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Mukhtar Derie Linguistic Autobiography
Mukhtar Derie Linguistic Autobiography
Mukhtar Derie
English 107
10 February 2020
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
When I was younger, I used to be able to speak a bit of Arabic when I lived in Cairo,
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
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.