Does Language Impact our Identity?

Language impacts us daily. We never really think about how important it is to have relationships and interactions with people, which is seen through language, and these connections shape our lives without knowing it. The usage of words and phrases impacts our cultural identity, social identity, and especially personal identity.

Language helps us build new relationships and experiences. The way you talk and how you express yourself through words and body language makes up the first impression you make on others that may or may not play a part in your life. The way you express yourself develops a self-identity unique from others and attracts people who want to have some relationship with you, a new society you want to be part of, while ultimately leading to developing this identity. Speaking, hand gestures, facial expressions, posture, and presentation plays a big part in who you are, identify your individuality, and the way others see who you are if you are friendly, judgemental, etc. Accents in people's voices help create a personal identity, and people get a sense of who you are, and people usually use that to find connections with you and learn about your background, which is part of who you are. Everyone goes through thoughts of wanting to fit in, but this shouldn't mean a person has to abandon their cultural identity, personal identity, or change your personality or who you are to do so. Expressing individuality is vital in the world. People get recognized for their unique abilities or way of being, which can help them find a society they can be comfortable in or call to places in the world.

The immigrants who settled in Canada where a different language is spoken, face unique challenges as children while grown ups assimilate the issue and have to handle matters of personal and cultural identity. The circumstances can get even more challenging when dominant culture in the host country underestimates the native language of the immigrant. Language is a fundamental aspect of cultural identity. It is through language that we transmit and express our culture and its values. Words, language, have the power to define and shape the human experience. It is because of language that I can name my experiences. One repeatedly encounters poignant stories of having to forget one’s language in order to assimilate or acculturate to a new environment. Sadly, this forgetting often includes losing one’s roots. This loss of language, which inevitably leads to loss of cultural identity, carries with it many dangerous implications. The search for identity is most potent during adolescence since this is where people search for who they are and find their place in the world, and this is where language steps in to announce a person's presence and represent who they are