This project aimed to understand the perception of self in young adult multilingual speakers living outside of their home countries. Through short interviews, two participants were asked questions about the languages they have personal access to. These questions ranged from their perceived level of fluency to how/if they consider their behavior to change when using one language versus another.

Because it was small in scale and more of an exploration of the topic, I reached out to people in my community who are living outside of their home countries. After I had two people agree to interview (one male, one female), I set up one-to-one meetings at a neutral time and place to talk. I will refer to them as F and M for ease of reading and out of respect for their privacy.

Ethical Considerations for Privacy

I confirmed with them that it was all right to record our conversations to transcribe them and that their answers be anonymously shared via this blog. It was a very informal chat to see if perceptions of self in young adult multilingual speakers is an area of study that would provide interesting or useful results. I asked that they speak freely, skip anything they were uncomfortable answering, not worry about going on tangents, and ask any questions they had.

Languages Spoken and Levels of Fluency

My first questions were about what languages they spoke and how they would describe their fluency in each.

M: I’m a native speaker of Korean. I speak English and Chinese fluently. I would describe myself as having near-native fluency in those two languages. I speak French at a pretty advanced level. I speak Spanish at a pretty advanced level as well. (…) French, I have already certification for C1 level (…) Spanish, (…) I reached B2 level but it’s now a little bit rusty. I can read academic German fluently, can’t really speak it, (…) pure reading knowledge. I can have basic conversations in Italian and Portuguese and I also have some reading knowledge, I would say, like, lower-intermediate to intermediate in Greek, Latin, and I have some knowledge of some ancient Semitic languages, including Syriac. (…) I think, like, the division between, like, passive knowledge and active knowledge are pretty important (…) I would usually answer either four or five.

F: I speak Korean and English. (…) I was born in New Jersey, and so my main language would be English. My whole family tree is actually from Korea, South Korea (…) I am definitely fluent in English and I’m very comfortable using it. As for Korean, I would say that I’m around, like, 80%. I definitely am comfortable with using the language. I understand (…) speaking (…) It’s just that, the writing, it definitely would take some time with writing and reading Korean. I think otherwise I’m, like, a 50/50 chance of being comfortable with Korean at the moment.

Multilingual Communities

I followed this up by asking about multilingual communities that they are part of. I gave them a wide range with as small as the family or as big as the highly international city we are all currently based in.

M: (…) most communities right now come naturally. (…) there are some people in my school who speak the languages that I speak, so I try to speak to them in their native language. English, obviously, is the default language here so I speak it every day. I would prefer to speak to Chinese speakers in Chinese and it’s sort of a strict preference. And I would really care speaking with Koreans in Korean. (…) French, Spanish, I would say, like, I have to find some people who, who actually speak that language at a native level in order to practice it a little bit. Yeah, but I don’t, I wouldn’t say that I assign myself to a specific language-speaking community, even though I’m aware that there are some communities that are specifically geared towards practicing languages. Yeah, no,(…) if you want to define communities that would be naturally created, I would say just school. Otherwise, if there is any degree of artificiality involved in the word “community,” I wouldn’t say that I’m a part of any.

F: So, ever since I [went] to Korea, for the first time with my whole family, my entire family, I would definitely say is a 50/50% of either (…) Korean and 50% English or 100% Korean. (…) Yes, and so, I would definitely say that a lot of multilingual communities that I’ve been, one of them would be in [our city]. (…) since the community is so diverse, it’s so accepting, it really helped me grow as a Korean speaker as well because I would meet so many Korean Americans, Koreans – 100% Korean – and even if my Korean activity may be low, it helped me understand more about, like, Korean culture, Korean mannerism, and Korean grammar as well.

Views of Self

The last three questions were more introspective. I asked how they felt when speaking each of their languages, if they viewed themselves differently, or if they perceived themselves as having distinctly different ways of acting when speaking one language versus another.

M: I would say that I’m completely indifferent between Korean, English, and Chinese. So, that could, probably, mean that I have reached a level that I can control my confidence in those languages. (…) French, I would say lesser so, but that’s because I’m aware that I’m pretty much, like, on-and-off with it. And the same is true for Spanish. (…)

K: Do you have any differing views of yourself when you speak each of the languages that you have access to?

M: No.

K: No. Not at all?

M: This is a strict, strict no. Not at all. (…) I would not be able to talk about, I don’t know, like, very complex topics or even, like, very… either very complex or, like, very slang-y topics in French as fluently as I could in English or Chinese. But that has, I would say, virtually zero impact on how I feel about myself. Yeah. Or I was just never put into that kind of situation, I think. Yeah, that would be one explanation. Yeah.

K: Do you have any distinct ways that you act when speaking other languages?

M: Nothing language specific. I tend to be quite, just… I would say… I guess, like, because I’m aware of the pronunciation factor, when I’m speaking languages that I feel like [I’m] lacking practice in pronunciation, I would try to adjust the tone as neutral as possible, but that’s because I want my delivery to be clear, not because I feel like I have to speak it that way.

F: I think – a big difference – I feel, whenever I speak Korean, from English, (…) it’s really a lot of practice to understand the grammar structure of Korean. Whenever I switch to Korean, I always say it with pure, like mannerisms. I think there’s a lot of respect in the language for Koreans and as speaking Korean I think it’s very important to have that respect. (…) when you want to [address] someone you must say their last names instead of their first names. And so, there’s a lot of respect in that person and there’s… [you] can’t be too relaxed when speaking Korean overall. And I definitely would say that English is more of a very free language. It’s… you don’t have to be very strict (…) Korean, there’s a lot of, like, history (…)

F: I think as Koreans, they’re very straightforward. I think English, it’s a lot of, like, going around the corners and, like, maybe speaking, like, so [much] more, but for Koreans, they’re very like straight [on] the spot. (…) It’s definitely a very straightforward language and our body language, it’s actually very straightforward as well. It’s like we, I’m pretty sure that, like, Koreans in general, they sit very straight, and they say what they want to say and, I, yes. I don’t really, as a Korean I don’t really believe that Koreans are very expressional [as] much as Americans.

F: Well, as an English speaker and as an American, I would definitely say that I’m not really myself when I’m, when I speak Korean. I feel like it’s this, personality-wise, that I’m struggling with to find my character in Korean as well. I feel like there’s, like, a slight line between my English-speaking personality and my Korean personality. I feel like whenever I speak Korean, I feel like I have to be very, you know, I have to be prepared. I have to show them that I am suitable for this language and that I am someone that they can rely on because of my understanding. (…) Like, I feel like, as a Korean, I don’t really belong, so it really [makes me] question if I’m actually Korean [enough].

Conclusions

I found this mini-project to be very interesting. I was expecting my interviewees to have at least a few of the same opinions on language and was surprised to find just how different their views were, even on their shared languages. After these interviews, I don’t think that there is a one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how multilingual young adults view themselves, but I do believe that it is an area of study well worth digging into. My two short interviews have left me with many questions to pursue in the future. Does gender or age play a role in this? The number of languages you learn? The reason you learn them? I challenge you to ask yourself the interview questions and see where you land.

Challenge

1. What languages do you speak?
2. How fluent would you describe yourself in each of your languages?
3. Are you part of any multilingual communities?
4. How do you feel when you speak each language?
5. Do you have a different view of yourself when speaking each language?
6. Do you act in distinct ways when speaking each language?

Thank you for reading!