In my language world map, I chose to write about these specific topics because it is what my language world is based around. I tried to focus on different subjects that affect my language world such as my cultural background, my family, idiolects etc. All of these topics not only affect my language world but also my everyday life. I wrote a lot about the difference between my two accents (American and English) because those two are what I switch from on a day to day basis. I am not bilingual but having two different accents is very similar because I normally keep the two worlds that I relate them to separate. I identify as a third culture kid as my parents are British and Kenyan but I was born in the UK, at the age of 7 I left the UK to move to Romania then The Netherlands, Germany and finally Singapore. Being a third culture kid is a big part of my language world too since I have adopted words or phrases from so many languages. All the topics I decided to write about are fundamental factors that make up my language world.
The one thing that really affected in the “My Language World” unit is the talk about idiolects, phonology and accents because it is what has impacted my language world the most. I change my accent many times a day depending on who I talk to but my lexicon will never change. I felt like this was important to convey that even though my accent changes often it is very rare that my lexicon will. My phonology changes a lot in my family because I have very different relationships with everyone and I tried to make sure that it was clear. Phonology is your pitch, tone, accent etc. and that can definitely change and I never really thought of it till this unit. The “My Language Wolrd” unit has really made me more aware of how my language world affects my life but also how much I control my language world.
Was it hard switching countries and changing accents? Did people find you different as you spoke differently? I find it really cool about your accents though.