What Englishes do you Speak?

“How can you fail English class? You speak the language!”

For anyone who hasn’t heard this subpar joke, it is something often said in response to a native English speaker who admits to failing an English course. It used to be a reasonable statement for me until my anthropology professor said something recently that made me switch my perspective on the English language. She told us that she would argue that there is no true official American English language, but rather, we only had American Englishes.

It’s a rather simple statement but it caught my mind because of how important it made language appear. You see, language is a big factor in our identities. One needs to communicate in order to establish to the world who she is. Who she is depends on which culture or cultures she grew up in. Language then is essentially a mirror of the culture. Another way of looking at it is through Martin Heidegger’s idea that we as humans do not speak through language, but rather, language speaks through us. Art imitates life, and life imitates art. Language imitates culture, and culture imitates language.

Once we accept this to be true, then it becomes obvious that America has no real English because it’s a nation of a seemingly infinite amount of cultures and identities. Thus, the American English language varies tremendously. This also adds more depth to the opening question. How could you fail an English course? Maybe you failed it because you could not understand or care for that type of English.

I never failed an English course in my life, but I was never a superb English student back in high school. Through this linguistic lens however, I am wondering if part of the reason I never cared for English class in grade school was because the material was spoken in an English that my being did not vibe with. Shakespeare for example I detested reading because I had no idea what the hell he was saying. As a first generation Hispanic American, his type of English was not relatable to me. I guarantee you if the English courses were analyzing the lyrics of Big Pun and Nas, however, my grades would have been a whole lot better.

The main takeaway I got from this lesson is that language is empowering. If you want to belong to a certain culture or craft a certain identity, then you should probably start by upping your vocabulary! If you want to become a pilot, then learn the language of pilots. If you want to better understand the trauma Black Americans have faced in this country, then look to learn their English language so you can relate to their culture.

So what Englishes do you speak? What Englishes should you be learning? Take a moment to think about it, but remember that your English is part of your cultural identity, so do not let anyone make you think their English is superior.