It’s fascinating to me that there are different cultures around the world, despite us being one species.  As human beings, for centuries we were able to expand across the world, creating all sorts of cultures, growing so different yet we were all created equally by God, all having the same blood coursing through our veins. The English language is no different. Across the world the same language is spoken yet it feels so different. The English language has evolved from being notonly just a language but an umbrella opening wide, spreading out revealing new forms of the English language. In my life, the English language is something I often overlook due to how typical it is, but it plays a crucial role in as defining me as an individual built upon three separate communities. As a resident of New York City for 18 years, I can say I speak not one but two different forms of English. Two different entities forming one person and I have my communities to blame for that.  

Growing up in NYC, specifically the Bronx, I experienced a huge culture shock. Living in the Bronx I was always exposed to different people and different cultures. As an African American growing up with African parents, who also exposed me to my Christian faith at an early age this made me heavily appreciate my Black community. This heavily had an impact on the way I spoke and how I carried out myself daily.  Living in the Bronx, slang was implanted into my vocabulary early. Cussing was a thing anyone can do, It’s the ghetto. Kids, teens, Adults alike using words like f*ck, b*tch, even n*gga. In school these were terms I would hear all the time being thrown back and forth. So as a kid to not appear like the odd one in the group I would use these terms daily. When I’m with my friends we would throw these words back and forth at each other till the sun set. It was fun for us, and we enjoyed it. In this community I felt free to say whatever, I wanted without thinking twice.  But living in an African household and being Christian complicated things.

At home my English felt more suppressed. I felt I didn’t have too much freedom in what I wanted to say. Sometimes I felt like I was being judged. In my household it felt like slang was forbidden. My parents weren’t big on swearing or cussing. They found it rude. They preferred speaking standard English as I should put it. This was fine, although because of this I found myself code-switching between two sides of myself. At home I will speak the English my parents want me too and with my friends I would use slang. Constantly shifting between two forms of the same language to please two different sides. It became an everyday thing for me, and I still do it till this day. But overtime I’ve slowly started to embrace both my slang and   standard English and truly incorporate them equally in my life. With the world continuously evolving, people are getting more open and aren’t shy to express themselves as they please.  This helped me build up the necessary courage to remove the switch between my sides and speak as I wish. It is truly no longer a matter of trying to please two different sides for fulfillment but instead me just being able to say f*uck when I want to. Now that I’m in college I find it easier to have a balance between the two.