Languages as a source of freedom

I’ve always loved languages. I was quite good in English during high school; then, when I moved to Spain to start my working career in 2021, at the age of 24, I understood that I properly had a knack for languages. (Of course, learning Spanish as an Italian is an easy feat; but I still felt proud of being the only Italian expat I knew to properly pronounce the Spanish “c”).

Then, during a quite tough period in my life (emigration is hard, even something as simple as moving from Italy to Spain; I don’t envy Latin Americans moving here), Catalan came. Unlike Spanish, I had no “need” to learn it, as I was still living in Madrid, and yet I pursued it with lots of energy. I then moved to Barcelona, partly to change jobs and get into the IT bubble there, partly to actually speak Catalan. And, during an even tougher period (it’s been a few rocky years) Catalan helped me feel a proud, a connected citizen of Catalunya, and not just one of the countless expats temporarily residing there.

And then came Ukrainian. I felt very connected to the country once the 2022 full-scale invasion happened, so given the successes of other languages, and the emotional and spiritual richness they gave me (and also the possibility of bragging a bit, let’s be honest), I decided to take on this more difficult challenge.

Notice that I say that languages “came” to me. Unlike other life decisions, such as getting into data science, where it felt somehow rational to actively “move towards” something, with languages I simply felt the time was ripe to let them into my life.

I often say to people that different languages created different identities within me. Of course, I don’t claim to be as Spanish as a Spaniard, or as Catalan as someone that was born and raised in Lleida (city of which, curiously, I have the accent when I speak Catalan, apparently). But it is true that I am a bit of both. And I find it beautiful.

In the end, language IS identity. I materially feel myself differently when I speak in different languages. Denying the importance of language preservation (or language erasure, as in the case of Ukrainian in the occupied territories) is to deny a fundamental tenet of freedom itself.