A level-headed bilingual full of determination to succeed (Sharifullah, Afghanistan)
Languages spoken: Dari, Pashto, Urdu, English, French.
Field of study/career: Public Health (Montclair State University).
After over a month in the U.S. I became more proactive about meeting people «locally», i.e., at my host university as physical proximity facilitates longer and more sustainable connections. I met a fellow Fulbrighter Sharif from Afghanistan at an event for international students and scholars at Montclair State.
When we think about Afghanistan, news reports of never-ending war conflicts come up in our minds. But no journalistic report (even the most well-balanced one) or an in-depth research article would replace actual interactions with individuals who have had to witness and/or suffer the consequences of these atrocities committed in their home country.
It was a unique opportunity to do that while getting to know Sharif who seemed longing for company and open for new connections. For this interview we sat down on a lawn in the university campus. Despite 5 years of being a university teacher, I felt we were just students catching up in between classes having profound conversations that was the way I had been imagining university life to be
For Sharif learning English was a «long and steady process». He got his elementary education in Pakistan where it is the second language of instruction. Despite limited opportunities to speak, there was a lot of reading and writing practice in English.
Initially, it was somewhat difficult and even teachers themselves werent so good at grammar nuances. Whenever a student asked a question, the teacher switched to Urdu for giving explanations. At least a lot of opportunities to practise writing were provided. In senior classes Sharif took control of his language learning and improved his English dramatically by reading extensively outside the school curriculum and watching films.
As Sharif started building his career in Nutrition and Food Science, he found himself increasingly having to interact (send emails, make phone calls) with colleagues he shared no other language rather than English. Besides, as part of his job duties, he had to stay on top of the latest research in his field which is published in English and only considerably later might be translated into other languages.
In Afghanistan English isnt taught until Grade 5 and 6. There are two national languages Dari and Pashto which everyone learns at school. According to Sharif, that might explain why English isnt introduced earlier to avoid the pressure of teaching three languages at a time.
Unless a student in Afghanistan isnt ready to take control of his own language learning outcomes the way Sharif did, there are some extra courses they can enroll in which are taught completely in English. That would certainly require extra time and commitment.
Dari and Pashto are both equally important in the country, but that has not prevented English from gaining increasing popularity. For example, as Sharif feels, around 30 percent of the population have some level of proficiency compared to probably one third of this number decades back. Despite the colonial past, Afghans seem to have become more «liberal» about speaking a foreign language which can now be commonly heard in social meetings. The nations natural resilience helps to embrace changes and do their best to incorporate the worlds «primary» language into their day-to-day lives.
Even after having worked on a few international projects and some overseas experiences, Sharif still feels his reading, writing and listening are above his speaking. He has only spent a month in the U.S., but is hoping to perfect his skills during the next 2 years he is going to spend here on his Master program.
Sharif expects English to play an even bigger role in his professional life as his is «a new emerging» field and being able to develop it in his home country will involve continuous interactions with international funds and organizations.
Sharif believes his identity certainly transforms as he switches between languages. Unlike when speaking Dari and Pashto, English and Urdu require some extra time to make up his mind on how to speak, how to react causing him to feel «caught up».
Sharif is sure his little son will grow to be multilingual as there is definitely going to be more need for that in the future. But at the end of the day, the number of languages one speaks isnt that important.
Humble but very articulate, Sharif seemed quite optimistic about the future of his country back then. We would occasionally catch up with him on campus over coffee «to put the world to rights». He actually became one of the backbones of our Montclair Fulbright group, a «community of practice» we, MSU Fulbrighters, created at our host university to stay connected. Sharif had a consistent and comprehensive approach to arranging group meetups. It seems like this «businesslike» approach to language learning has borne fruit for him. It was also so much pleasure to be able to stay in touch and have insightful discussions online after I left the U.S. a year following the interview.
«Routine» news stories become personal when you know a soul from the place where a report is being made from. I have certainly felt more involved watching reports coming from Afghanistan ever since I met fellow Fulbrighters from there.
Despite new challenges posed by more political turmoil that followed, Sharif went on to have an international career in a few more English-speaking countries.
A Europeans experience with English (Milena, Austria)
Languages spoken: German, English, Slovene, Chinese.
Field of study/career: Molecular Biology.
I met Milena from Austria in one of the weekly events at my university called «Connecting Through Cultures». She was one of the very first Europeans I ran into here in Montclair. Having been to quite a few places in Europe, I still held onto this collective image of it despite being perfectly aware of how different the countries making up the EU are (linguistically, culturally and somewhat politically).
Due to geographic and historic reasons, as Russians we might have conflicting views of Europe and the West overall. In the mid-19th century two opposite groups the Slavophiles (those believing in Russia having its own way and not follow the West) and the Westernizers (emphasizing Russias inferiority and the need for it to adopt the Western standards) emerged in the Russian Empire. Probably, up to this day, the Russian society is divided over how they feel about Europe in particular. I personally imagined that Europeans would have access to more educational (including language learning) opportunities compared to Russians.
So, Milena and I sat down to have a slow pensive chat on campus on a bench offering a blurred distant view of the Manhattan skyline.
In Austria it is mandatory to learn English from the 4
th
English is pretty popular all over Europe as it is the language for connecting with people from all across the world. Based on Milenas experience, everywhere she has been inside the EU all young people were fluent in English. Older generations might not be so open and the main reason for that might be that it is easier to learn a foreign language while you are young.
Milena went to Great Britain for a week with her school where she got to speak English continuously for the first time. That brief trip helped to «get into the language». Of course, living in Europe makes it easier to get around and mostly it is the regular use of social media and watching English movies that facilitates language learning for young Europeans. That is why speaking it is «not much of a big deal» in the EU where it feels «almost like the second language».
