Cansada

Ana

Last year, one of my professors – that I am going to call Rosseforp* – apologized in class because they would not have a potluck party on the last day of class like one other professor was going to do. On the day of the party of this other professor, as the whole department had been invited, Rosseforp showed up. I approached them and said “You should ‘borrow’ this party”, and they promptly answered “It’s not ‘to borrow a party’, the correct expression is ‘to crash a party’”, and went away, leaving me with my mouth open, ready to answer that that was not what I meant. I was trying to suggest to Rosseforp that they should “use” the party as if it was their own (thanking people for coming, for example) because most students were in both classes anyway. Isn’t that what the word “borrow” means? We certainly use it more often with concrete objects, as in “borrow a pen”. But it can also be used figuratively, as in “borrow a word from another language” or “borrow an idea”. However, I guess, being a non-native speaker, any deviation from the standard or “acceptable” language (as usually decided by whomever is the self-proclaimed language expert available in the area) will be regarded as a mistake and there will be no attempts to recognize any possible intentional meaning behind the words chosen.

Interestingly, Rosseforp had asked me in class just a few weeks before the potluck why I wanted to lose my Brazilian accent – and, by extension, why anyone would want to lose their foreign accent. Well, this is my answer. I am not afforded the freedom to use the language as native speakers are. Their metaphors are seen as creative and smart rather than a subterfuge to hide their lack of precise vocabulary. Also, they can always claim differences in style or even poetic license.**

Learning a new language opens a whole world of information, entertainment and opportunities. Additionally, being able to use this new ability in a real context for the first time is an amazing feeling. However, living in a foreign country, having to use that new language every single day, in situations that require more sophisticated levels of language skill is not as much fun – especially speaking with native speakers. I am the one making 100% of the effort to make the interaction even possible and, yet, I am the one under constant scrutiny. And that is when I actually make mistakes or use an unusual word. If I speak by the book, I will still be judged by my accent – I was once told by a classmate that they giggle when I speak…

Então, para finalizar, quem vai fazer o esforço de garantir o sucesso dessa última interação vai ser você. Não se preocupe, sua única tarefa é fazer uma visita rápida ao GoggleTranslator, suas habilidades linguísticas não serão julgadas. Divirta-se.

*This is not in any way an attempt to attack professor Rosseforp (in fact, I like them very much). It just happened that they provided a very good example to illustrate the feeling I wanted to express.

**I know that there are levels of prestige for different varieties of the same language, but no native speaker will have to take a proficiency test every two years. You might disapprove the way some people speak, but they are native speakers nonetheless. Plus, there are many other factors that can also justify linguistic discrimination among native speakers (elitism, racism, power…).