Language shapes how people perceive each other. Small differences in pronunciation can affect who is welcomed or dismissed. But language can also be a bridge.
Two women in conversation. (Illustration by News Decoder)
This article by student Fatma Ezzahra Rziga was produced out of News Decoder’s school partnership program. Fatma is a student at African Leadership Academy in South Africa, a News Decoder partner institution. Learn more about how News Decoder can work with your school.
“I speak English because it’s the only language you understand.”
I had to internalize that sentence every time an American friend mocked my accent, despite it being a minor pronunciation difference, like saying “quote” closer to “coat.” The irony is hard to miss when those same people routinely torture words like “croissant” and “bruschetta.”
Accents and language shape how people are perceived and how they perceive others. Small differences in pronunciation can affect who feels welcome, who is heard and who is assumed to be intelligent or capable. But language can also act as a bridge: learning multiple languages opens doors to understanding and connection.
But embracing linguistic diversity, not just mastering one “correct” way of speaking, can break down invisible barriers, foster empathy and create opportunities that single-language thinking often misses.
Back in Tunisia, accents can mark social identity just as strongly as they do abroad. Some people, usually coming from the South, are often segregated based on how they pronounce certain sounds, like ڤ (ga) instead of ق (qa).
Language lessons
I remember my mother scolding me, or nearly hitting me, when I mispronounced a word, warning me not to spend time with children whose accents she considered “wrong” because they would influence how I spoke. Hence, from a young age, I learned that even subtle differences in pronunciation could signal belonging, status or social acceptability. That lesson stuck: I became hyper-aware of how others judged speech and of how powerful language can be in shaping social hierarchies.
A study published by Cambridge University in the Journal of Child Language found that children as young as five show implicit preferences for “prestigious” accents over regional accents, associating them with traits like “cleverness.” This suggests that social attitudes toward accents are learned early and can shape expectations early about intelligence and character.
Well, my parents stood strongly against regional Tunisian accents, but they at least encouraged me to learn other languages. It was a norm in my family to learn a new language every summer break since the age of 10. While other children spent their holidays at the beach or in summer camps, I found myself in classrooms studying Chinese, Spanish, Turkish or Japanese.
I never complained. I loved it. Yet the moment that truly shaped how I understand language happened far from classrooms.
Living with a German host mother, one of our favorite rituals was cooking together. One afternoon, as she asked me to pass the sugar, her German slipped in. “Zucker,” she said. I subconsciously understood, recognizing how close it was to the word in my native Arabic, “sukkar.” In that small exchange, I realized connection can exist even before fluency if we are willing to meet people where they are.
Language can bridge divides.
I saw this again while volunteering as a translator, from English to Spanish, at an elementary school serving a largely Mexican immigrant community, with students from many other backgrounds as well. While doing so, I met two Russian sisters: the older spoke English confidently, but the younger stayed silent.
I knew only a handful of Russian words and phrases, like “hi,” “how are you” and “good,” but I used them anyway. Her face lit up. That moment taught me that being understood, even briefly, can change how someone shows up around us.
Later, this instinct to bridge gaps carried into my current work as a business tutor at the African Leadership Academy, where Francophone students — often overlooked because students underestimate how difficult it is to adapt to an English-speaking academic environment — turned to me for help as they struggled with A-Level business essay writing in English.
One student from Ivory Coast approached me shortly before an exam, overwhelmed by the language barrier. Instead of translating, I created a bilingual glossary of key business verbs with close English–French cognates, such as “to address / adresser,” “to consider / considérer,” and “to justify / justifier,” along with simple definitions and contextual examples.
This approach allowed her to anchor new academic vocabulary to familiar linguistic structures, making memorization faster and helping her write with confidence. When she excelled on her test, it reaffirmed my belief that inclusive solutions unlock potential that generic systems often miss.
My experiences suggest that fluency is not the true measure of communication; effort is. In a world shaped by migration and cultural exchange, the question is no longer how well someone speaks a language, but how willing we are to listen and learn.
Questions to consider:
1. How can differences in speech set up walls between people?
2. How can language bridge divides?
3. If you could learn another language, what would it be and why?
Fatma Ezzahra Rziga is a Tunisian polyglot fluent in Arabic, French, English and Spanish. She has lived across multiple countries since leaving home at 16, including the United States and South Africa. Passionate about solo travel and cultural exchange, she writes about language, identity and connecting people from diverse backgrounds..