While growing up in a Nigerian-American household, an essential aspect of my experience rested in my ability to accept the presence of both Nigerian and American culture. I neither wanted to be too Nigerian nor too American, so I sought to find the middle ground for the equal representation of both. I found myself struggling to integrate both cultures into my own life.
After spending seven hours of the day, five days a week, embedded in American values, culture, and way of life, upon returning home, I quickly transitioned into the perfect Nigerian daughter, emphasizing and living by the essential values by which my mother had worked to instill in me.
I always felt distant from my Nigerian roots as I never learned Igbo, the language that my mother spoke, couldn’t replicate the most common recipes of Nigerian cuisine, had only been to Nigeria a few times, and no longer fit into the traditional Nigerian clothes; these were all aspects of my mother’s identity that I couldn’t assimilate to.
After struggling for years, I learned that understanding and engaging in a culture was not a matter of competing with other cultures, but of engaging in each culture individually, accepting it, and using it to remain educated, to grow, and to strengthen my overall experiences and connections to the world. Through my experience, while growing up, I developed a passion for understanding the attributes that curate uniqueness in human societies by studying the cultures, institutions, structures, and foundations of varying societies.
As I entered university, with intentions to fulfill this interest, I decided to immerse myself in a culture that I lacked substantial knowledge of, that of the Arab world. With the interest in the Arab world, the best way for me to engage in its culture was to learn the Arabic language, the most commonly spoken language in the region.
Learning Arabic for the past four semesters has played a prominent role in my educational experience so far. Learning the language so far has expanded my understanding of central factors like religion, literature, cuisine, to cultural values and norms, that have shaped the culture of the Arab world.
From my first lesson during my first semester of college to where I am now, I have mastered the Arabic letters, can hold a basic conversation, and can read and write in Arabic. My level of comfortability in utilizing the language is still somewhat low, but the more that I actually use my current knowledge of the language, the more that I will become comfortable with using it.
Although my journey so far has been quite difficult, I have seen myself grow through the struggles of learning Arabic. As I proceed in my studies of the Arabic language, I hope to reach the level of proficiency which will allow me to interact with and engage with fellow speakers.
Overall, I hope that through learning the Arabic language, that I am able to not only explore, learn about, and immerse myself in a variety of Arab cultures, but that I am also able to create a sentiment of connection between myself and others who share a similar passion to do so.
