With some family members I speak in Sardinian (my grandmother, some uncles, my mother) but it is not easy as it is often believed that I cannot have a conversation entirely in Sardinian. However, I try to speak in Sardinian anyway to those relatives who are originally from Sardinia. It is not always easy as you end up being considered a little bizarre somehow. In these cases, I try to put aside my status of “foreigner” and despite a different accent and a much more limited vocabulary, I try to maintain the conversation in Sardinian. With my grandmother (95 years old), for example, I started addressing her in Sardinian a few years ago and I must say that now we speak in Sardinian between us from start to finish.

A., Sardinian speaker

I always start a conversation in my own language and believe it’s the counterparts’ responsibility to inform me that he/she does not understand. I also continue speaking my own language if I know they understand, even if they reply in any other language. I’m also in politics, and if I have a meeting in Sámi areas or with some governmental representatives, I expect them to have interpreters with them. If they don’t, then they have to come back later.

A., Northern Sami speaker

Speaking with others, I try to set a good context for communication. I let them clearly know that to me is perfectly normal to speak my language. As well, even if my counterpart avoids using his own language, switching to the majority, I also keep talking to him in my language, encouraging and supporting an appropriate response on his part.

N., Sardinian speaker

It is true that I have already set up a routine where Spanish is barely spoken in my daily life. However, it is also true that whenever I walk into a shop, as I live in a quite Spanish speaking environment, and I feel linguistic stress I might not address in Basque directly.

B., Basque speaker

When talking with people whom I know are Sardinian speakers, I start the conversation in Sardinian, even on formal occasions if possible. If the interlocutor replies in Italian, I alternate the two languages trying to go back to Sardinian. Sometimes the other speaker “gives in”, especially if the topic of the conversation is familiar, while I notice a certain difficulty with more complex and more technical topics, which require linguistic skills not limited to the vernacular.  In those cases I have often found myself forced to retranslate concepts just expressed in Sardinian into Italian: at that point I continue in Italian, resuming with Sardinian at the first useful opportunity. With interlocutors unknown to me, but certainly Sardinians: I make my debut quite often in Sardinian, especially in informal contexts, based on the answer. However, I try to use expressions in Sardinian interspersed with Italian even when the interlocutor, even if he limits his expression to Italian, shows at least a passive competence in the Sardinian language

M., Sardinian speaker

I speak Sardinian every day at home and at work. I speak exclusively Sardinian to my son. I try to speak Sardinian on every occasion, but I switch to Italian whenever the other person replies in Italian. 

G., Sardinian speaker

I find that my level of language assertiveness depends on where I am geographically or who I am with. Welsh is nowadays a minority language in our own country (20% speak it) but there are large variations geographically. For example, when I have been in Cardiff, where approx 10% speak Welsh you tend to assume that people won’t speak it and I’ve had experiences of going into a shop after shop and starting a conversation in Welsh only to be asked to speak English – with varying levels of courtesy. In the end, it’s easy to give up. On the other hand in Caernarfon (85% Welsh-speaking roughly) I wouldn’t even think about speaking English.

There are days when I insist to the point where I’ll use gestures and sign language e.g. ‘Ga i dalu ar y garden?’ (Can I pay by card?) and point at my bank card!.

It’s easier to be assertive if you’re not on your own, when I’m with friends who speak Welsh it’s easier for us both to insist.

My experiences are probably affected by the fact I was brought up bilingually – mam speaking Welsh and Dad English. Although I spent much more time with my mum I am 100% proficient in English and so switching to it can be too easy an option.

D., Welsh speaker

Since Catalan is a  minoritized language, its speakers tend to have an attitude of linguistic submission, which perpetuates its minoritization. One of the traits of this attitude is linguistic convergence, i.e. switching to the hegemonic language whenever the other person in a conversation speaks Spanish, or when they believe the other person might not understand them because of their colour of skin or non-native accent, for example (this would also be linguistic racism). Sadly many people still believe it is impolite to speak Catalan with Spanish speakers (a belief that linguistic nationalism created and perpetuates). This attitude prevents newcomers from learning or practising the language since they are deprived of learning or practising it. This is a serious problem that affects the social use of the language.

For this reason, I decided as a teenager to speak only Catalan, unless I see that the other person does not understand me. I speak Catalan with everyone and everywhere, which enhances and normalizes the use of the language. The goal of this attitude is to make the language more visible and that those who do not usually speak it have the chance to do so; those who are learning it have the chance to practice and improve it; and those who do not speak it yet get exposed and used to it and are more likely to be motivated to learn it. It is a kind of linguistic activism one can really apply anytime, everywhere. For instance, when I buy groceries in a supermarket where migrant people work, I always try to have some conversation with them and ask what languages they speak (as a sociolinguist I am very curious about it and most of the times they are happy someone shows interest for them) or just small talk, if they are friendly and talkative; sometimes they are not interested in having a conversation, but I still try to make the language visible to them, for instance when they tell me how much I have to pay, and then I repeat it in Catalan pretending I haven’t heard it well or while looking for the right coins in my wallet. Sometimes, when they realize I speak Catalan, they proudly tell me they took a course to learn it, or that they can also speak it and show me the sentences or words they know. Doing so might seem irrelevant, but it is actually very important. If all Catalan speakers did so, the social use of the language would dramatically grow and it would become much more visible.

R., Catalan speaker