{"id":197,"date":"2025-03-15T16:29:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T16:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/?p=197"},"modified":"2025-03-15T16:36:35","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T16:36:35","slug":"what-does-speaking-authentically-in-a-non-native-language-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/spanish-blog\/what-does-speaking-authentically-in-a-non-native-language-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What does speaking authentically in a non-native language mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Authenticity is a human need, like the need for belonging or attachment. When we are kids or teens, our need to belong to a group, fit in, trumps our need to express ourselves, and be authentic. This means that instead of listening inwards to our body\u2019s clues about how it feels and the emotions there and expressing that openly, we act more from seeking approval or validation from our peers.<\/b><\/p>

This is just a phase, right? This is meant to pass. The problem arrives when our expression keeps seeking approval and validation from others. Even in our adulthood. Others, appointed as authority figures, often by someone else.<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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An authority outside of ourselves<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The idea of authority is not bad in itself. It can help us and guide us in our growth. But the unquestioning of authority is.<\/p>

We can see authority in many different areas, from medicine (do what the doctor says) to our family (parent\u2019s know best). But also, our teachers are perceived as authority or experts in different fields (science, linguistics, economics). Our governments are also authority figures.<\/p>

We surround ourselves with authority figures or experts on everything, including topics related to self-expression. We should consider ourselves the authority or expert here since self-expression is the expression of \u201cself\u201d, which is unique and personal.<\/p>

And it\u2019s great to have experts in some of those different fields but let\u2019s never forget that:<\/p>

1.Nobody is an expert on someone else\u2019s experience.<\/p>

2. Experts are biased by their own experience (or one of their peers\/group they belong to).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Who is an authority on your self-expression?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Now, when talking about languages, we have a lot of \u201cauthority limitations biases\u201d.\u00a0Starting with the idea of what is a proper or acceptable way to speak in a non-native language.<\/p>

The number one myth about what is an acceptable way to express in a non-native language.<\/p>

\u201cA language belongs to the people \u201cborn\u201d in a specific space or belongs to a particular group of people.\u201d<\/i><\/p>

Nope.\u00a0A language belongs to those who speak it. Period.<\/b><\/p>

From this myth stems the idea that native-speakers are the \u201cauthority\u201d or \u201cexperts\u201d on the language, which negates that what a non-native says is \u201cacceptable\u201d even if it doesn\u2019t comply with \u201cthe rules\u201d.<\/p>

Example<\/i>: I watched a show on Netflix the other day, and the host, a native British speaker with a posh accent, said: \u201csheeps\u201d, talking about his sheep. Now, I \u2013a non-native English speaker\u2013, know that \u201csheep\u201d is a non-countable word; therefore: one sheep, multiple sheep. Sheep. Never sheeps (as I am typing this, Grammarly is going crazy with the red underlining, by the way). Had I said \u201csheeps\u201d in my speech at any point, I would have been corrected and said that is not correct. Now, I believe that the gentleman in the TV show knows that \u201csheeps\u201d is not correct, but he chose to express himself with a \u201cvariation\u201d of the norm. I also know the rule in English, but when I choose to express myself using a variation of the rule, I am corrected and told to follow the rule.<\/p>

Of course, there might be cases where one ignores the rule and makes a mistake, in which case a correction can be helpful. But I believe that the correction should come after an invitation or permission.\u00a0<\/p>

Also,\u00a0assuming that a non-native speaker is always incorrect while the native speaker is just making their speech more \u201ccolourful\u201d limits the non-native speaker\u2019s ability to be \u201ccolourful\u201d and authentic<\/b>. And that\u2019s not cool.<\/p>

This example speaks only to the \u201cincorrect\u201d use of the language, but\u00a0authenticity is the quality of being real with\u00a0who\u00a0you are,\u00a0how\u00a0you feel and\u00a0what\u00a0you think or perceive.<\/p>

Being real with who you are. Let’s talk about accents.<\/p>

Your nationality, your mother tongue, the group you belong to is expressed, amongst other ways, through your accent. An accent shows your background language, the location you were born. When in your non-native language you try to \u201ccorrect\u201d your accent, that is, to hide your own individual accent and imitate the \u201cideal\u201d accent of the language you are learning, you are not authentic.<\/p>

