The Gifts (and Challenges) of Bilingualism

In this episode, Brittany takes on the topic of bilingualism, addressing some of the benefits and difficulties of being bilingual. What’s the difference between translation and interpretation? How could God use bilingualism for His kingdom purposes? Brittany tackles these questions,  throwing in a few anecdotes about her own experience being bilingual in English and Japanese. 

--------------------

Show Notes and References: 

Walter Benjamin, "The Task of the Translator" --> translation theory

• View on webpage
• View as PDF

--------------------

Transcript

Brittany: [00:00:00] Hey everyone! Brittany here with a short announcement. So I know I haven't posted an episode in a while. I just have so many responsibilities at work and other projects right now that I unfortunately can't keep to my biweekly schedule anymore. But there will still be episodes coming your way. They're just gonna be a bit more sporadic.

They'll still be released on Tuesdays. So if you just keep an eye out on Tuesday, check your Spotify or iTunes or wherever you listen to my podcast, and you'll see every time there's a new episode. And if you're subscribed to my podcast, you will, of course, be notified by your podcast provider. So just wanted to let y'all know that. 

I apologize. I'm really bummed about it too, but that's how life is right now. So thanks for still listening, though. Now let's get on to the episode.

Hey everyone. This is [00:01:00] the Salty Gaijin Podcast, and I'm your host Brittany Linder. In this episode, I take on the topic of bilingualism. I address some of the benefits and difficulties of being bilingual in general, and also share a bit of my own personal experience being bilingual in English and Japanese. 

Making this episode was actually pretty interesting because I didn't plan it at all. I just had a lot of thoughts about bilingualism one day and decided to record it. But I did have some meaningful realizations about how God can use bilingualism for his kingdom purposes. So let's go ahead and get started.

Mina-san, konnichiwa. Hey, everyone. This is Brittany Linder, and I'm your host here at the Salty Gaijin Podcast. And today we are gonna talk about bilingualism. Now, bilingualism is something that a lot of people in the world actually experience. [00:02:00] There are countries all over the world where the people have to know more than one language, uh, to do normal life.

So in America, this isn't so common, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. So I'm thinking of, like, for example, in Africa, Swahili is the lingua franca, we would say, like, the most common language, but they all know like more local tribal languages as well. 

Or like in Europe, like I think of Brussels or... Belgium, for example, they have like three different languages that are spoken in Belgium. They have French, and they have Flemish, or also known as Dutch, and German. And in some parts, even English is spoken. And let's not forget that people all over the world learn English to some degree in addition to their native language. Especially in countries where they are studying English from like middle school or elementary school. 

I think of places like Thailand, where they speak Thai, of course, but they also study English from a very [00:03:00] young age. And so they can more or less speak English just as fluently as any American can. It may not be American English, but it is the Thai international English. And they can speak it really well and communicate very effectively.

And so bilingualism is a reality for a lot of people in this world. And it's hard for a lot of Americans to understand because Americans are not pressured... don't feel the need to learn a second language to the point of being able to communicate effectively because in America, we speak English and a lot of people feel that a lot of other people are learning English and studying English so we just don't have... the... We just don't need to learn another language. It's not necessary. Most places we go, we can get by with our English. And so, there's no push to learn another language unless you are going for a four-year degree in a university. 

However, I actually want to talk about bilingualism.

First off, I do think that it is good to learn another [00:04:00] language. That it is a very good skill, not only for communication purposes, but also just for like mental exercise, to be able to speak more than one language. I think it's really good for mental development and for keeping your brain really sharp, especially as you get older. 

And I think it also helps to broaden your understanding of the world because the way that people view the world in other languages is different than how you might view the world in your own native language. So like, just to throw that out there, I think bilingualism and trilingualism and just multilingualism in general is really great.

I particularly want to talk about my experience as a bilingual person because I speak... My native language is English and my second language is Japanese. And I'm not about to say that I am fluent in Japanese or that my Japanese is at a native level because that is just, frankly, not true. But Japanese has integrated itself into my daily language use enough, having lived in Japan for three years now and studied [00:05:00] Japanese for four years in college, that it has worked its way into just the way I think about the world and the way I speak about the world. Even when I'm speaking English, Japanese has an influence sometimes. 

