Does my face match my language?
Following on from my previous post, minorities within majorities, I've been reflecting on how which language or languages we speak is an invisible part of our identity, at least up until we use a language in any given context. Some people will assume which language or languages we can speak - or can't speak - based on our physical appearance and the context we are in. I have heard about white people visiting the Philippines and having locals assume they can speak English (specifically referring to them as 'Americanos') when they are from non-English speaking countries.
When you meet someone for the first time, you make an immediate, unconscious assumption about whether or not you have a language in common. And most often, your assumption is that they will speak the same language as you if they look like you, or if you are in a context in which you expect everyone to be a local and speak the local language (especially when you are a local).
I have caught myself making the assumption that someone will speak English with a different accent from mine based on their physical appearance. Walking through a shopping district, with a lot of small shops, I spoke to a woman of Asian appearance running one of them, and was surprised at her standard Australian accent. Given how many people I know who are second or third generation descendants of migrants, I felt that I should have factored that into my assumptions, but obviously hadn't!
I have been on the receiving end of these kinds of assumptions as well. While I was in Spain, almost everyone I met assumed I could speak Spanish - other than those who had prior knowledge of my first language being English, anyone initiating a conversation with me spoke in Spanish. And I returned the favour, assuming that everyone I met could speak Spanish, unless I knew before meeting them that they did not.
In one surprising conversation I found myself unable to understand most of what someone was saying to me, though I knew her to be local, and she clearly understood my Spanish. Talking to one of my friends, I found out she would have been speaking local dialect, or at least speaking with enough local accent and some vocabulary as to completely confuse me as a foreigner. This was the first time I had trouble understanding anyone in person based (possibly) on their accent.
Returning to the idea of identity and language, I am an English-speaking Australian who can also speak Spanish. I am an English-speaking Australian who finds languages fascinating, and has studied, or started learning, many languages. This means I have more languages at my disposal than many other English-speaking Australians (just counting Spanish on top of English), and yet in terms of a mainly multilingual world, I am fairly limited in my ability to communicate with others in a language they speak well. I have met quite a few people who can speak more than three (some people as many as six!) different languages. I wonder how they would describe themselves, in terms of their languages?
Does our language based identity significantly alter when we are in other contexts? In a Spanish-speaking country, am I a Spanish-speaking Australian, more than an English-speaking Australian who can also speak Spanish?
For those who come to Australia from other countries, some retain their accent (especially if they are from English-speaking countries) no matter how long they live here. Do you continue to feel your identity tied to the way you speak English, perhaps defining yourself against the Australian accents you hear every day?
No one can tell for sure, just based on your appearance, how many languages you speak. And if you speak multiple languages, how many languages do you need to have in common with another person for them to get to know you as a whole person? Is one language enough?
When you meet someone for the first time, you make an immediate, unconscious assumption about whether or not you have a language in common. And most often, your assumption is that they will speak the same language as you if they look like you, or if you are in a context in which you expect everyone to be a local and speak the local language (especially when you are a local).
I have caught myself making the assumption that someone will speak English with a different accent from mine based on their physical appearance. Walking through a shopping district, with a lot of small shops, I spoke to a woman of Asian appearance running one of them, and was surprised at her standard Australian accent. Given how many people I know who are second or third generation descendants of migrants, I felt that I should have factored that into my assumptions, but obviously hadn't!
I have been on the receiving end of these kinds of assumptions as well. While I was in Spain, almost everyone I met assumed I could speak Spanish - other than those who had prior knowledge of my first language being English, anyone initiating a conversation with me spoke in Spanish. And I returned the favour, assuming that everyone I met could speak Spanish, unless I knew before meeting them that they did not.
In one surprising conversation I found myself unable to understand most of what someone was saying to me, though I knew her to be local, and she clearly understood my Spanish. Talking to one of my friends, I found out she would have been speaking local dialect, or at least speaking with enough local accent and some vocabulary as to completely confuse me as a foreigner. This was the first time I had trouble understanding anyone in person based (possibly) on their accent.
Returning to the idea of identity and language, I am an English-speaking Australian who can also speak Spanish. I am an English-speaking Australian who finds languages fascinating, and has studied, or started learning, many languages. This means I have more languages at my disposal than many other English-speaking Australians (just counting Spanish on top of English), and yet in terms of a mainly multilingual world, I am fairly limited in my ability to communicate with others in a language they speak well. I have met quite a few people who can speak more than three (some people as many as six!) different languages. I wonder how they would describe themselves, in terms of their languages?
Does our language based identity significantly alter when we are in other contexts? In a Spanish-speaking country, am I a Spanish-speaking Australian, more than an English-speaking Australian who can also speak Spanish?
For those who come to Australia from other countries, some retain their accent (especially if they are from English-speaking countries) no matter how long they live here. Do you continue to feel your identity tied to the way you speak English, perhaps defining yourself against the Australian accents you hear every day?
No one can tell for sure, just based on your appearance, how many languages you speak. And if you speak multiple languages, how many languages do you need to have in common with another person for them to get to know you as a whole person? Is one language enough?
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