Language and Culture Journal

Journal 5: Freedom in Language

Helen Keller write that the acquisition of language "set her free." Malcolm X expresses similar views on the freeing power of language. In your journal, record your own feelings about the different ways that language provides freedom. In addition to drawing from some of the essays in this section, you may wish to add an experience of your own. (From Exploring Language twelfth edition by Gary Goshgarian page 95)

I remember when I was younger I was so shy that I did not hardly speak. The sound of my own voice scared me. There were many times that I wanted to say something, but I was unable to speak. I felt that part of me was missing. I became discouraged because when I did speak, what came out of my mouth was not what I had been thinking in my head. I understand how Helen Keller felt when she said the acquisition of language set her free.

I began writing down things and then would read them aloud to myself. The writing of my feelings, experiences, and just things that I wanted to say and couldn't, filled the part of me that felt missing. I began to read aloud poetry to increase the fluency of my speaking voice. I was able to hold conversations with other without them knowing how frightened I was of hearing my own voice, and without them knowing how hard I worked just to be able to speak.

I still spend a lot of time writing instead of speaking aloud. It is a comfort that I will never outgrow or lose. Without the power to be able to write down what I am thinking and feeling and imagining, I would be lost.

I know there are others who have the same experiences. Some people call it selective mute-ism. That is true to an extent, but it is more than that. It is a characteristic of survival during difficult circumstances. Then it is a trap. A deep hole that a person tries to climb with the only ladder being language.

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