Today it has been three years ago that I left my home country. Since then, my native language usage has drastically diminished. Although I fight against losing it, every time I speak Dutch on the phone I notice I´m having more and more problems finding the right words and expressing myself properly.

I´m afraid that my international lifestyle of living in a Spanish speaking country and being together with a German could endanger my Dutch speaking and writing abilities. This threat worries me as it wouldn´t only add more difficulty and frustration to my native communicative skills, I would also be losing an important part of myself…

The Multilingual Dilemma

Forgetting bits and pieces of one´s native language is not an uncommon problem among expatriates. Even those who don´t speak a foreign language but automatically degrade their speech to adjust to the level of their local conversation partners are affected by it.

So far people have told me I sound perfectly fine when I speak Dutch. However, the fact that I rarely speak the language in daily life and that more and more mistakes slip into my speech without me noticing, set alarm bells ringing for my future native language skills.

I´m facing a multilingual dilemma:
On the one hand side holding the desire to grow further internationally and improve foreign language skills and relationships, while at the same time not wanting to lose attachment to your mother tongue, native culture and connections back home.

Uncovering the Loss of Native Language

Losing certain abilities in a mother tongue due to dominant use of a foreign language is referred to as first language attrition (FLA). It typically occurs among migrants who use the later-learned language in daily life.

FLA is a process caused by two factors:

• The presence and development of the foreign language(s)
• The diminished exposure to and use of the native language

There is still much unknown about the nature of language attrition. However, current research depicts that adult FLA firstly manifests itself in the lexicon (I´ve noticed that!), grammar and phonology seem to be affected in a later stage and language comprehension stays pretty much unaffected.

Two Undesirable Consequences

Not everybody who is affected by first language attrition seems to be bothered by it. Think of seasoned expatriates who speak their own language like a foreigner: with a strong accent and simple words. I guess they´re fine with that as long as they´re happy?

What I find so alarming about this phenomenon are two consequences that I´ve observed so far. They concern my cultural background and persona and I would like to avoid them from happening any further:

1. Drifting Away from Native Culture

Despite a quick daily read in Dutch media, I´ve noticed a decreasing feeling of attachment to everything that happens, changes and develops in my home country. A seemingly static culture suddenly turns out to be pretty dynamic. I´m drifting away from the country where I was born and raised. I am aware that this is an inevitable consequence of living abroad.

Fortunately, my life isn´t limited to dynamic political, social, economic and other current events and I still feel that I belong to this country due to its hardly changed street view, stores, food, people, customs, traditions, and of course language! I believe continuation of native language practice is a key activity in avoiding losing this feeling of belongingness.

2. Losing Original Personality

Besides fostering the feeling of belonging to them, a mother tongue also contributes to your original identity. The type of vocabulary, slang and registers you use, your choice of idioms, it all signifies the outer world what type of person you are. You are what you speak.

No matter how fluent and grammatically correct my foreign languages are, without reaching an extraordinary level I´m not able to show my real personality. At the moment, 100% Marleen is only shown when speaking Dutch.

In retrospect, “losing an important part of myself” refers to both culture and identity. As long as I can´t communicate the multiple layers in other languages, I think it is for existential reasons desired to avoid first language attrition as much as possible.

How to Avoid Language Attrition from Happening?

By maintaining your native language when living in an international environment:

You could for instance actively search people that speak your language just for the sake of speaking your language. But what if they cope with the same problem? Would you make it worse or could you help each other? I wonder… As long as speech isn´t within my reach, I will try to keep practicing my language by reading, listening and especially writing.

Furthermore, I believe it´s helpful to approach this issue realistically. It´s simply impossible to both improve one or more foreign languages and continue your mother tongue at the same level. I´m convinced that your native language will be affected by second language interference for a while anyway. In other words: You will have to lower your expectations.

Experiment of a Lifetime

Gradual decline in native language proficiency is a typical aspect of globalization. As a monolingual speaker I had never thought about this issue before. I can now finally show adequate appreciation for all the multilingual people I´ve been studying and working with for years. Seeing language as a powerful identifier of personality definitely motivates me to keep in practice with my mother tongue – while simultaneously improving other languages of course.

Three years abroad of a lifetime isn´t much.
I´ll be observing my progress and I´ll be back with my findings.

Do you know how the multilingual dilemma evolves?