International Mother Language Day: ‘I’ll take a wee bit of the Belfast accent with me when I return home’

‘I love the depth of this language... I usually think in English now’

“I moved to Northern Ireland on September 17, 2023, and the diversity and history of this place were strong factors in me choosing Belfast to do my master’s degree,” says Sai Sree.

“I moved here alone to pursue my master’s, while doing some soul-searching and getting to know new people and cultures.”

Her journey to learn English began when she was just seven years old, at school in Hyderabad in south-central India. It’s a language that she has grown to love and it has inspired a deep affinity for literature and a new way of seeing the world.

“I love the depth of this language,” Sai Sree explains.

“It does scare me at times when I think that I will not have an opportunity to read all the English literature that was ever written in my lifetime.

“Being an introvert, I have seen the world through books. The thoughts or feelings I have while reading fiction are beyond this world.

“Telugu and Hindi are the beautiful languages that I grew up speaking and listening to, but English is usually the language I think in. Even though I am a little extroverted now, the English books give me a lot of solace.

“Right now, I can express myself fairly well and it’s easy to understand my English. That serves the purpose of any language. But I still need to improve on expanding my vocabulary and know proper usage of grammar to be more confident. I have enrolled for courses to work on these areas with INTO already.”

INTO Queen’s University Belfast offers academic courses and English language programmes designed specifically for international students.

Sai Sree’s classes are in-person and she has thoroughly embraced the immersive experience.

“The classes are fun and interactive, while being extremely informative and helpful,” she says.

“My lessons last for 10 weeks over a course of a semester. Postgraduate education is time-consuming and the commitments I currently have do not allow me to give substantial time to English. But I use it in regular day-to-day life to communicate verbally and to write academic assessments.

“My experience with communication has been easy in Belfast. It could also be because I am somebody who sits back and observes things first, instead of reacting immediately and spontaneously. Hence it was easier for me to understand the culture and respond to it.”

While the academic is a fan of English music, it is songs in her own language, Telugu, that bridge the gap between NI and home.

“I do enjoy listening to many English songs by artists and bands around the world, but songs which make me feel closest to family are in Telugu and Hindi, as those are languages which I predominantly used to communicate with a majority of my friends and family,” she says.

Though the Belfast accent is worlds apart from Telugu, Sai Sree finds it easy to keep up: “I am used to understanding accents easily because of watching many English original movies and TV shows which had different accents.

“I actually like the Belfast accent.

“I am fascinated by how the accents vary substantially even across Northern Ireland.

“With attention to detail, one can guess based on the accent if a person is from Derry or Donegal.

“I think it is a little bit harder for the Belfast accent to be identified easily because of the diversity and exposure to different cultures.

“It’s beautiful and unique.

“I will take a wee bit of it with me when I return home.”

‘Dialects are tricky... but practice makes perfect, right?’

Aneta Grzesiak was motivated to move from Poland to Northern Ireland to benefit her family.

She finds the local people to be “friendly and open” and she is enjoying the challenge of learning English here.

“I moved to Belfast in 2018 with my husband and two kids,” Aneta (42) says.

“We moved here because we wanted to spend more time with our children, especially since they were so young.

“We decided that in NI we would have more choice during working hours to share childcare. Besides, I like spending time with my kids outdoors and in Belfast we have plenty of parks and beaches nearby.

“I’m a pharmaceutical technician by occupation, but here I work as a cleaner.”

A student at Angielski Belfast Language School, Aneta has benefited immensely from the face-to-face sessions.

“These are in-person classes, in small groups, once a week,” she says.

“I also listen to audiobooks and podcasts in English and practise speaking it in real life.

“Before that I attended English ESOL classes and took part in online classes. However, these forms did not work in my case.

“My native language is Polish. I find many differences between Polish and English grammar, which makes learning English a little difficult.

“Polish might be hard to pronounce sometimes, but English grammar is so much more complex to learn. Learning English rules is easy, but trying to use them in conversation is sometimes quite tricky.”

Despite finding the range of accents across NI challenging to get to grips with, Aneta is undeterred in her mission to learn English.

“I really like the Belfast accent, but sometimes I do not understand local people,” she admits.

“And it’s not only the Belfast accent: everywhere you go in NI you have different dialects and accents. It can make you feel very confused and demotivated at times. And you can’t really learn accents at school; understanding accents must come naturally. But it requires a lot of practice.

“Practice makes perfect, right?”