With the consistent progression of the world today, the question may arise: why has the world not resorted to one universal language? One language that could potentially diminish barriers between millions of people? One language that would allow the entire world to communicate? Well, contrary to popular belief, the concept of a universal language weighs more negative outcomes than positive outcomes. The world has not evolved into one global language because a language is not solely just the words that consist of it. Nor is it the sounds and written symbols that form its words. A language is not only a complex form of communication but a culture. A language brings people together, and ultimately, a language is a tool used in order to see the world in a different perspective. As David Max Braun claims, “Every language furthers and refines our understanding of cognition, communications systems, the nature of the mind, and the different ways people categorize our collective human experience” (Braun). Evidently demonstrated throughout my own personal experiences, despite the benefits of speaking two languages, a bilingual individual faces difficulties completely understanding all the nuances of each language, which results in facing challenges interacting with other people; this ultimately leading to the desire of social acceptance.

Throughout the sixteen years I have lived, the most frequent words that came out of my mother’s mouth were, “anak, bakit ang chismosa mo,” meaning “my child, why are you so nosey?” I did not think much of it when I was younger, but then I came to the realization that I always wanted to understand what my mother or father was saying. Despite the fact that Tagalog was the first language I learned and the language my parents consistently chose to speak to me in, there were just some things I could not understand. Having the capability to define each word of a sentence or phrase, but not being able to understand what is being said when the words are together is like having a toolbox with no tools: it is useless. No matter what the topic may have been, whenever I heard my mother or father speaking in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines, I wanted to understand what was being said. Unfortunately, my parents explained to me that there will always be elements of Tagalog that I will never understand: things that only native people could understand. Despite how Tagalog has helped me communicate with a number of different people, there has always been some part of me that craved to fully comprehend the depths of the language; however, despite my desire to understand the nuances of Tagalog because I am not native and due to I have been surrounded by English speakers all my life, it is impossible. This division between native speakers and those who only grew up speaking a language in a household or at family events often makes it more difficult for the two different types of individuals to connect with each other; natives and individuals who were raised bilingual like me both have the capability to speak and understand the language, but not to the same extent of native speakers. I am capable of comprehending and communicating with those that understand all the complexities of a language, which results in a craving to fit in with those that do. Based on my personal experiences,  the difficulties of craving social acceptance that is caused by the incapability to communicate often times leads to bilingual individuals to do what it takes in order to understand the different realms of a language.

Despite my lack of knowledge of the nuances of Tagalog, the language has also impacted my English. Simple words, such as “drawer,” “comfortable,” and  “salmon,” were impossible to pronounce. Rather than “dro-er,” it was “draw-er.” Rather than “comf-ter-ble,” it was “com-fort-a-ble, ” and rather than “sa-men,” it was “sal-mon.” I vividly remember the numerous times my friends would call out my mispronunciations.  However, as frustrated as my elementary self was, I did not understand why I struggled to pronounce words everyone else could. People would continuously laugh at what I felt I had no control with, and the more those around me laughed, the more I desired to be accepted. In middle school, I began to realize what caused the difficulties of certain words: Tagalog. In the Tagalog language, there is almost always a vowel that follows a consonant, so words in English that had multiple consonants next to each other were inevitable mistakes. The embarrassment of my mispronunciations gradually worsened once I begun Middle School and was required to start reading text in class or when there were individual presentations. As my embarrassment worsened, so did the shame I had for Tagalog. In hopes to improve my English, I began to convince myself that the language was ugly and abnormal. The desire to fit in with my classmates after countless instances where I was misunderstood or taunted led me to be ashamed of a part of my identity that will never change. My experience throughout my life demonstrates examples of the challenges bilingual individuals face and why those who speak two languages are inclined to desire social acceptance when they are rejected or labelled as different.

Apparent throughout my life, the desire of social acceptance is inevitable: it is human nature. Unfortunately, “simple” is not a word one should use to describe the complexity of the human mind. The thousands of languages that exist today all provide a different lens to view the world, allowing one to see the diverse cultural, psychological, and environmental aspects of the native speakers. Without a diversity of languages, various perspectives of the world would be lost. Therefore, rather than shaming individuals who do not speak the common language of the community, such as English, other languages must be embraced. As a matter of fact, embracing languages could potentially help those who are attempting to learn a language or completely understand one, which could ultimately lead to the decrease of language barriers between thousands of individuals across the world. In spite of the cliche aspects of unity, striving to decrease the language barriers between different groups of people and helping those who are struggling with themselves and their identities to feel like they fit in can is the first step that must be taken in order to eliminate the issues that individuals having difficulty with the language aspect of their identity face.