Tag

life of an an immigrant


HOW NOT SPEAKING MY FIRST LANGUAGE AFFECTED MY PERSONALITY

I recently had a moment of realization when I had a brief flashback of how I was experiencing myself and my being back in Germany. I saw this vibrant and naturally funny young person who literally didn’t give two f****s about how her peers perceived her. That person was speaking German and was confidently, eloquently and creatively playing with words and using them in her own way, never abiding by the rules with which those words where intended to be used. In a way, she had her own way of expressing herself that people found interesting. Her inspiration stemmed from the fact that she was raised trilingual, speaking German, Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole, which broadened her horizons and the possibilities of how she could use words outside of their familiar context.