{"id":257,"date":"2025-03-16T17:13:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T17:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/?p=257"},"modified":"2025-03-16T17:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T17:20:11","slug":"permission-to-speak-thoughts-on-freedom-of-speech-authenticity-and-language-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/spanish-blog\/permission-to-speak-thoughts-on-freedom-of-speech-authenticity-and-language-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Permission to Speak: Thoughts on Freedom of Speech, Authenticity and Language Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The linguistic patchwork of you<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cAt home, I feel free to speak Arabic peppered with words in French and English, and everyone understands me. When I am in Spain, I can only speak Spanish so that people would understand me.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>

This statement and its many variants share a common sentiment made by those born or raised\u00a0in multilingual environments when they are\u00a0confronted by living in monolingual environments or countries. This often means we\u00a0shrink ourselves to fit in.<\/p>

And how poor is it that we have to limit ourselves to one box when our background is a multiform receptacle of fluid richness?<\/i><\/b><\/p>

How sad is it that those with only one language limit the abundance of those with more than one?\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>

How arrogant is it to force their smallness onto someone else\u2019s bigness?\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>

Do those questions make you feel uncomfortable? Good. Let\u2019s talk about it. Let\u2019s explore what is there and how it\u00a0makes us feel uncomfortable. Us. Because I felt uncomfortable typing those questions too. I could feel my stomach clench every time I reread them, wanting to delete that whole paragraph and tone it down.<\/p>

Someone once told me that if my dream came true, people would not be able to communicate. My dream being the naturally formed medley and fusion of languages, the organic Esperanto. Because as cells divide themselves to promote growth and then fuse to enable maturation, languages require fusing to enable the maturation of communication.<\/p>

Keeping languages in neat and separate boxes is making mature communication untenable. Long past was the time when colonising countries created official institutions to maintain the stability of the language (Real Academia Espa\u00f1ola 1713, L\u2019Acad\u00e9mie Fran\u00e7aise, 1635, La Crusca, 1583) that would be forced upon colonised countries.<\/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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What is needed now:\u00a0Mindset change. Letting go of the old paradigm to move into the embracement of diversity.\u00a0<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Does the statement above sound good? Ok. Then, what is the current and old paradigm? What is it that we need to leave behind? What mindset permeates our language goals, learning ways and communication expectations?<\/p>

The European imperial and colonial mindset is often at fault here.\u00a0<\/p>

European imperialism and colonialism aimed to expand the economic and power base of European nations and to assert their superiority. Asserting and maintaining superiority is based on the belief that that which is superior is pure, and it should be\u00a0maintained that way. It is also based on subjugating and eliminating what is considered inferior and impure. Under these circumstances, no merging is possible.\u00a0<\/p>

Keeping things separated out of fear of losing their purity (read\u00a0supremacism mindset<\/a>) only creates friction and stunts growth (aka. evolution), which is unsustainable.<\/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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Now, what if we trust?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What if we trust that letting go of impurity and imperfection won\u2019t lead to self-destruction? (Trying to maintain this so-called purity and perfection is actually leading us to that, so I\u2019d say we try something different).<\/p>

What if we trust that expressing our diversity and background and merging our native language with the non-native ones we are communicating ourselves in will not hinder communication but enhance it?<\/p>

What if we trust?<\/p>

I see that the opposite of fear is trust. Trust in yourself (self-efficacy) and trust in the other (let\u2019s, please, let go of any paternalistic ways of communication in which we contain ourselves to protect other people\u2019s egos or to bend ourselves in many shapes so that the other person doesn\u2019t have to. Let\u2019s stop treating adults like children).<\/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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Trust in yourself (Self-efficacy)\u00a0<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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You are learning a non-native language. You are effectively doing your part to connect with others who speak that language. You are doing your part to understand the culture or cultures of that language, which is the same as to say that you are working on understanding and adapting to the other person\u2019s culture and ways.<\/p>

Should you aim to sound like a \u201cnative\u201d speaker (more to come about the native speaker fallacy and its colonial roots) and correct your accent, tournure de phrases, and choice of words to the extreme? That is, not letting your background or native tongue show in any way, shape or form. Should you be attempting to pass as a \u201cnative\u201d speaker of a language you are not?<\/p>

What\u2019s the fear? Why the lie? (Remember, lies often come from fear of consequences). So, I repeat, what is the fear?<\/p>

One of my greatest frustrations over years of working on my English was that I still sounded Spanish and that I still sometimes made mistakes (regardless of whether or not those mistakes were more my underlying Spanish and the \u201clogic\u201d of that language than my lack of understanding of the English rule). I wanted to be like some of my germanic speaking friends who were able to merge with the English-speaking locals, their name the only thing giving them away. I wanted to escape the expectations bestowed on me by my name and physical traits: \u201cSpaniards speak English badly\u201d. I wanted to speak English \u201cwell\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>

See? At those times, the goal was to use the language in such a way that allowed me to fit in rather than communicate to connect.<\/p>

I wasn\u2019t trusting my ability to withstand the consequences of exhibiting my identity.\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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Trust in others<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I wasn\u2019t trusting others to accept me, to try to understand me (and grow from the interaction).<\/p>

I put all the burden on me. I didn\u2019t trust others.<\/p>

Also, there was another lie I bought into: if you live in another country, you must speak their language and adopt their culture. You need to adapt and fit in.<\/p>

Languages are nothing more than a tool for communication. And communication is a two-way street. Always.\u00a0<\/b><\/h5>

Suppose we trust that most people will make an effort to understand us, move past our accent and embrace new terms or ways of saying things because that means communicating to the most subtle of layers. In that case, we can allow ourselves to bring our patterns of vocabulary and idiom selection, which includes (or can include) words in another language that is not the common language chosen for that interaction. It means you can make up words sometimes. You can create a tournure the phrase as a direct translation from your native tongue (ie. The Spanish equivalent of \u201cin for a penny, in for a pound\u201d is \u201cde perdidos al r\u00edo\u201d, which translates into \u201cfrom lost to the river\u201d. What if I used the English direct translation of the Spanish idiom and explained if\/when the other person looked at me blankly?).<\/p>

What if we trust that bringing our colour by letting our identity seep through our target language (or non-native language) won\u2019t create separation but connection?<\/p>

We can let languages become a political weapon, or we can let them be a bridge. This is the same as saying that we can let language become tools for separation or connection. That is our choice.<\/b><\/h5>

Of course, there are situations where the power dynamics may mean that you must make your expression more neutral and standardised to adapt to the other person who holds power over you (i.e., you have a job interview). Or you may want to gracefully and generously make the other person comfortable. That is beautiful when you consciously make that choice; in that case, you hold power. Remember that.<\/p>

But, if you feel the imperious need to express yourself authentically and want to really belong and connect rather than making everyone else comfortable at the expense of your self-esteem, self-respect, self-empowerment and groundedness, then now it\u2019s the time to push the edges of your non-native language by letting go of the search of perfection (aka. standardised language, aka. trying to pass by native), of not using words in your native language that are more meaningful or accurate than that target language option, etc, etc.<\/p>

As a language educator, I hold a position of influence (all educators and business owners do), so I am giving you permission to speak YOUR languages\u2014all of them.<\/p>

Let your background show pridefully.<\/b><\/p>\t\t\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":"

The linguistic patchwork of you \u201cAt home, I feel free to speak Arabic peppered with words in French and English, and everyone understands me. When I am in Spain, I […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":259,"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":[19,3,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-authenticity","8":"category-spanish-blog","9":"category-psychology","10":"czr-hentry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","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=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mariaortegagarcia.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}