Now, why am I choosing today to talk about bilingualism? Well, I just today, this morning, talked to my parents and my siblings and a friend of mine on a video call, which is... It's a pretty regular thing for me. I almost every week talk to my parents. Um, I don't talk to my friend as often, but that's beside the point. And I had a really difficult time today with bilingualism, actually.

Most people think that bilingualism is really great and that, "Oh, you can communicate in two languages," and you can, you know, turn it on, turn on the languages you need when you need it and then turn it off. And perhaps that is the case for some people, but from what I have read on places like Reddit and the internet and [00:06:00] other people that I know that are bilingual, like, the greater, more common experience is that it's actually a very fluid thing for us. And it does manifest differently with each person. But bilingualism is really fluid and one language bleeds into the other language and it's actually kind of... It brings its own challenges. 

So what do I mean? So for example, I am very, very fluid between my English and Japanese. It is like at a point where it's really hard for me to separate the two and to speak in like, pure English or pure Japanese. Like it's so difficult. Even when I'm teaching in my English classes where I have to be speaking only English, right? I still have Japanese language tendencies that appear in my English now.

So there are sometimes where like maybe in lower level classes, I make my English sound more like [00:07:00] Japanese. Like, I try to make the sentences sound more like Japanese. So I will drop like a "the," or an "a." Or I will say a sentence without a subject, because that's something you do in Japanese and my students understand that better.

And so, to help them understand some parts of English, I will simplify the English or, not simplify, but Japani-... Japanesify... Japanify? I will make it more Japanese-sounding to help them understand what I'm trying to say. And it often works. 

Or another thing is that we are having, even for higher level classes, we're speaking in English and my students are telling me a story. And if it's something really interesting, I'll be like, "hehhhh," or "hnnn," and, which is a Japanese tic, if you will, is something that we do in conversation in Japanese to show like surprise or engagement in the conversation. But it's something you would never do in [00:08:00] English. Like, that's not part of English discourse.

And in English, if it's like, if someone says something surprising in English, you'll be like, "Oh, wow." Or, "Oh really?" Or, "Oh, is that so?" That doesn't even sound natural to me at this point. That sounds a little dated. But, I don't do that anymore. It's usually like, "Hehhhhh," uh, all the time. And, and it's not a word per se, but it is an aspect of Japanese discourse or Japanese communication and conversation.

And so, that happens a lot. Or there are sometimes where I'm trying to explain something and I just can't think of a good English word. Like my students will be like, "How do you say this [insert Japanese word here] in English?" And I'll be like, "Um, I know what word this is in Japanese. I don't know if we have a single word for this in English."

[00:09:00] And my students are always so, like, shocked and they're like, "What? You don't have a word for this?" And sometimes it's a matter of like, well, this thing just doesn't exist in America and so we've never needed to give it a name. Or it's an issue of, you know, we don't use this thing often enough to need to give it a name, and so we just explain it using a longer phrase. And sometimes there is actually a word for it and I just have completely forgotten because I have been outside of America for three years. And, you know, you do forget words that exist when you're not using it the same way that you used to... in the same environments and the same capacities.

And it's always such a trip. For example, this morning, I was talking to my, parents about some people that I know. And I wanted to say that they got along really well. Like these two people got along really well. And I ended up saying like, "Oh, they're like really naka [00:10:00] ii." Um, and it took me a second to like, realize like, oh wait, that's not English. I wanted to say they got along really well. 

Or perhaps I would say, you know, would be like, "Oh, and then they were like, 'Ah, yoroshiku,' and just like, say whatever they said in Japanese. And then it's like, oh wait, now I have to translate to you what yoroshiku means, which is actually just such an impossible task. Like, please don't ask anyone to explain yoroshiku like, if you can help it. It's terrible to explain. 

