Abaineh 1

Lozza Abaineh

Professor Beadle

ENGL 114A

9 Dec 2021

A Wall of Words

Languages across the world are what bring people together, start conversations, and

are the foundation of culture. In Africa alone, there are about two thousand different

dialects that are spoken. Visiting my relatives in Ethiopia, I saw firsthand how the very

dialect that is spoken can either bring together or separate your blood. Not being able to

create conversation and understand what life was like in my home country, I questioned

if my trip would've turned out differently if only I could speak to them. Language is the

very barrier of relationships, and division between the human population.

Communication is a vital resource for us to stay in touch with one another, in how we

meet others and create authentic connections. I saw this on a personal experience on my

trip to what I called home. A trip I anticipated for years and so excited to see the cousins

I only heard of, was abruptly met with a linguistic wall. The moments meeting my never

seen family was almost cinematic; Excited to be there but I immediately felt as thorough

I just stepped into an entirely different world. Listening to them with smiles on their

faces, I could only show them how thrilled I was to see them to a certain extent. I had no

way of telling them, and even though they tried hard they could only communicate with

the very little English they knew. A sense of anxiety fell over me, immediately making

me feel defeated that I didn’t know my own ethnic language. Building a wall, I became
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quiet and didn’t want to communicate. As a reader, I can see an initial correspondence

between Corder’s experience in “Learning to Sign” when first introduced to sign

language and my particular encounter. Corder explains, “ I was so anxious that my hands

became my enemy” (Corder 11). I instantly began to feel anxious and felt like my words

had no value simply because no one could understand them. I felt as though, that this was

going to be the longest summer ever, and that all the things that I hoped for would fall

short.

The first month of my trip was very difficult, to say the least. I was very anti-social, I

kept to myself, and didn’t have many friends. The times that I tried were deficient due to

not only a lack of communication but also bullying. Many of the kids that lived in my

grandmother’s neighborhood had inadequate English skills, along with my knowing only

a few words in Amharic (Ethiopian dialect) everytime I tried to communicate and create

friendships, I was told to be ashamed to come to my country without learning my

language. I was mocked for my accent and demeaned for my communication skills. I was

ecstatic that I was in my homeland but for many reasons, I didn’t feel welcomed when

people saw that I didn’t understand Amharic. From the words of Corder, “We were

honored to be there but some of them were not happy”(Corder 35). As Corder was there

to learn and experience a different environment, the students felt as though she was

taking something so sacred from them such as language. And for many reasons that’s

exactly how I felt, I didn’t feel accepted and felt more like an outsider in a world that I

was supposed to enjoy.

As my mother noticed my introverted behavior she began to realize how much value

I held in learning my native language. Shaming herself for not teaching me, she felt that it
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was her fault. As I was feeling the pressures of not understanding the people around me,

that’s something she endured almost all her life after moving to the United States. I

reassured her and explained to her that there is nothing to be upset at herself for, she was

going through the stresses of moving to an entirely different country and creating a new

life for her family on top of learning a new language. She began to give me language

lessons every day in the afternoons. I began to see a difference in my skills, and

improvement in the way I spoke with family and friends. The more I learned, the stronger

my relationships became. I finally was able to speak to my grandmother, someone whose

judgement meant so much to me. Meeting her for the first time and not being able to tell

her I love her was something so strenuous for me. Every time she saw the improvement

in my accent and word usage, she told me how proud she was of my overall growth. I

began to spend more time with my family and cousins, creating friendships and getting

out of my shell. The neighborhood kids that weren’t very fond of my presence began to

talk to me and explained that they felt that I was invading what they called home and

became guarded to not get to know me. But as they saw that I wanted to learn and be in

touch with my culture, they realized I wasn’t too bad after all. I felt more comfortable day

by day and my cousins became more comfortable with my being and surely helped me in

my language skills. I felt more comfortable in my environment and Ethiopia began to feel

like home.

Saying my goodbyes, I realized how much I gained just from learning my ethnic

style of conversation. I created friendships, explored a new language, strengthened

relationships, and finally found a place my heart calls home. As Corder conveys, the lack

of understanding things and people around you ties to a multitude of obstacles. It can be
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the very thing that opens you up to a new world to understand or closes you off to so

many possibilities. Language comes in many forms and is an imperative tool we use in

our day-to-day lives. I learned hands-on that it is in fact the basis of culture, and

traditions. Everywhere you go it is the foundation of how people act, view life, and how

they simply conversate. It is at the tip of our hands, it’s our choice to utilize it.
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Work Cited

Corder, Courtland. “Learning to Sign” Language and the Human Connection,

Waves A collection of student essays Fourth Edition

“Hearing Race: Can Language Use Lead to Racism?” OpenLearn, The Open
University, 8 Sept. 2020.