Day 1 (09/11/23): I attended my BLS class and I do not know anyone in the class. When asked to share ideas in groups I switched my speech to become easier to understand and only shared part of my ideas because I did not want to talk too much. I tend to have this switch occur when I am meeting new people because I don’t want to talk too much
Day 2 (09/12/23): When leaving for school in the morning I unintentionally switch to saying Good Morning to my doorman in Albanian. I then later switched to speaking English when I was in school and talking to friends. I think that I switch in this situation because I speak to my parents in a mixture of Albanian and English and when I see my dad speaking to my doorman and usually does it in Albanian so I picked up on this.
Day 3 (09/13/23): Before my 9:05 class in the morning I meet my cousin who is in the same class. When talking to her I speak louder and sometimes animate my words with my hands. Later when we depart and I go to a different class I switch to staying to myself and focusing on my work. I believe I do this switch because my cousin is someone I know and feel more comfortable with while in the other classes I don’t really know many people.
Day 4 (09/14/23): After leaving my math class I went to go get lunch with my cousin and when I was up to order I changed from speaking in a somewhat informal way to a more formal way because I was saying my order. I believe I did this switch because I wanted my order to be correct so if I spoke more formally then it would be correct.
Day 5 (09/15/23): Friday I had my first training for a new soccer team I had joined and it was the first time that I met my teammates. I noticed a switch here when I met my teammates. I was a bit more shy and didn’t talk too much because I did not know anyone. I believe that this switch occurred because I didn’t know anyone on the team so I was a bit hesitant to make conversation which led me to not talking too much.
Day 6 (09/16/23): On saturday my grandparents came over to my house and I made a constant switch without noticing. I would go from speaking in English to my brother one second to speaking Albanian to my grandparents the next without any hesitation. I believe that I did this switch because I’ve always spoke Albanian to my grandparents and therefore that is what I associate with them and I then change to English because I feel more comfortable in English so I speak it with my brother
Day 7 (09/17/23): Sunday was my first game for the new team that I joined and my brother and I drove to the game, we also picked up one of my teammates. I noticed a switch from before picking up my teammate and after. Before I was alone with my brother so I felt more comfortable to talk more. When we picked up my teammates that I don’t know very well I didn’t talk as much because I didn’t feel as comfortable.
I’ve come to realize that it’s not just me who becomes more quieter when I’m in situations in where I don’t feel comfortable. We just have to get used to going outside our comfort zone and building up that confidence to get to know others. In your case it would be your teammates in your soccer team. As time goes by you’ll find yourself making friends who you may have for a long time.
I am similar to you in the way that I become more shy around groups of people I am not familiar with. I also greet people around my block or neighborhood in Spanish and you can see the look of appreciation on their face.
Glad to see that I’m not the only one who likes to be quiet in situations where I don’t feel the most comfortable. I also relate to speaking in different languages when talking to my parents or to my grandmother.
We both share a commonality; I too also unintentionally switch language barriers when I meet and greet someone who speaks the same language as me.