similar in pronunciation, but different in meaning. Therefore, it creates some sort of connection between different cultures.
DeleteCybelle,
DeleteYou say you will never forget your native French, because you speak it daily. While the language itself is important, you do not elaborate on any of the cultural differences that come about due to the differences in language. Why do you feel compelled to switch back and forth? What is lacking in English that causes you to code switch? Could it be a specific expression or feeling that just doesn't translate? Can you describe the difference?
Alina,
DeleteI like the focus you place on the differences between the cultures, especially on such a personal level. You don't, however, tie languages into the cultural differences. How does the language support (or not) the differences in culture or everyday patterns of behavior? For example, Mandarin is a fairly formal, polite language compared to American English. It focuses heavily on relationships and placing every person you come into contact with on a hierarchial scale: oldest sister, mother's younger brother, boss, employee, friend, co-worker... While American English, with it's emphasis on names, strives to equalize everyone while making them as individual as possible. Find more specific examples to support your overarching idea.
Our culture really defines who we are, it makes as unique and diffrent from one another. When people meet you for the first time they wouldn’t be able recognize or say what nationality you are or where you come from. But example you spoke Hindi they would immediately understand that you are probably from India or are an Indian. It is very hard for me to have a balance between holding my heritage with where I live. I’ve spent 12 years living in Congo and can speak Lingala properly and a bit of French but not that well. At school and at home I speak in English as well as Guajarati, which I speak with my grandparents. And when I go to India, which I go once or twice a year I have to speak in Hindi because people don’t understand Guajarati (well they do but only a few do), Lingala, or French. I remember when I was a kid everyone in my family from my dad to my mom, my uncle to my aunt, and my grandparents all of us used to speak in Guajarati at home but, as time changed the amount of members speaking Guajarati in my family decreased and we all started to speak in English except, my grandparents. So yes, I agree to the fact that living in another place did affect my heritage. Not only living in another place but, also because of change in time. As time changes, peoples mentality and the way they look at thing change too. But I don’t want that to happen because my cullture it is the only thing that defines me. Slowly but I am ignoring or trying to forget, not forget in the sense that I don’t want to speak Guajarati its just that we barely speak Guajarati so it’s like forgetting my native language or my heritage trying to adjust to another environment.
ReplyDeleteKarima,
DeleteYou use the word "heritage" regularly in exchange with "language." Are they the same thing? Or does one support the other? Why are there differences in language and how do they support (or not) difference in culture? If your grandparents are the only ones left in the family who speak Guajarati, how have everyone else's lives changed as a result of leaving the language? What about Hindi? Are there different levels of relationships that English does not support? What is the connection between language and culture?
Hindi is my first language rather than English and I am literate in both even though I speak other Indian languages. Also it is known to everyone that for Indians culture is a very important part. Even though we are in the 21st century and everything has become so liberal India still remains to be by far the most culturally strict and it will keep being that way. I have already been brought in a very Indian way and that makes me respect my culture. I’ve always travelled my whole life and have studied in an American school and never have I or my parents feared that I would end up losing my home culture. I have been brought up that way, even though I have lived overseas most of my life my parents raised me as an Indian and speak to me Hindi. Big credits though should be given to my mother who sat for hours with my sister and I just to teach us Hindi. Another big influence is Bollywood, it might sound weird but I listen to a lot of Hindi music and that also doesn’t let me forget who I am. This is just not me but most Indians that have lived all their lives outside of India. I have so many Indian friends that have never been to India, but what makes me proud is that they know their Hindi. This proves the point that Indians take culture very serious and wherever they might be and no matter how modern they are the most prevalent thing is their culture. Even if I tried to, which I won’t, I will not be able to forget my culture and the part of the reason being my parents who have brought me up lie an Indian. It is also shocking for many people, that even though I haven’t lived in India for long I am still literate in Hindi. My reply to that is it is not the distance that separates one from culture it is the mindset and influence but rather the bring up that affects culture the most. If I wasn’t brought like an Indian and had my parents been liberal with my Hindi I’d barely be able to speak the languge.
ReplyDeleteShreya,
DeleteYou make a strong point about the fact that your parents reinforced your "home" language throughout your life, but you don't explain how the language is connected to the culture. How is it different than your English speaking culture is different than your Hindi-speaking one? Find things within the language and the way it works that make each supportive of different cultures.
