My Truly

English is not my Second Language

I've noticed that my English speaking friends use "second language" when they refer to my English. However, I would say it is my "foreign language". Admittedly, these two terms are often used interchangeably, but in applied linguistics, we tend to use them to refer to different things.

Both of the two can be seen as languages other than one's mother tongue, but they have a lot of differences:

  1. Second language is used publicly within the speaker's speech community or geographical region; foreign language is not widely used in the speaker's speech community or geographical region.

  2. Second language can be used to do day-to-day tasks; foreign language is rarely used in everyday life.

  3. A second language speaker have authentic, natural communication situations; true immersion in authentic situations is barely possible in a foreign language.

  4. Most of the time, people have their second language through acquisition, whereas they have their foreign language through learning with structured training and a concerted effort.

  5. The typical vocabulary of a second languge speaker includes plentiful topics, ranging from paying bills to sharing their deepest thoughts. The typical vocabulary of a foreign language speaker, in comparison, will include anything they randomly pick from learning materials, such as literature, philosophy, science, etc., which is not necessarily useful in real life.

So, English has never been my second language: 1) I have never been to other countries so far, let alone English speaking countries; and 2) my English generally sounds more academic than informal.

When I was in primary school, learning English didn't feel pleasant to me. During English class, I never paid attention to the "alien" language that the teacher was nagging in, and I spent most of the class doodling on my textbooks. Things changed when I started listening to Ariana Grande songs and watching her shows in middle school. Ever since that point, I have fallen in love with learning languages, and English has become one of my stronger subjects.

Watching her shows has helped me pick up a lot of daily vocabulary and taught me how to take turns in conversations. But her shows do not apply to every context-based situation where I use English online. Also, the language personality that I have acquired from her shows is not always in line with my own personality in my real, daily life.

Even though I have reached a certain level of fluency in English now, I still cannot properly react to every situation that I encounter. When it comes to choosing between synonyms, I cannot always make it to use the word that perfectly fits in the context. When it comes to interpersonal conversations about emotions, it is hard for me to come up with things to say. In such cases, the great fear of saying the wrong things often makes me extremely anxious, so I often resort to communication strategies, especially avoidance and circumlocution.

Thus, next time when you talk with me in English, please bear with me. And correct me graciously if you detect unnatural or inappropriate things in my speech. Thank you in advance :)


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