Were you ever talking with a friend and your tongue slips a word in a different language? Or were you ever in a meeting and forgot how to say a simple word in every language you know? Well, I want to assure you that you are not alone!
My personal experience
Around four to five years ago, when I was in tenth grade specifically, I participated in the annual AUS Model United Nations (MUN). I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and practice public speaking among large groups of people. The conference day came and I was welcoming it with full confidence. I was prepared beforehand and had my speech precisely written down on a piece of paper and well memorized. The organizers put us in the designated rooms and we began the debate. To me, everyone seemed so much more confident, clear, and prepared than I was. However, I had to overcome that thought quickly and without thinking, my hand was raised in hope to get a turn to speak. Once the moderator chose me, I stood up and got myself ready to give the best speech I ever wrote.
It all went well and everyone was closely listening, nodding their heads, and looking at me with amazement as I was presenting my argument in a professional and persuading manner- at least that’s what I thought! I barely stuttered and as I approached the end of my speech, I opened the opportunity for questions. Those questions were where it all went downhill. One of the delegates challenged a part of my argument and I had to refute his claims. I believed I was doing a good job until I got defensive and accidentally used the Arabic word “يعني” which translates for “like”. Everyone stared at me and this is where my heart sank and I realized I messed up. However, I ignored what happened and continued to argue. As I got back to the flow of talking, I fell for the same unprofessional mistake, again! I was trying to say “but” while arguing but accidentally said “بس” in Arabic. This time I knew I couldn’t just let it pass. I stood there silently, almost crying, hoping that some miracle saves me from this embarrassment. A few awkward seconds later, the moderators laughed it off, assured me that it was okay, and asked me to sit back.
Today, this is just an embarrassing or funny moment that I recall and tell people about. However, during that time, it was very frustrating and in fact one of the reasons for not winning a certificate, regardless of my efforts. In fact, I stopped participating in MUN ever since that minor incidence as I was afraid that my speaking skills are not good enough. I did not understand how that happened because I thought I was competent in both languages; Arabic and English.
The Research on it
After the incident, I went back home, cried a little, and came across an article that explains it all. Miguel in “Does being bilingual make you smarter?” discusses the downsides of being bilingual, regardless of the benefits that almost everyone agrees on. It highlights that the brain of a bilingual person is overwhelmed with the knowledge of both languages, resulting in weaker verbal skills. In other words, a bilingual person is more prone to forgetting words from both languages or remembering it in one language while speaking the other. Although this could be frustrating or even could cost you doing bad on a job interview or a school assembly, we can’t disregard the benefits of being bilingual.
To read more on this issue, you can check out these articles: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349351/#:~:text=It%20is%20not%20surprising%20that,Cobo%2DLewis%2C%202007).
A funny video that sums up the struggle:
Questions for discussion:
- Were you ever put in a situation where being bilingual was not in your favor?
- How do you think one could over come the challenges of being bilingual?
I feel you Laya! I feel like in my mind, I’ve compartmentalized languages with the contexts they should be spoken in like parents (Urdu) or school (English), which is challenging sometimes because I’ll find myself unable to express myself eloquently in Urdu if the conversation relates to academics, or to something I’ve learned in class, for example. The article you linked explains this issue really well! I realize that my languages are a bit rusty in the contexts in which they’re not used often which has led to vocabulary gaps, and perhaps frequent practice will make a more confident bilingual!
I love the story about MUN since MUN is one of my favorite conferences ever. I have been a part of the MUN for over 7 years, delegated, paged, and chaired several different committees. I understand the struggle a bilingual/ multilingual could face specially at MUN because of the pressure and the need to answer on the spot and defend yourself. I clearly told my delegates this year not to use the words “يعني و بس” as Laya mentioned. I believe confidence and more practice is a way to get around this issue. I also believe that being bilingual is way more beneficial than bad for us.
As a multilingual individual, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. To be honest, I have never faced any issues because of being bilingual. However, when I was a child, I used to mix up the words “tomorrow” and “yesterday.” This was not due to my lack of fluency in English (as I was attending an English-medium school). The reason was far more comical: So, in Hindi and Urdu, there is only one word, “Kal (कल)” (in Hindi) or “Kal (کل)” (in Urdu), that means both “tomorrow” and “yesterday.” Growing up with these languages, it was natural for me to use the same word for both “tomorrow” and “yesterday.” I still remember asking my teacher what we did “tomorrow” when I missed a class.
Secondly, I don’t think being bilingual presents any significant challenges as long as one of the languages you speak is English. In fact, speaking multiple languages can enhance your language proficiency as you can relate phrases, words, and other elements between languages, which helps to develop your linguistic skills overall.
