But sometimes your tongue is so laden with all the ways you can phrase a sentence that you end up swollen and heavy-jowled, and all that comes from your lips are disjointed words interjected with hesitation and insecurity. You sit down, red, and pretend you aren't being stared at by people who're wondering what the hell you're doing there; you pretend you aren't pretending those people are staring at you because it's much easier to displace the responsibility of criticism than admit you hate some aspect of your identity.
Tag: native language
Mother tongue: Being an Urdu Lisper
I have 40 pages of dense reading to do for my classes tomorrow, so in the spirit of procrastination, I'm going to put this essay up. My major is a BA, so it demands proficiency in a second language; as such, I was required to write an essay detailing my proficiency in and relationship with … Continue reading Mother tongue: Being an Urdu Lisper