If Your Native Language Is Not English, Practice Your Mother Language Now!!
As much as English is a universal language in the world, there is an urgent reason why we must not forget our own Mother Tongue. It’s not so much of the nationality support, but for the sake of your social life in your own country.
In my previous writing, I wrote about how I struggled in my own native language when working at Louis Vuitton:
In the past, many people believed that I was born and raised in the US because of my accent. However, I was only raised in Indonesia and went to an international school where we all spoke English ALL THE TIME. This has been going for more than 20 years of my life.
Upon entering the workforce in Indonesia, that was when the trouble arises. My first job was a Part-Time Chinese Teacher Assistant.
This wasn’t too much of a problem yet because most of the students in the language center were from International Schools. So they all spoke in English anyways.
However, when I made a conversation with my colleagues, sometimes we may have a miscommunication because translation may be different. All my colleagues became good friends, nothing to worry much about because we all needed English when working as well.
It’s just that they were used to the Indonesian Language that sometimes we all stutter in the language we used. So there wasn’t much problem for that one whole year.
When my intern came, that was when things went very intense. All of my colleagues cannot speak English fluently with me. They all first thought I was born and raised in the US, but when I explained that I went to international schools, that’s when the ostracism hits.
Just so you know, ostracism is when you are left out in a group. Believe me, it is not a great experience to feel. When you feel left out, you will feel lonely. And when you feel lonely, not only will you be isolated, but you will be depressed. I made a short story about my experience with depression here:
They stereotyped me as those bratty kids from rich families who are able to afford their kids to expensive schools where there are expat teachers teaching students. These kids are very exposed to the international world that most would forget their nationalities.
Their native languages were barely taught, the students were believed to be special so they are pampered all the time, and their mentality was very weak. And when I meant weak, that means, any uncomfortable things they will face, they will either: complain or blame the teachers for their failures, rat it out to their parents, and their parents will be storming into the principal’s office.
I was the first batch of international school I went to, so it wasn’t very intense. Sure we had complained, but we had to also keep in mind because the age of that school is the same as us.
When I first heard about how international students are the brattiest, I thought this couldn’t be true. Because if there are bad things happening in the school, it is only mostly because some teachers DID NOT teach and gave us free time instead. So most of our complaints came from the teaching processes instead of our academic marks.
When I went for a guitar lesson with my teacher, I brought up this subject with him, see what he has to say about national vs international school students. Turned out, it wasn’t exactly as I thought.
He said that his students who went to international schools don’t have the guts to say that they are wrong, weak minded, easily give up and their ego is as high as a mountain.
Most of his students who ended up taking the guitar examinations came from the national schools and they are the ones who are willing to help develop his guitar business such as: building a website for him, giving him thank you notes, etc.
I admit, I did not do those things, but rather I promote about him indirectly because when I was in school, I was known to be the guitarist and I would always bring up his name since he is my ‘maestro’. Ok, so maybe I am one of those bratty kids. Looking back now, I am guilty as charged.
The point is, during my 3 months as an intern, I was the most silent person ever. Everyone was speaking Indonesian. I can understand them, but I wasn’t as fluent as them. This lead to ostracism where I felt left out all the time. Let me tell you, it is not a great feeling.
This happened again when I was working at Louis Vuitton. Only some spoke fluent English, so I would only hang out mostly with them. But had been my native language speaking is stronger, I would probably bond with them better.
So are we doomed to ostracism if we are from an international school?
Not always.
The good news is: since we spoke more English and some of our own native language, we are the bridge to connect international and national together, mostly in business.
When I was in Shanghai to study Chinese, most Indonesians preferred to be with Indonesians. I was the only Indonesian who can mingle around international people from Italy, Russia, Korea, Africa, and many more. I get to learn about their cultures, countries, etc.
It was a blast learning their cultures, lifestyles, and I get to tell interesting things about Indonesia, and fun facts about them.
During my intern, I was chosen to write an update letter to international residents of an apartment. Since I admitted my weakness, when my mentor was absent, I had the courage to ask for help with one of the managers with my Bahasa language to fill in my report. Because of what I did, he was mingling with us interns after that.
What happened in Louis Vuitton was also similar. But I was able to express myself better and with English as my advantage, it was easier to speak with clients from different countries and I was able to chit chat with them when I was doing my job as well.
So what’s the take?
I am not sure for other countries if they are in a bad situation if they do not speak their languages in their nation, but I think this will bound to happen. My boss was scolded by someone in his country when he spoke English. The nationality supports of each country is strong.
What we can do is pretty much simple: not forget our mother language. It sounds cheesy, but it will help your corporate life. I did not understand this at first, but now I do. Thanks to Louis Vuitton as well for training my own native language.
