Lost in Translation & Frustration

Lost in Translation & Frustration

One of the most frustrating aspects of being an immigrant and speaking a foreign language such as English, while at work, in social media, at school, in legal proceedings, or in writing, among others, is the inability to convey properly the correct intention or meaning of my message whether verbal or written.  In a culture like the United States, where accuracy and perfection are up to the most important, meaning and intentions tend to be ignored, while judging the precision, and correctness of the message.  

In my humble opinion when two different culture collides, the message between actors can become an internal battle for dominance and culture reassurance and the intended intention is usually lost in translation.  Even many of the original scholars who studied language only focus on the subconscious knowledge rather than meaning and semantics.  In chapter one of Ahearn “Living Language”, the author explains the “Chomskyan distinction between “competence”, the abstract and usually unconscious knowledge that one has about the rules of a language, and “performance”, the putting into practice – sometimes imperfectly – of those rules” (Ahearn, 2017, Pg. 9). 

The emphasis and approach of Chomsky and other scholars such as De Saussure focused on the theoretical competence of the language and almost ignoring the parole or performance of said language. While it’s apparent that language is greatly influenced by people’s culture, how it’s learned, social relations, and their language ideologies, is impossible to ignore how performance alter the messages, Ahearn (Ch, 1)

In my personal experience being able to communicate effectively verbally and in writing has come with two distinct types of approaches and each form of communications presents two similar struggles for understanding.  When speaking in person with a native English speaker the conversation tends to be less complicated and my approach is more informal and relaxed than when trying to convey my message in writing because face to face feels more warm and familiar.  Although, writing brings other conflicts such as educational level, proper grammar, and assumptions, making this second approach more rigid and methodical is expected.  

Usually, when communicating in person, it doesn’t matter if the conversations reveal my social status, educational level, and personality, since is a customary practice for me to code-mix and codes-switch while speaking and the fact that Spanish is my first language, automatically makes the audience assume my status and objectives, Ahearn (Ch. 7).   Nevertheless, many times, after overlooking my accent, acknowledging my first language, and observing my multimodalities, the person can effortlessly interpret my demeanor, mannerism, verbal cues, and my gestures which often reveal my purpose.   

The truth is “Some ways of speaking tend to get labeled prestigious, while others are stigmatized. Since all languages, dialects, and registers are rule-governed, there is nothing inherent in them that makes some “better” than others, linguistically; these sorts of judgments are made for social, cultural, political, or historical reasons.  For example, in some context in the United States, speaking Spanish is looked down upon, and people who speak Spanish in public are often stigmatized” (Ahearn, 2017, Pg. 144).  It is evident that there is a denunciation of foreign speakers in the United States, making communication more difficult for immigrants and non-native speakers.     

Furthermore, when the communication is in writing, is impossible for me to tell or show the readers my intentions or meaning unless the writing follows all the proper grammatical rules and the notes, blog, or papers are written accurately and free of errors. It’s more difficult to accurately transmit the message when obstacles such as grammatical errors, improper subject composition, incorrect sentence structure, citation mistake, incomplete comparisons, or just a simple cultural term used inaccurately, can completely change the meaning of an essay, letter, or social media blog.  My children often accused me of writing with my accent and it was not clear what they meant until there was an opportunity to looked at previously written work and finding so many grammatical errors and cultural mistake in my writings; however, the meaning, a least for me, was extremely clear regardless of the reader’s interpretation.  

One can say that the simple solution is to study the language deeply until the person can understand it better or just make sure to take the time to write accurately and free of errors; nonetheless, the task is not as simple as it may seem because learning and speaking the English language has been politically and socially stigmatized, making it harder for a diverse immigrants, like myself, to freely immerse in the language without having feelings of guilt or betrayal towards my ancestors and native culture.  Trying to communicate verbally and in writing has been frustrating but at the same time has been the propeller that has pushed me to work hard and to thrive in a culture that often can be judgmental and cruel but accepting and understanding in other occasions.

Thanks,

Brava 😊

Keywords: language, interpretation, meaning, intention, discrimination, competence, parole, abstract, performance, unconscious knowledge. 

"Life is the result of our choices" - Brava