English – Language World

Why do I speak as I do?

I guess it’s the way I have been brought up that affects the way that I speak. When I was younger, I had more of a British accent because I spent most of my time around my parents. But since I joined UWC, my accent has been slowly fading away from British and more American/International. Of course I still say things differently because I’m never going to lose that British part of me, but because I’m surrounded by people of lots of different nationalities and cultures, the way I speak has changed, and still continues to.

How does my language define me?

I’m not really sure how my language defines me. I’m just English and that’s the only language that I can speak confidently. I am currently learning Spanish but I have also learnt French and Chinese in the past. I do love where I come from, even though I have never lived in England and have never been given a chance for it to feel like my home. I am proud of being English and I’m sure I have a lot of traits that are common in English people but in terms of my language, I’m not really sure. Now that I’ve gotten older, and I write and read a lot, I have started to use more sophisticated language in my everyday life. Well, I like to think so.

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1 Comment on English – Language World

  1. uza@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg
    September 10, 2017 at 2:09 am (7 years ago)

    It’s amazing how we pick up things that are particular to a certain language. My father-in-law is from Sheffield so when I speak to him, I say “bin” or “lift.” My mother-in-law, however, is Canadian and when I talk to her, I automatically say things like “garbage” or “elevator.” This is called code-switching: when you move between languages or dialects of a particular language. It’s pretty incredible that our brains can do that, don’t you think?

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