Muhajir Moving Between Cultures

Learning a new language in an immersed language and cultural environment: Reflections of a Muhajir learning Arabic in Yemen

“Learning a second language is a long and complex undertaking. Your whole person is affected as you struggle to reach beyond the confines of your first language and into a new language, a new culture, a new way of thinking, feeling and acting. Total commitment, total involvement, a total physical, intellectual and emotional response is necessary to successfully send and receive messages in a second language.” (D.Brown: 2004)

Ordinarily, this statement would not evoke any strong feeling in me, but at the time of reading it I was experiencing exactly what is expressed in the quote. These words struck a strong chord with me as I struggled with all my faculties to master a second language – Arabic.

My motivation to learn Arabic extends beyond the fact that I live in an Arabic speaking country, and beyond career aspirations and progression. I learn and love Arabic because it is the language of the Noble Qur’an, the language of Islam, and the language of Jannah.

Arabic is such a vast, deep language filled with the most amazing colours and flavours. Allah the Most Merciful put love in my heart for this language – something way beyond the words of any language textbook or second language acquisition theory.

I am learning Arabic in Yemen in a immersed learning environment and have participated wholly in Yemeni life with Yemenis, and indeed my whole person has been affected as I have moved out of English into my new Arabic “clothes” which are still ill-fitting but becoming more comfortable each day. And as these clothes become more fitted I notice changes in the people around me – they recognise me and interact with me more freely, whereas before, the conversations ended after initial greetings and how did I like Yemen.  But as my clothes fit me, I feel I have also changed to fit them and my surroundings.

Being of the same religion of the people meant that many of the cultural and religious practices were already familiar and understood, and of the religious specific practices, I had already practiced myself for years. So in some ways, being with the Yemeni people was like being with long lost family.

One of the beautiful things about Islam is that it unites people. I myself, from one of the big Anglophone countries with an extremely different set of life experiences to my Yemeni counterparts, find connection and brotherhood through our religion.

Moving into a new way of thinking, feeling and acting although beneficial for language mastery has its drawbacks as one cannot help but become attached emotionally to the new environment and its people. As a foreigner, it is near inevitable that I will eventually leave Yemen whether I want to or not and thus lose my new family and community.

I have indeed grown very attached to Yemen and have achieved a lifestyle I could never have as a Muslim in the West. Although I was born in that Western country and I love that country, socially just didn’t fit in and was often harassed and discriminated against due to the simple fact that I was very obviously Muslim.

After committing myself totally – in my physical, intellectual and emotional capacities, I feel I will not easily return back to my previous existence should I be forced to return, and a large void would more than likely form in my being where Yemen and its people used to be, but whatever happens at least I can take their language with me and there is nothing sweeter than being able to study the Deen of Allah in the language in which it was revealed.