Before coming to Yale, I was faced with a question that first years don’t usually think about: Do I need to change the way I speak? I had spent almost all my life in Malaysia. I spoke English that ...

The author, right, with her sister, left, and her mother. Her mother was graduating with her master's degree in Spanish literature. (Courtesy Judy Bolton-Fasman) Language is blood; language is family.

Mac M. Mertens ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, lives in Weld Hall. I always thought that I sounded pretty neutral, geographically-undefined. It was something I was proud of. Of course, I shouted ...