I really enjoyed reading about Sociocultural Factors and how these relate to culture and language learning. When the authors talk about stereotypes, I realized that while abroad, many people take the image of America as portrayed in the media and think that Americans "are all rich, informal, materialistic, overly friendly, and drink coffee." They also see American women as "loose" in comparison based on movies like American pie. When I was abroad, I remember a few times in bars where I would introduce myself and my country of origin, and I would get more attention than I wanted. By the end of my experience I had learned not to provide that fact and don a British accent when I spoke (in French or in English). This one change in my behavior changed others perception of me, and I was seen as more respectable and high and mighty!
Secondly, I can definitely relate to this idea on p. 194 that when one learns a new language, one also inadvertently forms a new, second identity. This process of learning a language also involves learning the culture, and conforming to that culture changes ways of thinking and feeling and socially acceptable responses. For example, when Americans get on the metro, they are often loud and boisterous, because in our culture this is acceptable. In French, a policy of respect for others' privacy and social space includes keeping noise levels to a minimum. Therefore, as one learns French, and boards the metro in France, a normally boisterous American may easily appear more reserved and professional. There is a quote from River Town that I think perfectly describes this formation of a new identity:
"I never changed my Chinese name, but I sensed the ease with which my Chinese identity became distinct from my American self. Eventually, I came to think of myself as two people, Ho Wei and Peter Hessler. Ho Wei wasn't really a person until my second year in Fuling, but as time passed I realized that he was becoming most of my identity: apart from my students, colleagues, and other foreigners, everybody knew me strictly as Ho Wei, and they knew me strictly in Chinese. Ho Wei was completely different from my American self: he was friendlier, he was eager to talk with anybody, and he took great pleasure in even the most inane conversations. In a simple way he was funny, by saying a few words in the local dialect he could be endlessly entertaining to the people in Fueling. Also Ho Wei was stupid, which was what I liked most about him. He spoke with an accent, he had lousy grammar, and he laughed at the simple mistakes that he made. People were comfortable with somebody that stupid, and the found it easy to talk to Ho Wei, even though they often had to say things twice or write new words in his notebook..."
After studying abroad in France, I see palpable ways in which I am Bruyère ("heather" in French), this French-speaking, fun-loving, silly, outgoing, somewhat pretentious, crepe-loving, explorer of life, and how I am Heather, a quiet, kind, selfless, responsible, religious, conservative, determined lover of knowledge. I feel like Superman in the sense that having both identities is like being both Clark Kent and Superman at once. However, themore time I spend in one culture, the more that identity is cultivated over the other. It is an interesting question: would I be the same person if I were born somewhere else?
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