And so, I was thinking about bilingualism, and I was thinking about some of the challenges that it brings. And I, for me... uh... Rei, my roommate, she was on the podcast a few episodes ago. We talked about Kimetsu no Yaiba, Demon Slayer.

Uh, but she also is bilingual. I'd argue that her Japanese is even better than mine. Um, it depends on who you ask. Some people think mine is better, but it, you know, I think we both have our own, uh, strengths and weaknesses with our Japanese ability, [00:11:00] honestly speaking. But, she also has her own situation with bilingualism where we.. Her and I, because we are bilingual, we often talk and communicate in a mix of English and Japanese.

So like, perhaps part of the sentence is in English and then part of the sentence is in Japanese. Or like, perhaps the majority of the sentence is in English, but maybe there's this one feeling or one idea that we want to express that English just does not have an adequate word for. And so we end up using like a Japanese word instead because the Japanese language has this perfect word for this feeling that we're thinking of.

Or maybe... You know, if we're speaking Japanese and where like, uh, we can't remember the Japanese word, and so we just throw in the English word. And if you say the English word with a Japanese pronunciation, often people can actually figure out what you mean, strangely enough. Japanese people do study English from middle school through high school, but their English skill [00:12:00] and conversation abilities are just not that good. So if you are talking in a natural English voice, they get a little flustered. But, if you say it with a Japanese pronunciation, it sounds more like Japanese, which is how they tend to pronounce English words. And they're more likely to understand it. It's such a fascinating phenomenon.

And so like, just yesterday, I was, um, playing volleyball with a bunch of Japanese people and I was talking about finding directions or something. Direction... how to get somewhere. And I'm not good with directions. Like, just to be clear. And I was trying to explain like, oh, if I have the address, I can put it into Google maps and it's okay. I can figure out how to get there. 

But I could not remember the word for "address" in Japanese. Like the whole conversation was in Japanese and it was fine, and I just totally... just, I... I still don't remember the word for "address." And it's such a problem, actually. It's such a common word and I just don't say it enough, and so I don't remember. 

And I remember like, in that moment thinking like, "Oh my gosh... this word... I still [00:13:00] don't know this word for 'address.'" And I could see actually the Chinese characters, the kanji for this word. I know how to write the word "address," but I could not remember how to say it. It was like such a spotlight moment for some of the ways that my Japanese is kind of spotty.

And so, in the end I started saying like, "Oh, if I have the adoresu," ("address" with a Japanese pronunciation, adoresu), "I can find it in Google maps." And I thought that would be okay, but this person looked at me with this really confused look on their face. And that's when I remembered. Oh, right... when you say adoresu with a Japanese pronunciation, it is actually referring to an email address.

And so, of course, naturally you cannot enter an email address into Google maps. And so I was so trapped in this conversation and didn't know what to do. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is such a bilingual issue. Um, where I [00:14:00] just don't... can only think of the English. Like you just have gaps in your knowledge, 'cause your brain is trying to organize two different sets of vocabulary at all times. And sometimes, some vocabulary words in one language are more readily accessible than the words that you actually need in the language that you're speaking. 

And it's, you know, I remember seeing once on the internet, examples of what people think bilingualism looks like, where... especially like mistakes with bilingualism. Where like they're having a conversation in English and maybe they then have a full sentence in a different language. Just out of the blue. And people are like, "What?" And it's like, "Oh, I'm sorry, let me switch back to English." And they like, correct it. And it's... that's so not how it works. It's so unrealistic. It's not that clear cut. And it's not so easy to switch back sometimes. So... and I think it's even worse [00:15:00] when you are surrounded by other bilingual people who do the same thing all the time.

So for example, like in my, at my job, at my school... the church I work at... Most of the staff, like my bosses and supervisors are also bilingual, English and Japanese. And so we're always,, like always having this mix of English and Japanese, where like every other word is a Japanese word or every other word is an English word, and we switch back and forth like, mid-sentence. Like, we'll be speaking English, like halfway through the sentence, and then we finish it in Japanese, which like is just, kind of like doing gymnastics with language because the sentence structure is so different between the two. So like how that even works, I don't know, but it does.

