Comments on: What if I lose my language? What if I have lost my language?

By: Farzana

Farzana — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 14:58:18 +0000

Dear Alia,

Your blog piece really resonated with me. I am so happy to have read it and agree with so many valuable points you make. Language is really the roots to a persons heritage, culture and identity. Language is inter-generational and forges ties of our own history to our children’s. I was born in the UK and grew up multilingual and although I don’t have the richest Urdu, I ensure that my children understand it and are exposed to it through my daily conversations, through music too. I know that they are enriched with being able to understand Urdu, share a joke together in Urdu and will understand other connecting languages such as Hindi. It’s the absolute pulse to my heritage and a part of theirs too. I speak in Urdu with shopkeepers, taxi drivers, anywhere I know it will be understood and may fall as the preferred language. I was really excited to see language being deconstructed contextualised in your blog. Thank you.

By: Raquel

Raquel — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 15:31:32 +0000

Language is such an integral part of our cultural identity, and yet it’s so fluid. It changes, and our use of it changes, based on our experience. I grew up speaking two languages seamlessly and I assumed my children would too, regardless of who I married. I planned to speak Spanish at home with my girls, but that became so challenging as it interfered with our family dynamic— I didn’t want their dad to be left out. So…one daughter does not speak Spanish because she wasn’t interested, and I didn’t insist. The other was interested and spent extended time in Spanish speaking countries and learned the language. But unless they marry into bilingual families I’m afraid Spanish fluency ends here. It’s embarrassing to me and I wish I’d been more consistent—and insistent—about maintaining that part of their cultural identity. It’s hard when the dominant cultural and language take over. It is interesting, however, that in the US, Spanish had become a second language for many—particular those who work in the service sector and manage recent immigrants from Central and South America who haven’t acquired English yet. It’s also the most taught “foreign language” in high schools and universities. We see the continuing evolution of language in the mainstream as businesses target Spanish speakers in their marketing and advertising. The “foreign language” has been subsumed into the American/US culture, again an example of the fluidity of language and identity. I do feel some regret about my children losing that connection to familial history and the loss of that cultural identity. It’s part of the American story, I’m afraid.

By: Alia Amir

Alia Amir — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:50:11 +0000

Thank you for your insightful comment! I am glad the article resonated with you and its message about multilingual diasporas. I am curious, what aspects of multilingualism interest you the most, and how do you think it impacts our understanding of language and culture?

By: Alia Amir

Alia Amir — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:41:42 +0000

In reply to Saima Usman. Thank you for your insightful comment! I couldn't agree more about the significance of language in defining identity and sustaining cultural heritage. I'm glad the article resonated with you and its message about multilingual diasporas.

By: Alia Amir

Alia Amir — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:39:56 +0000

In reply to Ayat. Thank you for your feedback, Dr Mekki! It's rewarding to know that the article resonated with you and shed light on my culture. It's admirable that your parents have prioritized maintaining your languages within your family.

By: Alia Amir

Alia Amir — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:37:10 +0000

In reply to Silvano Stagni. I am glad you found it interesting. Your proficiency in five languages probably gives you a broad perspective on different kinds of literature. I am also curious do you get asked which language you dream in? :)

By: Julia

Julia — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:15:57 +0000

Thank you very much for telling me about this wonderfully enlightening article during our Writer’s Hour session last week. While I grew up monolingual, my potential future children will most likely grow up bilingual (or even trilingual), and it’s important to heed the voices of those who have been there. I have saved the linked article about linguistics bias and will give it a proper read when I have more time.

By: Saima Usman

Saima Usman — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 12:16:54 +0000

Language is the part of someone’s identity. It’s most important for people to preserve its literature and teaching to others so that multilingual diasporas can make it sustain it in the world.

Alia! You wrote really an important article and I can relate to it!

By: Ayat

Ayat — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 10:04:06 +0000

It’s a beautiful article Dr Alia and I learned more about you and your culture through it.

Growing up my siblings and I went to private schools and spoke mostly in English at school.

It was very important to my parents that we spoke Sudani Arabic only at home.

I can relate even though from where I am in Sudan we speak one dialect but it’s still so important to preserve it.

My parents and siblings have continued the tradition with the grandkids and they only speak sudani at home too.

By: Silvano Stagni

Silvano Stagni — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 09:34:01 +0000

It is a very interesting piece. I come from a multilingual family from a different part of the world (Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean). I am older than you but I also have grandparents, great-uncles and great-aunts who spoke several languages. Languages are an intrinsic part of our culture, and if you are raised in a multilingual environment it is a culture in itself. I can relate to the title. I speak five languages,but I also lost a few spoken by my great-grandparents and that feels like a huge loss. (Silvano Stagni, from LWS)