Juggling Languages and Cultures: A Personal Journey

My master’s thesis was about second language learning, the whole process of input, processing, and output. I focused on how personality affects learning a new language. But in reality, my own journey has been about something even more complex: how the brain functions when juggling multiple languages, dialects, and cultures at once.

I grew up in the Presheva Valley, where Albanian was my first language. Albanian itself is one of the oldest Indo-European languages, with two main dialects and countless regional variations. Alongside it, Serbian was the second language we had to master in school and daily life, with its own dialects and complexities.

Later, I studied English Language and Literature in North Macedonia. English became my third language, with the added challenge of balancing American English (used by most professors) with British English (found in textbooks). On top of that, we learned Macedonian, another Slavic language with its own grammar, suffixes, and consonant patterns.

By then, I was already juggling three languages and multiple dialects. And then life brought me to Norway, where Norwegian became my fourth language, and one I fell in love with immediately.

But learning so many languages is not just about vocabulary or grammar. It’s about identity, culture, and emotions. At times, it feels like my brain is on constant “alert mode,” switching between languages depending on where I am and who I speak with. I’ve felt the anxiety of forgetting one language while practicing another, the guilt of not reading or speaking enough in one of them, and the exhaustion of not always finding the right word.

Yet, this journey has also been empowering. Juggling languages and cultures has become part of who I am. It has given me multiple perspectives, cultural empathy, and resilience. Every language I speak adds a new lens through which I see the world, and I truly believe this should open doors to opportunities.

Because speaking many languages is not just about communication. It’s about understanding, connecting, and embracing diversity.

The more languages we speak, the more cultural lenses we wear, and that changes the way we see the world.

LB 24