And then we'll like be in Japanese mode for a little bit, and then we switch back to English and then I'll throw in a Japanese word here or whatever. And it's just like... it's so normal to me and to Rei and to the rest of us, but like to other people that only speak one of these languages, it's kind of nuts to like, observe.[00:16:00] 

I feel like I'm just ranting about bilingualism at this point, but it's been kind of on my mind, like today and yesterday with just some experiences that I've had.

So, I love being bilingual. I, I really do. I enjoy being able to communicate with two completely different groups of people in their native languages. And I appreciate the way that it has expanded my view of the world and my understanding of the world in society and culture. But like, let's remember that as awesome and like, amazing as bilingualism is, it is not actually... It has its own challenges. 

Um, especially if we think of like in an American context. I know a lot of people that, like, let's say Mexican Americans, for example. My mom's family's Mexican American. My grandparents speak Spanish and English. And I do know that a lot of [00:17:00] them feel really inadequate because maybe they can speak Spanish, but because they grew up in America and were pressured to speak English, their English is better than their Spanish is because they spoke Spanish at home, but they had to speak English everywhere else. So they learned the higher level English in school and at their jobs and everything. And at home, their Spanish is only in the house. So their Spanish is very limited in its, um, vocabulary to only words and phrases that are necessary in the household or with family or something.

And so they can't talk about things in Spanish at a high level. They can only do that in English. And I know my grandparents have said things like that, where they feel like their Spanish is not very good because they haven't needed to use it in a more professional setting. 

Uh, whereas in English, their English is better. But they still feel like their English is not so good because their brain is also keeping space open for their Spanish and so they feel like they don't like, know as many English words as like a speaker of only English would know because their brain is [00:18:00] having to accommodate the extra space for all of their Spanish knowledge and vocabulary. And then they feel bad because Spanish is their heritage language and they should be able to speak it better because that's who they are. But then they can't. 

And I know I feel that too with Spanish and I can't hardly speak Spanish. I can understand a little bit, and can speak like a very little bit, but it's not very good at all. Like it's... I can't... I can listen better than I can speak, and my pronunciation's good, but I can't make good sentences to save my life, because when I think of grammar, my default is Japanese. And so it's just all wrong. 

And so, bilingualism has its own challenges that I think people in America especially where bilingualism is not the norm and is not expected of people. Really... there's not a lot of friendly accommodation for people that are bilingual where it's like, actually these people can function in two different languages, and if they are having like a mind blank on what word they need to use for a certain language, like give 'em some grace and give 'em a little [00:19:00] like time to like sort that out or to find the solution because the information is probably there. They just are working through some of the other language files that are just hanging out in their brain and trying to sort through which language is the one they want and then find that word. 

And, you know, some words just come up more quickly in some languages than others. I have some Japanese phrases that come up faster than my English phrases do. And that is just because of like how often you use it. So, bilingualism is really cool. I really love it, but it's really difficult.

So a little grace there would be great.

Okay, so I know that all sounded like super negative at the end, and that's not exactly what I wanted to do. I am a little frustrated with my bilingualism right now. Like, I admit that, but I also do want to talk about some of the good things that come from being bilingual. 

So for [00:20:00] example, I do translation work for my church occasionally, along with Rei. We take turns translating these Bible study messages that we have every Sunday morning, and Rei will also translate sermons, um, about once a month, these days. And then we also take turns, rotating, translating for this big church meeting that we have for any English-speaking teachers that are present.

And I'm really blessed and really grateful to be able to do this translation work because it is a skill that I do want to develop, and it does actually help my Japanese study a lot. I learn a lot of new words and new phrases and expressions through translating. And it's really interesting seeing the different ways that you can translate and the different ways that people process language and how that affects the translation style. 

So like for example, there's a difference between translation and interpretation. So translation is where you are translating written information from a source [00:21:00] language to a target language. Uh, the information is written and perhaps you are speaking it later, but you have written material that you're working with, though. And so you have time to research words and to think about the best way to say this in your target language. So that's translation. 

