Growin Growing Up My First Language Essay

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As humans, we communicate constantly, using both verbal and nonverbal communication and what we understand is determined by our culture and the way we speak. It has been said that “to lose a language is to lose aspects of how a person make sense of themselves and the world they live in and the values that culturally and psychologically bind a people together shaping their identity” (Greymorning, 2010). Culture affects the way a person perceives, communicates and behaves in the world, what is “socially” acceptable in one culture is not necessarily acceptable in another. The process of communicating is a give and take experience that you share with someone. And I understanding this difference nuances of you culture language and personality will help you to navigate the world in a more effective way. …show more content…

As a child it could be said that I was a bit of an ethnocentric since I believe that everyone speak one language at home and another at school. As I aged I became more self-aware and realized I was something of an anomaly, a large majority of household were not bilingual, even the other French American household. As a “cross- breed” or a first generation French-American I still hold true to certain aspects of the French culture while blending in the American culture which makes me capable of efficiently code switching both behavior and language depending on the situation. My French and American cultures are ingrained in me, and through the enculturation process I have developed a social identity and personality that is uniquely my own constructed through life experiences within each