In coaching people on improving their American English skills, many have admitted, "l'm afraid to be good at American English, because if I am, won't I lose my language and cultural identity, my heritage?"

This is a legitimate fear. When I hear this, I answer like this, "I understand, and this is a legitimate fear. I understand your fear, also. However, I am not the one who can answer this. You must answer this for yourself. Do you think you will lose your language and cultural identity if you improve American English?"
 

This answer is different for different people.

Some people need to be guided more through this question to get to the best answer for them.

The way I have handled it is by asking them a few more questions (not exhaustive):

1.    What are your main goals for learning American English?

2.    In which ways will you improve your American English?

3.    What are your goals for remaining connected to your language and cultural identity?

4.    In which ways will you continue to stay connected to your native language and culture?

It’s true, when we learn something new or make a change; something else gets a little less attention than before. So if we start improving American English, maybe our native languages (Indian English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Hungarian, etc.) take a back seat for a little while. The fear is we will ‘forget that’ in place of something new. However, answering the questions above from YOUR point of view will help alleviate those fears.

Improving anything takes a little effort (or a lot) and time everyday. To improve your English, you may spend up to a few hours a day, which may take away time for maintaining an unbroken connection with your ‘other langu ::ages’, and that is natural. However, as long as there is a connection with your other languages throughout each and every day, the likelihood you will lose that connection is very less as compared to a situation where you are fully immersed in a new culture and language with no connection to the ‘past’.

These questions and their answers are also intimately tied with your values and your world views (among other important self- identifiers). Taking up anything new is scary because it’s the ‘unknown.’ Part of the coaching process, well a BIG part of the coaching process I undertake with people is to explore these issues. These issues are the groundwork for creating success in adapting to another language and/or culture. These issues combined with others (such as self-esteem, adapting new cultural rules, etc.) need to be part of the cross-cultural coaching and American English coaching process. These issues create BARRIERS to success, and as they become resolved we not only become more comfortable with ourselves (self-awareness) but become more successful at achieving our goals.

So, will YOU lose your cultural and linguistic identity by improving American English? That answer will be different for different people depending on your approach to the process and keeping your eye on the prize (keeping important values in mind) along the journey.

Image Courtesy : www.freedigitalphotos.net

Contributor : africa

(Author, Jennifer Kumar, is a cross-cultural coach, helping people plan for their moves between India and America. You can reach her for personalized or small-group coaching services at authenticjourneys@gmail .com )


Visit her Blog : http://authenticjourneys.blogspot.com/

Tweet

  Post a comment