And interpretation is real-time translation. So if someone is talking in real-time and you are in that split second, translating what you hear. Personally, I prefer translation over interpretation.

Interpretation is ridiculously hard. The big church meeting that we translate for... that is technically interpretation. I have headphones on, I'm listening to the speaker in the meeting talk, and I am talking as I am listening and trying to translate on the spot. And that is not easy for me to do because I admittedly do not have a good Japanese to English turnaround time. I, when I hear Japanese, my brain does not translate it into English [00:22:00] immediately. I understand it in Japanese first in my mind. And then changing it into English actually takes a lot of time for me. So that is probably one of my biggest hurdles in doing interpretation work. My Japanese to English turnaround time is just not very fast at all.

I excel much more with translation, where I have time to look at the writing. I can understand it in Japanese, at my leisure, and then I can take time to work out the best way to convey this information and these nuances in English. 

On the other hand, we have my roommate, Rei. And she is pretty good at interpretation, actually. Her translation is also fine, but her interpretation skills are so much better. She... when she hears Japanese, it almost immediately gets translated into English in her brain. And so her turnaround time is very fast. 

One [00:23:00] time, uh, Eli, the newest teacher here, was testing her and my Japanese. And so he would play this Japanese sentence, uh, on his phone. And then we had to... I don't really know what he was expecting us to do. He wanted to test like our listening ability, I guess. And so whenever we heard the sentence, I would repeat the sentence in Japanese to be like, "Yes, I heard it correctly, and I know what it means." Whereas Rei would immediately say the English version of the sentence. And it was one of those times where we could clearly see the difference in how we process Japanese and how we understand it.

And because Rei's turnaround time is so fast, her interpretation skills are just better and carry more of the nuances of Japanese, eh, during interpretation. Whereas when I have to interpret, I do more paraphrases. I don't have the time to sort out all of the [00:24:00] nuances of the original Japanese sentence to get it into English.

I'm just like, "Hey, get the information out in English." And if some of the grammatical nuances are missing, that's just too bad. There's no time. And so my translation for the purpose of it, which is to get the main information about the event and the meeting to the English listener does happen, but it misses a lot of the like, nuance of Japanese.

However, we do also recognize that because I focus a lot more on the nuances with translation, a lot of my translation work does stay truer to the original Japanese. So the English is grammatically correct, but does sound more Japanese than if Rei were to do translation, where she is more like, make it sound like English.

And I'm like, well, I wanna make sure the nuance of Japanese is being conveyed properly because that is important for the meaning of it. And so there's a lot of different translation theory out there. I can't remember most of the people that I read about in my translation class in [00:25:00] college, but if I remember correctly, I am much more aligned with the translation theory of, um, Benjamin, (spelled like "Benjamin"). I don't remember his first name, but I think his last name was Benjamin. And he was very much like if you're gonna translate, that translation in the target language better resemble the source language as much as is grammatically possible to help convey the feeling of the language, which I apparently just favor in the end. 

I think that Japanese does have a certain flow to it that does affect how you interact with the information. And I want English to try to convey that flowiness and that feeling, even if it doesn't always work well. It's like, it sounds convoluted in Japanese because it is, and I want you to understand how convoluted it is.

So, that's how I translate it. And so, translation work is a very interesting act- brain exercise as well. And I do translate on like, a very casual level for some of the teachers or English-speaking visitors here. [00:26:00] 

And I will readily admit that translating into English is a lot easier than translating into Japanese. Although I have done it before, it is more difficult because I don't know all of the different ways one could say something in Japanese. 

But it is a really nice thing that can happen when you are bilingual, especially if you're speaking ability in both languages is high enough. I know professionally, my Japanese is not good enough. You want to have like a high, advanced level, like business level Japanese to be able to even qualify for a lot of translation jobs. And ideally they want you to be like at a native speaker level, which is like so much to ask for, in my opinion, especially when there are so many resources on the internet, and if you have the time, you can totally check. And if you're good with grammar, and if you understand like the foundations of Japanese and words and grammar well enough, you don't have to be that high of a level of Japanese to do translation work. Interpretation work? Yeah, you totally gotta be like up there. But for translation [00:27:00] work-- written translation work-- like I don't, I personally do not think you need to be that high up. That's not necessary. You can totally translate at a lower level. 

