After hearing my classmates experiences, stories and views on bilingualism/multilingualism, I feel that every individual has had a past, and a story that at least one or more could relate to in some sense. At some point and time in our lives, some of us felt bullied or ashamed because of the lack of perfection or command over one language or the other.
Although multilingualism seems to be just another part of one’s identity, but in every audio clip, there were a couple of similarities that portray a completely different idea about multilingualism which means it is much more than just about identity. After hearing to all the audio clips, there were some general themes across all the clips. Most of the audios were either how there is judgement on the basis of your lack of fluency in a language, or how most are seen as contemptuous. While some seemed to regret about decisions they took at younger age, others talked about how their parents are a part of their struggle, or in some cases the reason for their struggle.For instance, In jenny’s audio clip, she spoke about how she regrets not taking Chinese while being a kid and how as she has grown up into an adult, over the years she has realized her mistake and shares her struggles of not being able to communicate with her Parents.I definitely would not be able to step into her shoes but even the vivid thought of not being able to communicate with my parents haunts me because at the end of the day I like to confide in my parents and share whatever I want to without the fear of being judged, but to have a language barrier is probably one of the greatest barriers ever because language is the means of expression and if you don’t even have that, it becomes impossible to express. I wonder if she ever talked to her parents about this and asked them how they feel regarding the entire situation.On the other hand, Gauri spoke about how her own language is seen as of a derogatory status in her country and it made me realise how we share similar feelings regarding how our languages are treated in our society.The fact that Darpan proudly accepted the fact that he does struggle with the language but is trying out various ways to actually improve really fascinated me because not a lot of people own up to the fact that they are not fluent in a language and they often hesitate with the fear of being judged. However, I would really want him to know that he should never let that hinder his growth because his accent is a representation of who he is and that is what makes it unique and beautiful.
As for everybody, there are some things which are personal and have an emotion attached to it which makes it difficult for you to be able to share it with every one and so was the case with me. I was definitely uncomfortable sharing my experience as a bi-linguist but after hearing out everybody’s else’s’ experiences, i felt that we all share similar feelings and it made me more comfortable.
Nazima, Thanks for these thoughtful and supportive comments. I agree with you that there seems to be a lot of shame swirling around in connection with issues of language. It would be wonderful if we could remove some of that stigma and understand bilingualism or multilingualism as a gift as well as a challenge.