In recent discussions about linguistic identity and diversity there has been controversy over whether or not there is one correct way to speak a language. Authors such as David Foster Wallace, Gloria Anzaldua, Amy Tan, and Silvia Montrul present the different ways in which linguistic diversity can pose a challenge. However, some people believe that to learn a new language they must lose their identity, so they may indirectly refuse to learn a second language. Still others, however, considering that different dialects are used in different situations, believe that the use of a dialect does not make us lose our cultural identity but gives us not one but two identities. All countries have a diversity of dialects in their language and for this reason a person from the south may call a certain thing differently than a person from the north, or the west, even if they are in the same country. Although there are many dialects used in each country, it is important for people to be able to switch between different dialects and the standard way of a language to be successful in many areas of life. In this article, I argue that being able to switch between more than one dialect increases your opportunities in academic and social life without losing your identity and native language. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In my experience, as an international student in college in the United States, linguistic diversity has been a challenge. International students face culture shock when they arrive in a completely different country, with a different language and culture, and language is one of the most difficult parts of living in another country. Standard Written English (SWE), also known as Preferred Use of Language, is a language that we international students need to learn for convenience because it minimizes any misunderstandings and miscommunication when speaking with other English speakers. David Foster Wallace, author of “Authority and American Usage,” argues that the use of standard written English is appropriate in professional life. He gives an example of a Snootlet (child of a Snoot) who is a very intelligent boy and very fluent in SWE who stands out to his teacher but his peers hate him. Although this boy has excellent management of SWE and could become a very successful businessman in the future, he has a deficiency in effective communication with other boys of his age, which may also affect him in future relationships in the community. Those who can only speak in SWE are less successful in their social life. On the other hand, other kids who have a deficiency in speaking and writing SWE, are punished in their academic life, but are really good at relating to other kids. Learning SWE is important so that people don't foreclose their career advancement opportunities, but knowing what language to use with your colleagues can help you make friends. Additionally, Amy Tan's song “Mother Tongue” discusses the limitations that a person, in this case her mother, who does not speak SWE faces and the benefits that Tan speaking SWE has given her mother. She says “when I was fifteen she made me call people on the phone, to pretend to be her” (p. 713). For Tan's mother it wasn't about not understanding what was happening but about expressing her ideas in the correct way. Furthermore, the benefit that Tan gave to her mother was to help her communicate the needs and problems she had through her ability to speak her mother's native language and SWE to explain to others in a more standard way. In fact, the correct expression is sometimesIt's difficult when you don't have the right words, but being flexible in your language makes it easier to communicate your thoughts. Linguistic diversity does not only mean being able to move between dialects, but also linguistic diversity or “multilingualism” is the identity of a nation and the cultural diversity of each individual in unity. Gloria Anzaldua in her excerpt “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” from her book Borderlands/ La Frontera, argues that language cannot be defined as correct or incorrect due to the amount of dialects that exist, and insists that preserving one's identity is just as important as learning SWE. Anzaldua says that we should not be ashamed of our way of speaking and should continue to practice our language with other people who speak the same language to preserve our identity. Many Spanish dialects are acquired through the influence of other Spanish-speaking countries. For example, the way a Mexican speaks Spanish is not the same way people from South America speak, but that doesn't mean either is correct. The world is too big and the variety of people is too wide to have just one correct way of speaking. However, sticking to your heritage language makes learning a new language more difficult. Wallace gives a different example of variety and explains why there is no one correct way to use a language due to the variety of dialects in his excerpt and how it is important to learn a language correctly. When Wallace speaks to his students, he says that they speak "Standard Black English" (SBE), and says that it is not that they were not using English correctly but that they speak a different dialect than SWE. Wallace is trying to teach them the other way of speaking English, which is used in different environments than when these students speak SBE with others who speak the same dialect. Wallace is not asking them to forget or stop using SBE, he is teaching them another dialect of their language which can have many benefits such as getting a job or helping them communicate better with the teacher and people who don't speak SBE. Sometimes it is not only that some people find it difficult to learn a language correctly, but they are also afraid of learning it. Many things can cause a person to hesitate in learning a new language. In Silvia Montrul's book The Heritage Language Learner the most difficult thing about the Heritage language is that the speaker loses their native language. Family and educational institutions play a huge role in maintaining HL, for example, East Asian immigrant families in the United States or Canada. Immigrants who have had a previous Chinese, Korean, or Japanese background are taught English and slowly drift away from their HL because they fear that speaking their HL will prevent them from fully learning English. Although they can speak and understand their HL, they have difficulty writing and reading it because they don't speak it much. On the other hand, others are trying hard to improve their HL by continuing to talk about it with their parents, learning from past generations, and trying to stay in touch with their roots. Although Montrul states that “small culture cannot win over big culture” and although the environment we live in has a strong influence on our language, this does not mean that we cannot work to maintain our HL and learn to speak another tongue. California's Spanish-speaking population is just another example of how, although we face challenges trying to preserve our HL, there are ways we can do so. The teaching of Spanish by minorities is perceived/considered as a threat to American culture. The expansion of Spanish speakers led.”