You can lose a language in a generation
Notes on culture and self 💌
They say you can lose a language in a generation. You start to forget specific words, rely on basic grammar, and switch codes with the dominant language. Eventually, you speak it less—and less fluently.
Most people who leave their hometown to live in another city or country with a different tongue experience this language attrition. But you lose more than your vernacular—there’s a gradual erosion of culture, customs, and beliefs.
Your sense of identity within a community shifts. Communities themselves may engage differently. You scale-down traditional festivals and perhaps, you don’t celebrate them anymore. Your daily life becomes akin to that of your current neighbour than the neighbourhood you grew up in. Recipes passed down to you are never quite the same without the local ingredients and over time, the once enduring methods of cultural cooking fade.
The next generation may adopt some of it or none at all. They may speak a broken native language or they may feign understanding words when Grandma is around. They may prefer foods from their childhood rather than yours and folklores that speak of vampires instead of vetalas*.
This is usually what acclimatisation looks like—because humans can adapt like water. On one hand, you’ve successfully forged a new home among new people; and on the other hand, parts of you are disintegrating. It’s bittersweet.
Some of us are better at preserving these customs than others. We buy from ethnic grocers and read the books written by homegrown authors. We rejoice in watching native movies and perk up when we banter in our first language. We share the rituals of our country with others and bestow the best parts of it upon the next generation. Ruefully, we accept the attrition in favour of a different (and still wonderful) life elsewhere.
That’s the honest truth of immigrant life. But if we can hold on to the uniqueness of our heritage, then we can have more than mere vestiges. We can have a cultural potpourri.
*Vetalas are Indian mythical creatures that are considered malevolent spirits that cause harm. They are sometimes compared to the vampires from western folklore.