"Speaking in Tongues" Zadie Smith

When considering what my response to "Speaking in Tongues" would be I immediately thought of my own experiences with different dialects.  As a college student was vocabulary has drastically changed in the last two years.  When I began my four year (fingers crossed) journey I spoke to everybody the same way.  Now, with two full years under my belt, I am more trained in academic vernacular.  My own experiences reminded me a lot of how Smith talked about her own dialect journey from a small town to university life.  Smith was able to see the changes in herself when she entered college and after reading this essay I am more aware of the changes to my own dialect.  However, Smith makes an important point when talking about the changes that were made to her dialect after entering college.  When she first started using a more English voice she assumed it was the only way she would be viewed as lettered.  Eventually, her lettered voice became her only voice.  I often catch myself talking to my family as if I am writing a term paper.  I feel as if I am a dictionary finding the most prestigious words to use when the situation does not call for it.  She also uses one influential American in particular to demonstrate the changes that can happen when academic life begins to make an impact on dialect and how to not lose the dialect with which we grew up with completely.

While reading the dialogue between Obama and a childhood friend I could clearly see the kind of person he would someday become, although, his word usage has become increasingly academic during the many years leading up to him becoming President.  Smith talks a lot about the way that Obama’s word choices won over people.  Smith uses the example that Obama never uses the word “I” in his speeches, but instead uses the word “we”.  This is because “I” feels far too singular.  Although Smith is talking about arguably one of the most influential people in the world Obama still has the ability to bridge the gap between the common people like you and me to someone as powerful as himself.

Clearly, this essay was much more about dialect but also about the cultural changes that have happened and are happening today.  In her last paragraph Smith says. “It’s my audacious hope that a man born and raised between opposing dogmas, between cultures, between voices, could not help but be aware of the extreme contingency of culture.”  This statement made an impact on me because I had never realized how being in between cultures and voices could affect a person’s state of mind.  Just because I talk a certain way does not mean that everyone else shares my dialect nor does it mean that I need to impose that dialect on anyone.  Smith used Obama to show how he could stay true to his own voice while recognizing other people’s voices at the same time.