What I Learned Writing in My Second Language
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Like most children that liked to read, I've dreamed about becoming a writer someday. A family that always supported my ambitions made it easier to buy books and have the tools I needed to write. What I've never thought was that I would not pursue writing in my first tongue. It would be writing in my second language that guided the path of my journey.
Portuguese is my mother tongue, and this always made my country, Brazil, being dislocated from the rest of Latin America. The enormous proportions of the country helped us; however, not speaking Spanish led to exclusion. That scenario made Brazil be strongly influenced by the United States. Music, movies, books, and other cultural products from the US are present in the daily life of Brazilians, more than the ones from the rest of Latin America. It was through music, specifically, that I learned most of my English skills.
As I am involved in the path of writing in a foreign language, I've learned lessons to make my work easier. Knowing that this can be challenging on some days was the earliest step to be careful, without forgetting to explore.
First of all, understanding the differences between my mother tongue and my second language has been vital. Portuguese has a different way to express feelings, to construct a sentence or a paragraph than English. It is prime to be aware of these differences, as the struct is a dominant part of any text. That forced me to be creative. Sometimes I need to explore paths that I would not go through if writing in Portuguese. Writing in my second language got me out of my comfort zone in the most brutal way, as I always need to find better forms to craft my work.
The revision became even more important in my process. The need to look out at the same work an uncountable number of times is a part of my routine. The writing process begins with an outline, then comes the writing itself. After finishing, I like to let the text rest some hours (or days) before getting to look at it again. I need to go with fresh eyes. It is easy to miss errors or other structural things that I would not miss if not writing in a foreign language. Check my writing with focus is a top priority.
Within the revision process, I understood that it is not a shame to use grammatical check tools. I will probably not know how to spell all the words; the extra help makes my work less complicated. Looking for synonyms when my vocabulary is limited also assists in transforming my writing more richly.
But the vocabulary only expands in a real way through reading. So I read, read, and read everything that I can find; novels, poetry, blog posts, recipes. Any piece of writing can show me new ways of thinking, different forms to struct my narrative, words that I've never heard. This exploration helps to fill my pockets with a constant flow of strategies to try.
I understood that this is a journey of learning. I will never stop discovering things I didn't know. Every encounter will show new possibilities, new worlds to explore.
Writing in my second language became more than a changing experience professionally, but also transformed the way I see life. It helped me to be more patient with my process. To understand that most of the time, the writing has its rhythm. It helped me to think more about what I'm giving to the world with my writing. To value every word I put into paper and celebrate the little victories I got along the way.
All of this doesn't mean that I reject Portuguese. I will always be proud of my tongue, and all the achievements I got through it. I will never stop writing in Portuguese, but welcoming the opportunities a second language got to my way was inevitable.
In any language, writing will always be a scary movement. Most of the writers let a big part of themselves transfer to the narratives created; doing this in a different language can be even scarier. People can not understand our background, culture, needs, and dreams, but this fear should not stop anyone from trying.
Writing in my second language made me see that there is always a space for everyone. It can look like that your public doesn't exist, that no one cares about your writing, but this is not true. Someone somewhere is listening and reading, even if you don't know about this yet. In any language, more prior than the struct of the narrative is still try. All of the writers will face fear along the way, be it to write in a foreign language, self-publish a book, or give a lecture to the public. Welcome fear as part of the process leads us to write in the way we want and at our terms.
ABOUT INÊS ALVES
Inês Alves is a Brazilian communication student and writer, trying to navigate the world. Has a passion for books and reality shows, so it's always talking about one of those subjects. Believes that writing can help to build a revolution in society and wants to be part of it. Find her on Instagram at @inesilvalvess.
