Reverse Culture Shock: Readjusting to English

As Spanish is not my first language, my ears give it second priority to English. I will always be able to tune out Spanish easier than I can English, and I will be able to listen to English better than I can listen to Spanish. I think this is not a unique phenomenon as I noticed that in France, Melanie did not seem to hear me as well as she did in Spain. It is not anyone’s fault, it is simply hard to switch between languages, so when you are focused in one you aren’t listening for another, or in my case, when you don’t have to work as much for one, you will prioritize it.

So why does this come up in reverse culture shock? It is simple: I eavesdropped a lot abroad. I know it is frowned upon and horribly rude, but I couldn’t help it. I loved listening to the conversation in English that some tourists would be having when they were lost, or some study abroad students just chilling out. The thing is generally it wouldn’t be so bad for me to admit to eavesdropping in Spain as it was usually fun to meet another native English speaker. It wasn’t so weird to say “sorry, I heard you said _____, I think that is _____,” and launch into a conversation about European culture and culture shock. It wasn’t so bad since it was a little special. Speaking English was like flashing the secret sign to a not-so-exclusive club we were both in. When overhearing someone comment about their own culture shock, by addressing them in their same language you are really telling them that you understand and they are not alone. As speaking up when you are eavesdropping* in this context can be vaguely reassuring, sometimes it is even welcomed.

So after seven months of being admittedly a little sketch to my peers (although adults generally liked it, I got along well with adult tourists) my English sonar is very fine tuned. This presents a little problem now as I am very sensitive to the language that everyone is speaking here. I am having trouble focusing in on a conversation and I feel like everywhere I am is very loud. You might say it is just because Americans are loud, but that is not why places seem loud. It seems loud because I am trying to focus in on too much English and am being overwhelmed by it all. Canton Ohio cannot be louder than Paris, so I think it is the linguistic sensitivity thing.

I am also still getting over the fact that all my conversations are starting in English. I spoke in English in France and Spain, but I would always try to be polite and speak in the host nation’s language first. In France I would at least try to say “excuse me sir/ma’am, but where am I?” in French before giving up and saying “parlez-vous angles o espagnol?” But the host language here IS English so I feel like I am skipping the preliminaries and going right to the main event when I talk with a waiter or cashier. 

The most bothersome part of linguistic readjustment is that I am having troubles speaking in English. I have caught myself starting to say a Spanish word while I am chatting several times which means I am stumbling over myself far more than normal. It is slightly amusing to see how rusty I am, but it is odd and a little frightening that my 2009 self speaks English differently than my 2008 self. My mom said that I have more of a monotone now. That might be explained partially by the fact that I am tired, but I am speaking differently. I have forgotten some small turns of phrases, so I feel like sometimes I am getting the lyrics to a well known song wrong. Today I referred to being in a “gray line” instead of a “gray area.” I now somewhat jokingly say “that’s how you say it in English right?” after correcting a wrong turn of phrase. The language feels like putting on an old baseball mitt^.

Because I feel slightly less comfortable in English now, sometimes I do just want to speak in Spanish. My parents had visited Guatemala when they were younger, but they have forgotten most of their Spanish so I cannot speak it with them. It is very odd that now I have this Spanish knowledge, but I can’t do anything with it. I have no need or opportunity to speak Spanish. This unease is exacerbated by the fact that I am visiting relatives so I am now visiting people and places I have known all my life, but I cannot speak to them in the way I have been speaking for seven months. A cousin of mine and my sister study Spanish and are pretty good at it, but once you establish a relationship in one language, it is hard to change the language.

Of course, this will all be soon corrected as I won’t shut up now and can’t stop telling anyone who will listen about my adventure. After two eight hour car rides with my parents, I am very impressed by the fact that they haven’t told me to give it a rest yet. But I will try to tone it down since I feel a bit guilty about how much I am talking

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*I’ve heard to this referred to as eavestalking, but I think it would make more sense as eaves-talking as it eliminates the “stalking” part. Also, we don’t need a new phrase for it as we already have one: butting in.

^Thanks to Heather for helping me figure out that metaphor

Comments

[Mara]

OK, I've never heard eavestalking, although eave-stalking does convey the meaning well. Eavesdropping is, I think, pretty different from butting in, because eavesdropping does not necessarily require butting in, just listening in when you're not really supposed to. (I am a grammar nerd, it's true).

Good adjustment skills might be: short conversations with your sister in Spanish, talking online to Spanish friends, watching movies with Spanish subtitles, listening to Spanish music...

Also, that's an adjustment I'm glad I won't have to go through when I get back (though I am hoping to bring back some slang here).

[Jess]

I know you heard it from me, but I'm pretty sure we can credit the phrase "Eavestalking" (which, by the way IS in fact "eaves-talking") to Ben Goldman. It basically means the same thing as butting in, like you listen to a conversation and if you have something to add to it you do...but since you did not hear the beginning of the conversation you might totally misinterpret what they are saying and basically make a fool out of yourself. At least, that's what usually happens to me...

Also, I know this isn't quite the same, but my version of reverse culture-shock when I came back from London was (and, still is...) every time the the word "thanks" is appropriate, the word "cheers" automatically pops into my head and it takes quite a bit of energy to suppress the reflex to say it! However, seven weeks abroad in an English speaking country is hardly comparable to seven months in a Spanish speaking one, so....you win on the reverse culture-shock scale of shocking. =)

[Jonathan]

Me gusta hablar en espanol (lo siento por la falta de acentos--no me importa a esta hora), y si quieres decirme los cuentos de las aventuras en esta lengua alguna vez, esta bien conmigo.

On a side note, I find it really funny that I have been able to get my mom to understand a bit of Spanish over the years from a mix of tone of voice, context, and overall maternal instinct.

My Spanish teacher back in senior year of high school noted a phenomenon like what you were mentioning here, i.e. the deliberation over word choice. For those who are bilingual (or trilingual, etc.), often one resorts to the best phrase regardless of language. There is a technical term for that.

Last but not least, la tortilla espanola es deliciosa. Me gusta mucha la comida de Espana y, tambien, la comida de muchos paises cerca del Mar Mediterraneo (Grecia, los paises del norte de Africa, el Levante mediterraneo...). Las tapas y los platos de "mezze" (como en la ultima region de la lista) siempre nos ofrecen buena comida y buena conversacion.