by Sussa Bailey

Created on: May 24, 2009   Last Updated: May 25, 2009

Have you ever had that dream where you are dead frightened, and convinced that you will not be able to talk again. You have now finally (and with utter regret) lost the ability to speak? Disaster. Or have you repeated a word in your mind, said it out loud, and think: what an obscenely strange word that is? It is uncomfortable on the tongue, it sounds funny, it is just plain bloody odd, where the hell did it come from? Was it created in error, like the word buttonhole that was a miss-hearing of button-hold.

The complexity of a language fascinates the living wax out of me. I guess because it is at the core of my human nucleus to communicate, to express myself. Correction, it is not always that easy to express yourself, especially if your first language is not English. If you can only speak one language, you probably will not know what I am on about. The old cliche: you cannot express yourself like you can in your mother-tongue, might never ring true to monolinguals.

Background versus culture versus language, those ever-so abstract concepts, intertwined like an African basket, where is the beginning, or the end? I am multi-lingual, so I reckon it is fair to believe me when I say: one can only grasp and understand 'language(s)' if you learn another language. The funny thing is, I also felt that I truly understood and appreciated my own language better, once I mastered another. The meaning beyond the word in one language can sometimes more accurately be realised in the synonym of that word in another language. I will make another statement that I cannot prove: by mastering more than one language your mind becomes amazingly more creative.

And that brings us to the ever fascinating topic of accents. How come an American sounds different from a Brit, from a Kiwi from an Aussie,? They all speak English. Again some evidence as to how deep rooted culture and language are. I think it is not just the way we form the word in our mouths, it has a lot to do with where one places the accent (climax) when pronouncing that word. As a multi-lingual I translate in my mind, while speaking another language. I will do a direct borrowing of the word's accent. In some languages (and cultures) when pronouncing a word the accent will be in the beginning of the word. The same word, in another language (sounding very similar), will be pronounced with the accent on the latter or middle part of the word. Once upon a time I was embarrassed by my accent, even discriminated against, but now I am proud of it. The fact that I pronounce a word different from you, makes us both unique, exotic beings! And the fact that we have a common language to communicate in is prime.

Is it possible that accents can be personality related? We all have our preferences to the languages we love. I have a strong affinity towards Germanic languages. I like a language that explodes from the mouth, that is loaded with friction and fireworks. For example the French language sounds too soft and polite to me, too swishy-swashy like the sound of a brocade garment on the move. Why? Beats me. Maybe the Germanic languages fit my personality profile better: to-the-point, straightforward, I am a need-to-know-where-I-stand-with-you kinda girl.

Think I am on a trip, well maybe I am, and maybe you're not, but you would not know until you have explored or mastered another language. OR even better, move away from home, the familiar, where all sounds the same. Expose yourself to really listening to your own language (culture) in another country. Now there is a mid-term goal for you!

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