One Family, One Language

Both my parents were born in Fiji, their parents learned the Fijian language but never indoctrinated them, purely because it was no longer the prevailing dialect in Fiji instead it was developing into English. My mum migrated to New Zealand at the age of three so English became her everyday voice in order to communicate and establish strong relationships with the people around her including her parents. My dad experienced his life in Fiji until the age of seventeen but even then he only spoke English and learned a few slang terms in Fijian which he would only use around his friends. Later my dad moved to New Zealand, his English becoming more and more apart of his life when he started university and eventually a job. By the time I was born, English had fixated within my family and was the language I grew up hearing and learning. It never appeared to me as a complication that English was my sole speaking language because everyone around me including my teachers and friends were speaking English to me.

  

At the age of 5, I moved to Dubai, and this was a significant culture shock to me since New Zealand was practically the exact contrary to UAE. Language was something I was growing further attentive of once I commenced school especially as I sat in my first arabic class astonished, thinking why am I studying something I do not know how to speak, it was honestly nerve wrecking. It was then when I started acknowledging the various languages manufactured within each individual and that English was not the only means of communicating. Some talked Arabic, French, Spanish, Urdu, all kinds of languages but not only did they deliver their mother tongue, they spoke English too.In New Zealand you would come across people who have been speaking English their entire lives while in UAE you come across people who might have never uttered the language. For example, this new kid showed up to school in the middle of the year and as he seated in class observing us, I could state he was extremely apprehensive especially when the teacher asked him a question. When he opened his mouth and spoke it was evident he didn’t speak English well from the way he structured his sentences though to me it seemed more of a reward than a disadvantage to communicate a voice separate than English. Maybe this is what provoked me to recognize the quality of another language.  

Originally, I never contemplated speaking entirely English as a problem since it granted me communication with practically everyone that came my way but knowing that I didn’t have a sound of my own appeared to generate an emptiness inside of me. I found myself wishing my parents taught me a language besides English even though English was what they knew; I assumed that maybe if I knew another language it might have jolted the person I am today. The more conscious I become of different mother tongues, the more interested I become in them. Our own dialect is the most effective part of our being and the most vital parts of our identity but studying diverse languages and alternative forms of communication can further our perception of one’s culture and identity.