How Does Language Influence One's Identity

Everyone is different in their own way therefore, language can be a major factor that can influence one’s identity. Often language may establish a part of a person’s individuality among the diverse human beings. Today in society, depending on what type of culture one embraces or language one speaks, others will be the mirror in which we see ourselves from day-to-day. This may have both a positive and negative affect on one’s character. Language can influence one’s identity socially, culturally, and emotionally in this lifetime. People are very prejudice especially towards individuals who communicate through a different language. In todays society, everyone is judged based off of what culture they embrace, the color of their skin, the clothes they have on their backs, individuals associate themselves with, and most importantly the language an individual speaks. In Richard Rodriguez’s short story Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, he says full individuality is achieved, paradoxically, by those who are able to consider themselves members of the crowd. Not everyone has the luxury of feeling in place with the people who surround them. The way humanity is today is like middle school in a sense. There are different crowds and if one does not fit in with any, that individual is considered an outsider and in this case, an outsider in that person’s
Language has a major influence in originality. People share their thoughts through their language which is sacred to them in a way that makes them feel unique and have an intimate bond within the family. In How to Tame a Wild Tongue Gloria Anzaldua said that ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity. A person is their language in other words. Language breaks down culture and limits and will be apart of an individual which will always connect them to their heritage. Language establishes identity through culture which one will carry for a