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Mukhtar Derie

Instructor Maya Sfeir

English 107

10 February 2020

From past to present my linguistic autobiography

I was born August 13 early dawn in a city called Hargeisa the capital city of Somaliland

where I lived there for the first 5 years of my childhood. I then lived in Canada until this past

summer. My very first language was Somali which is a language derived from Arabic although it

is written using Latin alphabets. For most of my childhood I was fluent in Somali until the age of

12. This was a major turning point in life because I was slowing losing my ability to speak my

native tongue. The reason being is that I started to focus on my ability to speak English better to

fit in with Canadian society, make new friends and minimize any linguistic differences. In

Canada, I was exposed to many different languages and cultures aside from English. The second

official language is French, which is compulsory to learn in school until grade 9 at which point it

becomes optional. In Canada the Somali dialect was spoken little to none outside our household.

In my neighborhood and my city, the most common language spoken was English if not French.

When people come to Canada, they learn English from a young age or learn as an adult in order

to assimilate.

I currently speak two languages which are English and Somali at home to my family and

friends. I mostly feel more connected to the English language because I have chosen to speak

this language more in my lifetime. In the upcoming future, I plan on practicing Somali more to

help me find a spouse and teach my children the Somali dialect. I feel more connected to English

because I can express myself better and there are many words or expressions that do not translate

well from Somali to English and vice versa. At first it was difficult for me to speak English at the
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same level as my fellow classmates but through a lot of practice and patience I finally achieved

my goal.

There are many advantages in learning a new language other than English. In the future I

plan to learn French or Korean. When I travel to Canada the ability to speak the French can be

very beneficial in landing a job at any level of the Canadian Government or to simply

communicate to other francophones. Learning French will also be very useful when travelling to

any French speaking countries. I plan to learn Korean due to fact that I listen to Korean music

specifically BTS because they are the best Korean male pop group to ever exist. The Korean

language is very beautiful as well as different contrast from what I was familiar with. I used to

listen to English music strictly, but I recently decided to broaden my horizon and diversify in

order to become a cultured member of society.

When I was younger, I used to be able to speak a bit of Arabic when I lived in Cairo,

Egypt. One of my greatest influences on language is the environment I am in and my education. I

spend all my time either at school or at home which has truly shaped my use of language and

ability to speak English and Somali. I moved away from the Somali language toward speaking

English because everyone around me spoke in English. Later I developed the habit of speaking

English at school and in public it has become a lifestyle and I started to speak English at home

more than anything. But when I got the opportunity to travel back to my home country, I felt

encouraged to speak strictly Somali. I did this so I can fit in with everyone else and not seem too

much like a foreigner. I would minimize if not eliminate speaking in English unless I absolutely

need to during my visit Somaliland

Throughout my life I think I have struggled with the notion of linguistic identity. I find

that I am constantly asking myself what language should I be speaking now in order to satisfy
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the people around me. I have been truly blessed to live and experience different languages and

cultures that have helped me grow as a person. I am now more experienced and can adapt to

different environments. I plan to learn a new language for many reasons later in the future to help

me achieve great success nationally and internationally. The ability to learn a new language is

very powerful and will open new doors of opportunities for me.