The word “Korean” has a lot of meanings to me. It describes my national identity, where I was born, and what language I speak. I am a “hundred-percent-pure” Korean girl, who have traveled the world, to the places where people in my country would never thought of: India, South Africa and DRC. However, my heritage has always been Korea and I never thought that learning English has affected me in a cultural way. Yes, I might have some ideas that eastern people would not agree, but my home culture has always been Korea and I know myself that I, even though I lived half of my life oversea, am true Korean.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first went to South Africa 5 years ago, I could not speak English as well as I do right now. “Yes,” “No,” “Okay,” and “I don’t know” were the only words that I used in school and most of the time I just kept quiet. Teachers would describe me shy and my classmates would not ask me questions because they know that I will ask them to restate the questions. One day, the 7th grade English teacher told me that I should use English at home with my brother and my dad and that would help me improving on my English. It sounded like a good idea but my brother refused to do so. Our family just kept on speaking in Korean, watching Korean TV programs and listening to Korean music. I think because I have been living with my family, rather than having a home-stay with foreigners, which my friends in United States do, I just naturally learned my home culture, even if my parents did not have the “lessons” for Korean culture. English, to me, was just a language that I used in school, a language I can speak other than Korean, and a language I write and read more often than I do in Korean.
It must be very fascinating to Koreans who have lived there for their whole life to speak English fluently. I also appreciate a lot that I had a chance to live oversea and learn English in a English speaking school, rather than to be forced to learn English just because it is a subject I need in Korea. Still, while I was living oversea, I have never separated myself from Korea; I am always interest in Korean news, music, movies, and TV programs. Now I am planning to go to University in Korea and find more about Korean culture like Korean history, which I do not really know
Yeun Ji, you don't ever really address how the language and the culture are interconnected. How does keeping the language alive keep your culture alive?
DeleteLanguage is a road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going said Rita Mae Brown. Languages are so important in this world because without them, how could we communicate with each other. It is so important for me to know my mother‘s tongue and my parents make sure I don’t forget that. French is my first language and I feel more comfortable speaking French than any other languages. I speak English at school, French at home, Lingala with the workers and Swahili with my mom and my grandmother. My mother’s tongue is Swahili and she makes sure I don’t forget it even when I will go in the US for college. She is always talking to me in Swahili and she wants me to reply in Swahili too. I have no choice but to speak Swahili with my grandmother because that is the only language she knows. I have been educated in French and in English, I can write both in French and English. English is one of the dominant languages in the world and it is essential to learn it. I am not afraid of losing my culture because I will still speak Swahili with my brothers when I will leave. We feel more comfortable when we teasing each other in Swahili and French .It is a good thing to be diverse in language and keep our cultures because we never know in what situation we are going to face.
ReplyDeleteDoris, you have created a relationship between your different languages and your family, but you don't address how each language supports the individual cultures. Do you behave or think differently when you code switch and use different languages? Are there phrases or words that mean something in one language but not in others? How does the language support or take away from the culture?
DeleteI really think that this is an interesting subject and we should think more often about it. I just logged on the Common Application website and they were asking me about three languages that I speak; they are also asking me what is my first language and I started to think for a minutes. According to me, your mother tongue or your first language is the language you first started to learn with. I studied in French almost my whole life so for me French is definitely my mother tongue. I taught English at home because my dad would speak English at home every day and he would only let me watch cartoons in English. Now how do I balance my heritage with where I live, the language I speak at home and the English of my educational world? This is a really hard question for me; I would say that everything depends on where you are. I have lived in Ivory Coast, France, Tunisia and here mostly and every single country has different cultures and heritage. The way people will speak French in Ivory Coast is really different from the one in Tunisia, so I think it depends. DRC is quite different because even though one of the official language is French, to survive in Kinshasa you must know a little of Lingala.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me to answer that question because at home or even at school I switch from English to French all the time. I remember Mr. Gjuilin asked Jenn and me “how do you guys do to switch from English to French in the same sentence?” we answered that we do not even notice that we stopped talking in English. It became something automatic, and this is how I speak at home. I can have a conversation with my mum in French and end by talking English; we can sometimes even add a little of Arabic in it. Now how is all this affecting my educational world; well TASOK is an American school so teachers will give classes in English obviously, when the teacher talks my brain will translate automatically what he is saying in French. Is this weird? I do not know but this is how I function. And it is actually works.
So yes I think being able to talk many languages and know about different cultures can be an advantage or disadvantage for you. First because it is always great to be able to speak many languages and also when you can speak a language you know a bit of its culture. I think it can be a disadvantage for the reason that you can be confused in those diverse cultures, while a culture is made so that you can define who you are and be different from other people. So those cultures can make a confusion in our heads sometimes especially when you’re parents comes from different countries. Having Nigerian, Beninese and Cameroonian origins added to the French, English, Arabic and some Spanish that I can speak; I don’t consider myself as French but citizen of the world.
