Member-only story
Subtractive Bilingualism: Losing My Identity, and How I Tried To Counter It
My Native Language Skills Are Deteriorating at an Alarming Rate
Non-Medium Members can read the full story here.
This is probably one of the most common problems that international students face today. It might not be a problem if your native language is English and you are studying abroad in countries like the US, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand. But what if the country you are in does not use English as the native language?
As I improve in Japanese, my Indonesian is getting worse.
It is ironic that my Indonesian is deteriorating, even though I am from Indonesia. But why is this happening? It’s because the opportunity to use the language for me is nearly zero. The only opportunities I have to use Indonesian are during phone calls with my family members or friends. I never use it in everyday situations in Japan.
Around October-November 2024, I met Indonesians at an event at Waseda University, and when they spoke Indonesian to me, I couldn’t follow what they said and just replied with “Oh ya, iya benar” (which translates to “Oh yes, yes that’s true”). I felt embarrassed as an Indonesian, and since I don’t want that to…
