https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/language-development-amazing-chance-together/zjb88xs As someone who grew up speaking/learning a few languages at once as a child and as a product of moving around (Hungarian, Welsh, English, German) - this got me. We have a lot of sentimental attachment to our native tongue, but we shared some of these fears

It was hard because language was, and is, a huge part of my identity. Still to this day, I can’t count the number of people who can’t pronounce my name and who I just ask to call me ‘Frank’ instead. I did have trouble early on when speaking Hungarian outside of Hungary.

We received racial abuse in the past and I have been shouted at/chased and was initially misunderstood a lot because of my accent so I relied on (and fell in love with) films and books as a way to assimilate. Quite surprisingly, Hungarian is mistaken for Polish frequently!

One of the most awkward things I have repeatedly heard now that my accent is as south East/East Anglian as possible is ‘Oh I didn’t know you were foreign’ - which speaks volumes. But it’s not just been bad experiences growing up in other countries.

In Cardiff/Wales for example, when I could barely speak English (or Welsh for that matter despite there being video/written evidence of me doing it!) - I had a lovely teacher that took time to learn some Hungarian phrases and sentences, and took time to help me translate.

That sort of effort to include me by utilising my own language and to make me feel less anxious, meant the world to me. I still remember it - in fact in middle school, I helped out a fellow student who was in the same predicament having come from Hungary and hope they paid it fwd

Basically, I’m operating on no sleep and just wanted to say: language matters. It’s a huge part of your identity, but it can become very tricky if you move around a lot. A lot of identity, confidence and comfort for me revolved around ‘fitting in’ and being able to speak well.

It acts an anchor, it acted as a way to hide for me and it had a huge impact on my self confidence and esteem when I was young. It’s something I thought about a lot - about how it made me stand out and how I could fit in.

And it was hard to deal with - you didn’t want to forget your home language, but you wanted to absorb as much of the local language as possible. And that’s hard as a child. Basically, language and identity are intertwined a lot more than I realised as a child.

I looked at it like a tool for a long time - just something I should be able to pick up, switch and turn off. But then you start thinking and dreaming in different languages - and that plan goes to pot. It really matters - that’s why this got me.