Maelle,
DeleteYou speak with a certain amount of eloquence to this prompt. Your opening and closing strongly support your comfort in several languages. You bring up a new point - even countries that speak the same official language (French) have differences in how the cultures work. Interesting. I wanted to see what you were going to say to explain this, but you didn't take it that far. I can see how many of you, most comfortable in several languages, consider yourselves more global than members of any one culture. I see a lot of this in international students - esp those whose parents claim allegiance to one country: a different one from their child.
In my country language defines who you are because we have eleven official languages. Although this does not divide us as a people, the language one speaks defines who they are. For instance Zulu people are known as to be fighters and Xhosa people are to be liars, now this is mostly based on stereotypes and myths of old as well as things that have happened in the past. I speak seven South African languages namely Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Afrikaans, Pedi and English. I am Zulu but I grew up with Xhosa speaking people and mostly exposed to their culture and way of doing things. As soon as I stepped home though there was change in atmosphere because my mom is a strong Zulu woman and she wanted things said and done in a different way. For example the Xhosa people did not mind their children calling them by their first names but the Zulu people are very strict about it. As a young person you never call an adult by their first name because they are older than you and it is just rude. TASOK is most probably the only school where I know the teachers first name and it is ok. I think that a language cannot define who you are; language just carries a lot of history that is then just used to define who you are without facts. English being the medium of most of my communication, my father feels like it leads me as the youth and future of the Zulu language further away from my roots. Although he knows how essential it is for my success he insists that I be literate in my home language. I feel like the fact that I use English as a medium of communication does not mean I’m drawing away from my language or roots, I am just expanding my horizons in the western environment. One thing that I always do to show my dad that I am still connected to my home language, I stop speaking English as soon as I get home (unless I’m nagging).
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed talking to all of you today about this subject. Probably a topic we will revisit in another vein later.
ReplyDeleteMy first language is French and it is the language that I feel the most comfortable with. Even though my dad can also speak Lingala and English and my mom Swahili, French is the only language I have been speaking my whole life at home with my family. We lived in many English speaking countries like Nigeria or Ghana, but before I came to The American School Of Kinshasa (Tasok) I didn’t take the English language too seriously. I would just use English to talk to the workers or just to know how to answer when English speakers would talk to me, but I could not handle a long talk in that language… I was in a French speaking school and I spoke French at home. Then my first year at Tasok, I remember always being afraid to lose my first language. I noticed sometimes it was hard for me to switch from French to English because most of the time I would forget words and how to formulate sentences. And it even happened when I was switching from English to French, I would sometimes feel less comfortable speaking in my own language, because I was still thinking in English after school. But I quickly understood that it was almost impossible for me to forget French. French is the language I speak when I get home, when I travel to see my family, when I’m talking to the workers, when I travel to go see my French friends, or even when I talk to students in Tasok who for most of them speak a fluent and perfect French. Basically what I’m saying it is that I am surrounded by French speakers almost everywhere I go so there is no reason for me to be scared to lose my first language.
ReplyDeletePlus I have never been afraid of losing my “home culture”. To me, like your first language, your Culture is something that you remain with since you’re born, because thanks to your family you live it everyday. As Rita said it is the traditions that our parents “incorporated into our lives, regardless of where we reside”. My language is a part of my “home culture”. we all speak French in the family and my culture is based on my parents’ origins and on the education they’ve got from their parents.
Kevin, again I ask: how does your language tie in with your culture? Do you say/do some things differently because of the language? Do you behave differently in French than in English? What causes you to code switch between languages? Are there values or traditions that you only use one language for?
DeleteGrew up in a French family, spent my childhood in an English country, but sometimes I think in French and sometimes I also think in English. French has made a big impact in my life because knowing and learning it has made me see big things in this world such as traveling around in French countries, but a language that has really made me see a big part of the world is English because nowadays I can use it whenever I feel like it. But deep down in me I know that I will still be Congolese because most of the people that don’t know me will think that I am South African, or British because of my English accent that pretty much sounds like I came from an English speaking country, but as they say that everyone has they mother tongue, mine is Lingala but for all these years I have tried to never forget the language I can say that I’m a very fluent speaker even though the D. R. C is the only country in the world that speaks Lingala.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have tried for these past few years to still speak French as fluent as I could, but I think that my accent in French is starting to fade because now has I spending most of my time, speaking and writting in English, I think that I will end uo forgetting the language in which I was raised by. Eventhough I think that day by days I’m learning more English words and improving my vocabulary.
Do you really think you can completely lose your mother tongue if you have been speaking it throughout your teen years? I do know people who, after they entered kindergarten, spoke only English and they have become deficient in their 1st language, but even they still have the basics. Since you were a teen and since you still do use French outside of school, I think you will keep it for a while.
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