When it comes to German, Milenas first language, the way it is spoken in Austria is different. Basically even though it is the same language, dialects are different and so are some words and even sayings that Milena hadnt realized werent used in Germany till she had Germans misunderstand her. In a way German brings two nations together, but obviously Austria doesnt want to merge with its bigger neighbor. «We are still a nice country», says Milena.
Milena has faced no issues after around 1.5 months here in the U.S. If she misses her native language, there are some Austrians on campus to talk to. Here she feels it is «not a big deal to be from somewhere else» so having an accent or making occasional mistakes isnt a problem.
If Milena chooses to pursue a career in research, she will have to use English to get published as it is the language of science and networking. It is still possible to publish in German, but it is obvious it doesnt have such «a big audience».
Back at school Milena did some Slovene as this country is really close by, but sadly, she cant «actively speak».
Here at Montclair she started taking Chinese, which she mainly sees «just as a chance to learn a new langauge», which is «big» at the moment. Learning tones and characters is different but has been «fun».
Finally, Milena believes English is enough to get by in the multilingual Europe, but of course learning a countrys national language is essential if you want to «feel more like you belong».
As someone who had been considering looking for opportunities to continue my research in Europe after my Fulbright program, I was particularly interested in the European perspective on bilingualism. As I had expected, a lot of things that in my home country were somewhat inconceivable were «not a big deal» there.
I also did German as my second foreign language at university, so hearing a German-speaking persons experience of sharing this language with the bigger country was interesting. At some point I felt tempted to practise my now rusty German with Milena, but honestly speaking, my level wouldnt have allowed me to have a conversation of much depth. But I did muster the courage to give it a go when Milenas Mum came to visit a bit later.
I spent the entire trip from Montclair to NYC (around 40 minutes) speaking German with an Austrian and was able to understand about 70% of what was being said. No wonder I never regretted stepping out of my linguistic comfort zone like that!
Later on we got to travel with Milena in the U.S. and even a few years later as well
Inspired by a teacher (Geetanjali, India)
Languages spoken: Hindi, English, German.
Field of study/career: Biochemical Engineering.
We met up with Geetanjali, a fellow Fulbrighter from India, in Philadelphia, a member of the so-called Miami group a bigger «community of practice» that brought together the fellow Fulbrighters from our first days in the U.S. at Gateway Orientation. Me, a fellow Russian Fulbrighter as well as Milena from Austria went on a day trip to the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. After a substantial meal of a Philly cheesesteak we sat right in front of the Independence Hall where the U.S. Constitution was adopted. It was overwhelming to be in a place where American history was made.
I was excited to talk from one more person from India and get to compare two perspectives from the same country so early on in my project.
Geetanjali comes from New Delhi (North of India) where she studied at an English-medium school. Initially she didnt really enjoy English much despite not having many difficulties. She can only remember having some with speaking. It wasnt until her middle-school English teacher encouraged the students to use English exclusively during classes. This specific teacher really made a huge difference as in day-to-day life no one encouraged Geetanjali to speak English. Afterwards it became «fun».
As she progressed to more senior classes, Geetanjali felt the need for English. Her Dad was in military forces so they moved across the country quite often. India has so many languages and sometimes English is the only language that can be used between Indians coming from different states. For example, in the South people dont know Hindi, which is Geetanjalis mother tongue.
According to Geetanjali, there is no use denying how «everything is getting globalized», so English is the number-one language for people moving around the world. At this point she doesnt consider her English to be perfect and feels it is still in need of some improvement. Here in the U.S. in between doing her research in Biochemical Engineering she is doing her best to make friends through Fulbright. It feels a lot easier to be using English here than in the UK (particularly Scotland) where Geetanjali had a tough time understanding people. That might have been due to more exposure to American English through Hollywood films.
Using English, Geetanjali does feel different. Hindi is something she has known since birth, but in English she has to «frame sentences» before speaking and there is «some thought process going on».
As she is determined to continue her postdoctoral research in an English-speaking country, speaking is the skill she is trying hard to improve.
Geetanjali believes that making friends from other countries by taking part in social events is key to mastering English as you would be put in a situation where you have no other shared language.
As for other languages, Geetanjali might consider continuing learning German on her own after previously taking an introductory course.
Overall, Geetanjalis experiences are similar to those of her compatriot Apoorva, my first interviewee. It is fascinating how no matter which part of the «circle» one happens to live in, the language learning difficulties they face are basically of the same nature. Even in the countries where speaking opportunities can be less limited than in others, it can still be down to an individual teacher to make the world of difference.
Geetanjali must have worked really hard towards improving her skills as she was able to continue her research in another English-speaking country after her Fulbright year.
A multilingual and multicultural future psycholinguist
(Jonathan, Malaysia)
Languages spoken: English, Malay, Cantonese.
Field of study/career: Psychology.
It was such a pleasure to meet such a young and open-minded person as Jonathan from Malaysia at another meeting of «Connecting Through Cultures». I considered him a colleague as he was here in the U.S. to study Psycholinguistics at Montclair State for one semester. For such projects you always wonder whether specialists in your field are actually better participants as they would be able to illuminate a lot of issues we hope our interview questions are designed to tap into. On the other hand, there might be some caveats as being too conscious and aware of the topic is likely to make their answers more controlled. Anyway, I was happy to sit down on the familiar lawn of our campus to talk with Jonathan and hear his insights into bilingualism in his multilingual native Malaysia.
Jonathan (which is an English version of his name) considers English to be his dominant language which he grew up speaking with everyone in the family except his grandparents. He picked up Cantonese in the family environment as well.
While being at elementary school he picked up an English book and ended up developing love for reading. By the age of 12 he would read 23 books a week. That, paired with his passion for creative writing, must have helped him a lot to make English indispensable to his existence.