Anyways, this blog post was amazing. Keep up the excellent work! I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future. 🙂
This is very interesting. I’m technically bilingual, but I speak and write and read in English exclusively, so I’m a bit rusty. Whenever I do speak in my mother tongue, my mom and brother tease me about my accent and the way I pronounce some words. whenever I’m with my non-English speaking relatives, I struggle to articulate myself and its embarrassing, so I’m the inverse of you!I’ve also wanted to learn a new language, but it’s hard to learn once you’re an adult.
I loved reading this post! I want to start by telling you that what happened to you was completely normal because, as someone that has been participating in MUN since I was 14, I always encountered people that experienced the same thing that you went through. Secondly, I found your post relatable because I only started learning English at 12 years old; therefore, I had plenty of experiences where being bilingual was not in my favor, but I think what really helped me was practising the second language more and making sure that I am comfortable with both languages I know.
Thank you for sharing your experience:)
Thank you so much for sharing this, Laya! I can completely relate as someone who is also bilingual! Sometimes, when I’m feeling particularly passionate, I sense phrases in Urdu, my mother tongue, pop into my mind and quickly suppress them for fear of sounding unprofessional 🙂 But I’ve slowly come to realize that being bilingual is a gift–my mind is richer because I have so many words for the same thing!
Before reading this I had never really thought that being bilingual could put you in an unfavorable situation even though I grew up with the same problem of mixing up words. I would often switch between past, present and future tense and sometimes replying to people in a different language. In fact most people I know are bilingual and make the mistake of switching up words from time to time and because I hear it so frequently I never thought that it could have big implications if you mix up words in the wrong context. Anyways, great story.
This is definitely a very interesting topic to discuss. Usually being bilingual is always associated with benefits so its nice that you have presented the other side of the story.
I can definitely relate to this post. I am fluent in two languages; Urdu and English and I can assure you that I often end up mixing words or phrases in both languages. In fact, I believe its a very common thing as I have noticed several of my other friends experience it. Personally, I tend to think of the word faster in Urdu compared to English, and that might be because I speak Urdu at all times with friends and family.
However, these factors do not overweigh the benefits of being bilingual/multilingual, as those provide another set of advantages that can aid your linguistic skills. I can surely say that having the ability of speaking two languages has aided my understanding and comprehension of different ideas, customs and texts. So language is definitely an interesting topic to explore and I think you presented it beautifully.
On a side note, I think you should continue with MUN!! Its a wonderful opportunity to enhance confidence, public speaking and communication skills.
Thank you Laya for sharing your experience with us!! I personally think it’s a bit sad that bilingual habits are seen as bad when I personally find people who can transition from one language to another smoothly and easily to be very fascinating because it feels like they understand the languages they know very well and are connected to them. I think that as long as people are able to present their ideas well, it is enough.
Quite an intriguing read here. As someone who, up until last year, rarely, if ever, used anything other than Egyptian Arabic in their daily interactions, I can see why multilingual people might mix up words and phrases between the multitude of languages they use.
Personally speaking, I would not say I experienced this kind of interconnectedness between languages (yet). I would put this down to the separation I have in my mind between English and Arabic.
Arabic, in particular Egyptian Arabic, has been my primary language of communication for more than 18 years of my life. However, my English was constantly being refined and improved upon through my writings, whether they be schoolwork or my own personal endeavors, and my thinking process. Thus, when I came here, the switch to English was not difficult and I still do find time to talk in my mother tongue.
your blog was really interesting. It reminds of a similar situation that happened to me in school. I had to present a powerpoint to my entire grade and I had started off really well until someone entered the room and broke my thought sequence. I blanked and stuttered so I took a five second pause and continued. I spoke continuously and until the end where I made the grave mistake of saying ” yalla then any questions” but thankfully no one noticed.
Laya, this post is so reflective of how we criticize ourselves, I honestly think language gives away so much of who we are as people. And its so cool how you hold onto your native tongue. Being bilingual is such a beautiful gift when you can be of use to someone that doesn’t speak English or vice versa. A fun way to try to speak one language consistently would be to grab a younger sibling and speak with them in the language your trying to improve (the best part is they can be brutally honest so that helps! haha.)
I loved your blog since it went into detail about a situation you’ve been through that many people can relate to. It is great how you reflect on your past experiences and think about them in a humorous aspect rather than in an embarrassing one. I also find it a nice addition that you added extra resources to read from regarding this topic since it is a popular one. To answer the questions, I am not bilingual so I cannot relate to this issue but I do believe that one could overcome the challenges of being bilingual by speaking each language more often.