A language. What does it mean? And why do some people want me to ‘speak only English’?
A language teacher’s medley of thoughts on ‘Speak only English’ posters in Norwich
The “Brexit day” posters that someone stuck to doors of Winchester Tower in Norwich on Friday the 31st of January 2020 didn’t make me angry, only upset. I thought, how incredibly sad someone has never had the chance to experience a different culture through a language that is not their mother tongue. I feel lucky I have. Many times. And being Polish living in England I still do, every day, through English, Swedish, German, Portuguese and Polish, the five languages I speak.
It saddened me also, because hatred so quickly and easily generates hatred. And I don’t want to hate the person, that created the poster and react to news like that with rage, to then pay it forward.
Instead, I am trying to understand why this person would want me to speak only English, when I am not English, and why would it matter to them so much anyway. Fear of the unknown? Lack of curiosity? Lack of education?Maybe the person was hurt by someone with a foreign background? Or maybe they believed something some politician said? Whatever the reason, I feel the person is not happy and they want to tell me they are the victim here.
Many native English speakers take their English language for granted. They speak a language that almost everyone in the world can speak. Many of them will never learn any foreign language, because they will never need to. For that reason they should feel privileged, not victimised. I know language is not the only reason the poster was created, but I feel someone is trying to use the language to blame me for their fate. That’s not fair.
Most of the time I am a curious person. So for me, learning a new language has been a need born out of curiosity. I want to learn new things every day and the best way to learn is through listening to other people, to their own language, to what they have to say. I would love to be able to speak to that poster person face to face. To listen to their language and their story, to understand. And then to calmly tell them, that I will keep speaking Polish, Swedish, Portuguese and German with my friends on the streets of London whenever I want to.
A language is a system of communication consisting of sounds, words, and grammar, or the system of communication used by people in a particular country or type of work, says Cambridge Dictionary. But it is so much more than that. A language to me is an identity and an infinite source of inspiration. Something indescribable that I know I will never fully explore, because it expands, like the Universe.
The language learning process is a never-ending story. I learned Swedish as an adult and have been teaching it for years now. Being a Swedish language teacher doesn’t mean I know everything about Swedish. But neither do Swedish native speakers (a comforting thought). And that is why learning languages never stops exciting me. I create new sentences just like musicians create new phrases. To express myself.
(Btw. Listen to the incredible Victor Wooten talking about music as a language in this video).
I like saying I am a liberal language teacher. I like teaching the system and the rules, but in my opinion the rules are there to be broken. So I encourage my students to improvise, and just go for it. I appreciate when they try to speak and invent their own words, sounds or movements, to communicate something. I find this process fascinating and endorse it wholeheartedly. (That doesn’t mean I accept all mistakes my students make, I still correct them most of the time, worry not). But the point is different. Being a liberal language teacher, and speaker, means I accept other people’s ways of speaking, because I am not perfect myself. I also believe language evolves organically - through talking to each other. I often “steal” some expressions other people used and create my own sentences with them.
I let others experiment with language to express themselves. I expect others to let me do that too. Because each of us is unique and speaks a unique language and because freedom of speech and freedom of expression are Human Rights.
No two of us are alike, even identical twins. But we are all connected through our history, whether we choose it or not. Our languages sit in the same tree (see below, yes, they sit). Separating yourself from people, who are different from you never works. It gives you a false sense of comfort through interacting with like-minded people, but all it really does is cut you off from the outside world, where different opinions, languages, cultures, food and habits help you to understand who you really are.
I remain hopeful, that the person, who wrote and distributed the posters will one day fall in love with, be helped by, or become best friends with someone, who is not a native English speaker. And then, the language of that person will become less scary for them, or won’t matter at all.
Klaudia
PS. I am and always will be, a dreamer.