Um, if you know anything about the JLPT, Japanese Language Proficiency Test, like you could totally translate at an N3 level, in my opinion. I am between an N3 level and an N2 level with some weird gaps in my vocabulary, mostly. I know some higher N2 level vocabulary, but I'm missing some N3 level vocabulary. So that's a unique situation. 

But translation and being able to like, bridge gaps between people is so wonderful for me. And I enjoy being able to help one group of people understand other people in another group that have a difference in language and being able to bridge that gap and bring understanding.

And I wish I could find a like, Christian perspective on this. And the only thing that comes to mind right now is Pentecost in Acts, um, chapter... Uh, I don't remember if it happens in [00:28:00] chapter one in chapter two.. But, in very early Acts, Pentecost happens where Jesus sends the Holy Spirit onto the disciples and they all begin to speak in tongues and they're able to share the good news of the gospel to all sorts of people there in Jerusalem. 

And, you know, people in Jerusalem...they... Jerusalem was a pretty like, international city at that time, actually. So you had people from Egypt, you had people that were Greek, you had people that were Romans and you had people that were, you know, Jewish. 

And so... all of the disciples began to speak in tongues and to convey the gospel in languages that were not their own languages, that they did not actually speak, but the people around them were able to understand them. And pe-... So many people came to believe in Jesus because of that moment. 

And I just makes me think of like my work here as a missionary where I have improved my Japanese significantly and I'm able to communicate information about God and Jesus and the Bible and the gospel in Japanese. I mean, as well as English, of [00:29:00] course. I could talk about it in English and class, but I can also communicate it in Japanese with church members and with people outside of the English school, with like my friends at the climbing gym or whatever.

And I'm just so very grateful that God has given me this opportunity to share what he has done in my life and to share what he has always done throughout history and what he's doing for all of us and what he's done through Jesus. And to have the language ability to communicate that with a group of people that may not have heard much about God before.

And so I'm really... For all of its challenges, I recognize that bilingualism is a gift, not just for myself, but for people like all over the world that are bilingual. Like you have a wonderful gift that you have developed that you've worked hard, that even if it was necessary and you just naturally picked it up, like, it is a gift that God has given you. And I think that's, it's important to be able to use these gifts, to bridge the gaps between people. And for Christians, especially, to use that, to bridge the gap between people [00:30:00] and Jesus who may not have heard about him before, or may not know him very well. But to reach them where they're at in their native language, because God speaks to all of us in our native language. He meets all of us where we're at, and that's not only situationally, but I think also linguistically. 

And so that is, I think the way that God is using my bilingualism. And I'm just... I've always wanted to be able to speak another language to this level. When I was younger, I thought I would be Spanish. In the end, it ended up being Japanese. But I'm just really grateful that this thing that I've always wanted to do has actually become a reality. And I can't wait to see how God continues to improve it and continues to use it in my own life.

Thank you for listening to the Salty Gaijin Podcast. If you're interested in hearing more about my daily life in Japan, you can follow me on Instagram (@saltygaijin), or Twitter (@TheSaltyGaijin). You can also check out my blog, [00:31:00] saltygaijin.com, for more theological musings from me, as well as Bible studies and some tips for expat living in Japan. 

Also, if you like the content I make on my blog or in this podcast and would like to support my work, please consider donating through Buy Me a Coffee. You could pay as little as $5 (or one cup of coffee) as a one-time donation, or you can buy me two or three or as many coffees as you want. No subscription or account needed.

Just click on the, buy me a coffee link in the episode description to donate. Any contribution is welcome and deeply appreciated. The music for this podcast is by Lesfm from Pixabay.com. If you like the podcast, leave a review on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast. I always love and appreciate your feedback.

I'll catch you next time. Ja ne!