Somehow, I know two languages, yet I have always questioned: Am I a decent writer in either? ¿Estoy comunicando el mensaje que deseo transmitir? It has taken me many years to feel comfortable and proud of my writing in either language.
I grew up in the United States, with immigrant parents, meaning that their native language wasn't the dominant language spoken by those around my family. I was exposed to English as soon as I started speaking at the age of 2 and received education in English, so even though I considered myself a fluent, native Spanish speaker, English became the language I was most exposed to, making me also, a fluent native English speaker. This dual exposure made navigating my production (both oral and written) a complex task and something that I have to critically think about before expressing myself in either language.
Writing, although being one of the more difficult abilities to harness as a heritage language speaker, due to lack of exposure and practice that I had from a young age, has always allowed me to explore both languages and consciously think about the linguistic choices I made and the structures that I had at my disposal.
For a long time, I thought that writing or speaking had to be produced in a monolingual context, pero, ¿por que? I have never known a part of myself that doesn't know the other language, so why should my writing process be constrained to only one?
Not too long ago, I came to the realization that knowing 2 languages does not deter my linguistic ability, but instead, offers new perspectives and new lenses for which to expand my writing abilities.
As informed by Hirvela, et al (2016) on the transfer of knowledge from ones first language to another, and after reflection of my own experiences as a heritage speaker, I offer a few insights on how I have used my bilingual brain to harness my writing abilities from one language to the other.
Examples of how I have used both languages in my writing, even in a monomodal context:
Transferring of writing skills: I apply skills taught/learned in one language, such as text structure and formal registers, to inform my writing in the other.
Planning writing: I brainstorm ideas in one language to thoroughly explore and prepare my thoughts before writing in the other.
Content knowledge transfer: I take information I have learned in one language, such as sociocultural impact or moments in history, and apply that knowledge when writing in the other language.
Genre awareness: I use the knowledge on genre writing taught to me in one language, such as argumentative or persuasive writing, to inform my writing in the other language.
I challenge you to reflect on how you use your multilingual abilities in your writing (especially if you are doing subconsciously). Embrace your linguistic diversity and look for new ways to help you, help yourself grow as a writer. and to continue looking for new ways to help yourself help yourself. ¡Buena suerte! :)
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