Also, what accent are you imitating? From which area? What socio-economic group? Is there such a thing as a normative accent, and what facets of you are you hiding when you strive to use it?<\/p>

Turns of phrases and idioms. Images of a shared experience.<\/p>

When you learn a language, you are supposed to learn idioms and turns of phrases to show that you understand the culture and can \u201cmerge\u201d with the locals. The truth is, though, that albeit learning those idioms is a great way to learn and understand the culture, I don\u2019t think they are meant to be used by non-native people who have no experience of the idiom or the origin of said idiom.\u00a0<\/p>

So,\u00a0as a non-native, my goal is to express\u00a0my<\/i>\u00a0culture, not being able to imitate the culture of the language in which I am speaking<\/b>.<\/p>

For example, I am a Spaniard, and there is an incredible amount of fixed expressions related to bulls and bullfights in Spanish. I am not in favour of bullfighting (in fact, I am against it), but it is part of a culture I absorbed from birth, so when someone says: \u201c\u00e9chame un capote\u201d, I get it, viscerally. I get that the person is asking for my help. So, communication goes beyond words; it evokes images and emotions in both of us. But if you, as a non-native Spanish speaker, want to ask for help in an informal way, my recommendation is not to use a phrase that doesn\u2019t evoke anything in you.<\/p>

Another example: to express happiness. I learned that there are phrases like \u201cto be happy as a clam\u201d or \u201chappy as Larry\u201d to say that the person is very happy in English. Now, for me, none of those sentences means anything; they do not evoke a thing, I do not know any Larrys in my life, and when I see a clam, I don\u2019t get why this mollusc would be the epitome of happiness. Can I use those sentences to express my happiness? I can. But because I am not relating to them and they don\u2019t evoke \u201chappiness\u201d in me, I am not authentic. I am merely imitating other\u2019s forms of expressing happiness verbally.\u00a0<\/p>

Of course, I could use the direct translation of the fixed Spanish expression: \u201cfeliz como unas casta\u00f1uelas\u201d, happy as a pair of castanets. This, at least, would be \u201creal\u201d for me. I\u2019ve heard castanets being played, and they produce a fairly merry sound.\u00a0<\/p>

However,\u00a0when in communication, we are communicating with someone, and we should always consider how the other person may receive this information<\/b>.\u00a0<\/p>

It\u2019s not\u00a0all<\/i><\/b>\u00a0about them and not\u00a0all<\/i>\u00a0<\/b>about me.\u00a0<\/p>

And this is when things get complicated because the speaker needs to be mature and self-aware enough to understand this and find ways to give \u201ccolour\u201d to the expression that does not rely on trite, empty words.<\/p>

So, in my case, I may opt to say \u201cI\u2019m happy as a tweeting bird\u201d or as a \u201csunflower\u201d or \u201cas a field of cows\u201d because all those things evoke happiness\u00a0in me, and they are things that belong to the natural world and are pretty\u00a0universal. The castanets? Not so much.\u00a0<\/p>

Now, the other person may weirdly look at me or may relate to it. That\u2019s not my problem anymore. I checked in with me and chose a set of words that express\u00a0my<\/b>\u00a0feeling. They are something I\u2019ve experienced, and they are appropriate. I also had the receiver of my words into account by using something universal.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A language is a system of communication product of a shared experience of the group.<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I experience the world. I express it in a certain way.
My group experiences the world in a certain way. We express it similarly.<\/p>

But both are equally important.\u00a0<\/p>

Nobody says that when you express in a non-native language, you will have to choose between belonging or authenticity. It\u2019s about keeping a flow of communication that honours the group\/receiver and your own individuality. It just requires that you understand who you are and how you can express widely enough, universal enough, but still real enough for you and the other.<\/p>

It\u2019s about keeping the conversation real from me and for the other so that real, true belonging can happen.<\/p>

I think we are well past when belonging was limited to being born in a specific group, in a specif area. Attachment, when children, is limited to the people into whom we are \u201cborn\u201d. Attachment, when adults, goes beyond that and requires authentic expression one can relate to.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cYou either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside of your story and hustle for your worthiness\u201d\u2028\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2013 Bren\u00e9 Brown<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authenticity is a human need, like the need for belonging or attachment. When we are kids or teens, our need to belong to a group, fit in, trumps our need […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spanish-blog","8":"category-education","9":"czr-hentry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197\/revisions\/202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}