It was a day off. This morning, I enjoyed an offline meeting of the English Studying Club. There, we read Roald Dahl's evergreen book "Matilda" a little bit (the chapter where the main character Matilda shows how smart she is by calculating). Even though I've only been a newcomer to this club, I am getting/finding pleasure in this club's activities. Usually, we read various sites or newspaper articles about politics (for example, the recent/ongoing election in America or other countries pieces of news), but today's reading was also, of course, really delightful for me (by attending this club, I bought the paperback of "Matilda" at last!).
This afternoon, after having lunch and taking a nap, at AEON I reread the book "English Hierarchy [佐々木テレサ・福島青史『英語ヒエラルキー』]" a little (this book also very actually "enlightens" me! I might suggest this book as this year's personal best ten books). Suddenly, I thought about this possibility. In my opinion, there seems to be a paradoxical character language generally can have. The first is that only the role of a tool that can make communication like a sort of bridge between people. Yes, in other words, just an object such as a hammer or computer. The other is a part of one's identity settled in one's mind, which can work as a personal "root" that can't be separated from that oneself.
For me, learning English can mean (or work) as a tool to express my ideas/thoughts like this. However, I accept the fact that the more I use English in public (although my English must never be complete/perfect), the more I find/notice that its function has been affecting/changing my mind/personality (I even want to say that there must be an "English personality" in me, which tends to "love" more positive, more cheerful, more public communication with others). Then, the language English is "swallowing" me by using it like this?
I can't tell you about this certainly (needless to say, I could have thought about this issue wrongly). In a way, various tools that have been loved by users to use frequently can change those users' minds/personalities (for example, even though in this digital age, I use a paper memo pad and a cheap "frixion pen" because I always make mistakes too much by writing!). OH NO! I've written too long.
