Polylingual

“You wouldn’t speak to your mother like that.”

Actually, probably yeah. I speak differently when I’m with co-workers. Or strangers. Or friends. At a party. Or at a library. Or at the supermarket. 

Growing up bilingual, it was really clear that I spoke differently around different people. Vietnamese at home, English at school. But as I’ve gotten older, it’s getting clearer that we all speak many languages. 

What’s intrigues me today is that the subtleties for context often get lost in internet conversations. Talking in a group is inherently different from an one-on-one, and yet we only have one comment thread for a news article. Even worst is everyone on that comment probably isn’t speaking the same language. 

The tricky part for the future is reintroducing the subtleties of context.