I currently speak an array of different Englishes. There is the English I speak with my friends, the English I speak to my teachers, and the English I speak at home with my family. The English I speak with my friends is a large concoction of slang and hyperboles. We use words such as "sis..." or "yeet" to accurately express how we feel about a situation. Besides common slang that has been popularized, we also use our own words that are specific to our friend group. We use phrases like "that stinks" to say that that's not fun or that's displeasing, or we constantly use "sad" to describe any situation that isn't good. Me and my cousin will say things like "back of the line!" when something someone said is not ok or that we disagree with. I think the most interesting English between me and my friends is the nonverbal English that we speak with our faces. The looks we give each other when a situation is awkward or really funny, or when we show our dislike of something. It's cool to be able to understand exactly what your friend is trying to communicate with you by your faces.
The English I speak to my teachers is a lot more formal. I do not include any slang (unless of course it's with Ms. Nagi who's an awesome millennial!!!!!) and I try to be as formal as I can, or just speak normally. I speak my "best" English when I talk to teachers. It's a fairly drastic change from when I talk to my friends, almost like I'm a different person because I portray myself so differently with my words. Overall, how I speak with my teachers is very formal and a lot more correct than when I speak with my friends.
The English I speak at home with my parents is probably the most different. Because my parents native language is Albanian and they don't speak the best English, I usually don't speak to them in English. I speak pretty fluent Albanian, however some words I'm not really aware of so I will switch from Albanian to English to say a word I don't know in Albanian and then back. With my dad, who speaks better English than my mom, I will sometimes talk to him in English more than usual. Still, I never use any really uncommon words he wouldn't recognize unless I plan on explaining what the word means. With my mom it's a a lot of Albanian which is harder because even though I can get my point across for a lot of things I struggle to explain larger topics unless my dad is there to help. Their English to me is obviously not always proper, filled with verbs conjugated wrong or with nouns that are plural when they shouldn't be or singular, or words just completely mispronounced. However, it all makes sense to me because I've grown up surrounded by my family and my extended family not speaking English the best, yet being able to get there point across. My mom works front desk at a cleaners and always tells me about the fun conversations she has with her customers even though she has to ask me sometimes what they meant when they said this or that. Overall, the English that I speak with my family is a nice mixture of basic English with Albanian, and it all the same allows me to communicate with my family!
These narratives give me a different persona because they show a different side of me in a way. When I'm with my friends, the English I'm using is full of slang and is silly, which leads me to be more fun and open with my friends. The English that I use with my teachers is formal, so I'm usually more serious and direct when speaking with teachers. And the English I speak with my family is slower and more basic, mixed Albanian, so I'm usually just focused on getting my point across. The way I talk does influence how I act. These English's I speak, give me power, in a way, over the audience I am speaking to. If I spoke very formal to my friends, the conversations would feel pretty stiff and dull. However, if I spoke how I speak to my friends to my teachers, I would probably be in trouble and in awkward situations. And if I spoke in any way to my parents that wasn't how is speak to them now, they probably would not understand a majority of what I was saying. My Englishes give me power because they change peoples responses to me and they change how I am perceived by different audiences!
I related to your thoughts about being bilingual a lot! I also feel the same way when I speak to family members who can speak another language better than they do English. Being able to speak even a little bit of their language still helps communicate a lot better! I also agree with the fact that almost all teens our age have dramatically different dialects around either adults like teachers or friends. The language we use with friends vs. family vs. teachers is quite different, but all 3 give us power through language nonetheless!
ReplyDeleteI really understand your take on this topic and I think we speak similar Englishes. It's really interesting to see how others switch between the types that they speak. Do you ever make a mistake and speak the wring type to the wrong person?
ReplyDeleteI can relate to pretty much everything you said, from the specific language you use with your friends all the way to how I speak with my family. Though I'm obviously not Albanian, I find it cool how similar our speech patterns are with our parents and the accommodations we make for a better understanding, despite speaking completely different languages. I loved reading your blog, and I feel like I learned some interesting new facts!
ReplyDeleteI like how you went through the different types of Englishes you speak and the degree of formality that comes with that speech. The point you make about gaining control over your audience depending on how you speak is absolutely correct. I really understand your point of view on speaking English at home as I am bilingual too with parents who don't fluently speak English. I really like how you compared using a certain type of English in the wrong instance, showing that language really does give a speaker power.
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