I like to complain, a lot. So much, in fact, that if I got a euro for every time I ranted about something, I'd have enough money to go on a cruise, at least twice a year. Salty is my middle name, so if your food is ever lacking that sodium chloride...
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Nowadays, it's not uncommon for people to speak at least two languages. After all, you're raised with one and the other you're taught in school—even though you don't finish your schooling speaking a language like a native, you have enough of a basis to at least hold some type of conversation. At least, that's the end goal. Whether you reach it or not depends on you and on the quality of your country's education.
Growing up with parents with two completely different ethnicities (Italian & Dominican) and growing up in an English-speaking country meant that, as a kid, I was exposed to three different languages: Italian, Spanish, and English. When I moved to Russia, I was taught basic Russian in elementary school, then, in middle school, I switched to French. By the time I moved to Australia at the age of 14, I spoke five languages, read in four, and wrote in three. Now, although I've forgotten my Russian for the simple fact that I NEVER speak/read/write/hear it on a daily-basis, I've maintained all the other languages.
As with all things, speaking more than one language has its pros and cons.
Pros:
1. You can openly eavesdrop on stranger's conversations (and mentally argue with them) and understand exactly what they're saying. Kind of like that time I heard some dude called Pablo talking with his mistress in Spanish over the phone, while on my way home on the bus. He sounded like he was in deep shit.
2. You can visit most parts of the world and communicate, to a certain extent, with the natives. For example, if you know any of the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish, Portugese, etc.) you can visit a ton of places where the native language is one of those, and decipher what people are telling you:
"Signorina! Quel tizo sta cercando di rubarti la borsa!" (Italian)
"Mademoiselle! Ce mec essaie de voler ton sac à main!" (French)
Translation: Miss! That guy is trying to steal your bag!
End result: thief on life-support, your belongings safe.
3. More employment oppurtunities. Speaking a ton of languages looks very good on your CV.
Cons:
1. Forgetting words in one language but remembering them in another. This one time, I forgot how to say shark in English, but I remembered it in Italian. I had to resort to my mother, who looked at me with pity in her eyes, for a translation.
2. People constantly asking you, "Say something in [insert language]!"or "How do you say this in [insert language]" If you're dying to know, Tiffany, use Google Translate.
3. Having a combination of accents that when you speak in your mother tongue, either nobody knows where the fuck you're from, or what you're saying. This results in you having to repeat yourself at least thrice before you get your point across.
I can't really think of any other pros and cons, but you get the idea.
One thing that bothers me, though, is when people make fun of someone else's foreign accent.
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Have y'all noticed how the people who tend to do this are those that speak nothing more than their mother tongue? It's always the ignorant ones—like my brother always mocks my mother's English because she speaks it with an Italian accent (because it's her second language). It's not as thick as some other speakers, but if one was to listen to her, you'd know right away that she's Italian. No, Italians don't speak English like Mario from the videogame (where you add a's at the end of every word). People who think that are idiots.
That isn't an isolated case—just think of all the times you hear people mimicking a Russian/Indian/East-Asian person speaking English and then having a laugh about it (often in front of the subject of the conversation). They never think about how much of a struggle it may have been for those people to learn a language COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THEIR OWN, with different grammatical and semantic categories.
It's really hurtful when someone laughs at you for mispronouncing something (I've had this happen to me) because it makes you feel inadequate, even dumb. Here you are, trying your hardest to sound "normal", but then you have a bunch of buffoons making you feel more alienated than you already do.
Then there are those who feel the need to correct every little mispronounciation. Who the fuck do you think you are? Even native speakers have different accents, slang, etc. and it's impossible for any one person to speak their native tongue phonetically correct. Tomato, tomato, potato, potato. I don't give a shit how you pronounce it, as long as you chop those potatos and fry them up, make ketchup of those tomatos, my lunch is going to taste delicious. No matter what.
Why do foreign accents exist? Because we may speak the second, third, fourth, nth language using some rules or sounds from our native one. So if a person is finding it difficult to pronounce some sounds of a new language they're learning, it's possible that they will substitute similar sounds that occur in their first language.
For example, lallation (which is when you pronounce "r" instead of "l" and viceversa) is a speech pattern that is often associated with Spanish, Portugese, and English languages spoken by Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people. It's a common Western stereotype of East Asian speakers and how many times have you seen them getting ridiculed because of it? I dare you to try and learn Mandarin, Korean, or Japanese, then come back with your ego still overinflated.
If you speak one language and have no interest in learning another, don't mock people are multilingual for not speaking it as "perfectly" as you. You're just a jealous mofo and need to take a damn seat all the way over there—preferably over a piranha tank so I can dunk you.
Bye Basic Becky. 👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽
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Is there something that you're itching to complain about, but have the good sense not to do so on a public forum? I can do it for you! Feel free to PM me with the topic you want me to rant about, and I won't think twice before adding it here. I'll be waiting!
