When I have started this blog, I thought for a second - and just for a second - whether I wanted to write in English or in my native language. I am sure that pretty much anybody that writes online, be in social media or elsewhere, in the Westerd world had to make a similar choice, and I am also sure that the conclusion was the same I reached: write in English.

Once I have read a very interesting piece somewhere that (I am going by memory) stated essentially that anything we think has an associated word or expression. As such, our ability to think is limited by our knowledge of the language. In other words, if your language does not include certain concepts, you can't think them. I am not sure how scientifically sound it is, but I found the concept interesting nevertheless, especially because as soon as you start thinking about it, you realize you can't think from "outside the box" of your language.

Reflections aside, I want to try to make a bit of order in my mind and try to discuss more organically the reasons that pushed me to write in a language that clearly is not mine, in which I have less words available (due to my knowledge, or lack thereof, mostly), in which I make more mistakes etc. I also want to reflect on the impact that this choice has.

Why Writing in English

All the primary reasons to write in English have to do with the topic that I want to write about (at least, sometimes): tech. English is the lingua franca of tech, and you will hardly find solid, original material in Italian, or Spanish etc.. This means that speaking English not only you can reach more people with your content (which doesn't really interests me much), but you can use it to more successfully grow your professional credibility (again, not my concern) and also you can become part of a community which is much wider, developing relationships and growing your network (in the human and relevant sense, not the BS LinkedIn sense). To be honest, I consider fair the fact that speaking a common language enables better exchanges of ideas and cooperation, but I still can't avoid to ask myself why the situation is so extreme.

We are in 2023, the age in which ChatGPT and companions can write you a poem in whatever language you want, mocking the style of the pope after he had one too many shots. Does it make still sense for languages to be a barrier? How comes we don't have technologies everywhere that seemlessly translate everything in realtime and effectively?

Also, if we assume that the language really can limit the spectrum of thoughts possible for each of us, what is the net loss of having billions of people all over the world limiting themselves by working, writing and thinking in a language that is not their native one?

Connected to these first factors, there is the search engine problem. Today most search engines are still semantic-based, rather than ontology-based. Which means it is very likely that while I look for a topic in English I will get results in English, because I will get text associated with the words I searched, not the concepts. I hope this is not some kind of bias I have, but I don't think I have ever experienced results in different languages when searching for a string in a given language. This means that if I want to write about something, and I am somehow a fool who thinks that my blog will ever be found through a search engine, I will once again be pushed to write in the way that leads to the highest amount of people stumbling upon my content.

Lastly, there is the vocabulary issue. Given the fact that already today the situation is what I described (at least, my perception of the situation is that), a vicious circle is getting reinforced: other languages are losing the ability to express concepts in the certain areas. Everyone, while speaking Italian would use router or modem, but also smartphone, computer, browser and many, many more. While I am far from a purist of the language, I understand that once the language cannot express anymore my thoughts without importing most of words, I have no point to use that language in that particular context. This is why for example when I have work-related conversations with a few Italian colleagues, I end up speaking 40% English anyway, because I don't even know the Italian words for many of the concepts I need to discuss.

Is an Alternative Possible?

Languages, for good and for bad, do not change by deciding things on paper. They are live beings and evolve with the speakers. However, I realize that when I am presented with the choice of writing in English or in Italian, I don't really have a choice, or at least not a free one. I can choose to write something potentially relevant, with a broader reach, that can help me grow my own credibility, or I can choose to fight in the rearguard, write in Italian, pollute it anyway with a high amount of English words and limit my reach to a super tiny public. All while basically ensuring myself that what I write will not be relevant not professionally useful. Is it a free choice?

So, is something else even conceivable? Is it too late? Is it a technological problem? Is something else even desirable? I don't honestly know, and if you have some opinion, I would be interested to know it (drop me an email - see the about page). I want to think that maybe different technologies can help with accessibility even in terms of language barrier, but considering how ridicolously bad the tech field is at accessibility, I think this is a problem who is in nobody's mind (especially among those who matter). If I wanted to get political, I would make a step further and say that this might be a reflection of the hegemony of the Anglo Saxon countries and the corresponding subordination of other Western countries, but I will not go there, at least, not today.