The importance of home language.

After reading "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan, many issues were addressed that can be discussed about, and in this case I would like to talk about the importance of home language. Now for people that are from English speaking countries, that is their home language and it is spoken by over a billion people worldwide. But for other people that are born anywhere else around the world, it may be a challenge to communicate in their language, depending on the region they are from and how "popular" their language is . We live today in a world where it is similar to a small village, information circulates quickly and traveling has become easier, giving people opportunity to live in other countries and even raise a family while moving. Chances are by being an expatriate, the children won't have the same education and circumstances as their parents , which may make them unable to learn their mother language, or not make them learn the same way as the people back home do . I think that it is very easy to neglect learning the home language, and the more the individual has grown up, the harder it becomes to learn languages, because children pick up languages quicker than adults. I think that the home language is very important, it is a part of the individual's culture as well as identity and without it, the individual finds himself in the confusion, not completely fitting in with their original culture or the one they are surrounded by. Speaking one's home language contributes to the conservation of the language, as even if one person not speaking it might seem like a small number, but once it adds up it will make a difference. Most of the time, the excuse that can be heard is that learning two languages at a young age may be confusing to the child, but I disagree because being exposed to bilingualism does not cause delayed speech. Once the individual hits a certain age, learning languages becomes harder and life becomes more hectic, not making time for learning it. Now I'm not saying in any way that someone that doesn't speak their own home language doesn't have an identity or culture, but I think that being in that situation can be very frustrating. Even if the individual does not visit their home country often, I don't think it's a valid excuse even if myself I have learnt Arabic up until at a late age, which until today is a regret my parents have made during my upbringing. Studying the home language will make individuals more metalinguistic aware and will make the approach to other languages easier. It also gives the opportunity to think in a new language and be able to be apart of the heritage and understand the mentality of the language. Sure you can learn Spanish at school for example but maybe once you travel to Mexico you will realise after talking to the locals there are a few nuances you might not understand because you don't know the mentality of the language. It feels good to have a personal connection with your home language because it gives you a connection with your country, therefore your roots and obviously your family back home. The rise of the English language has made people feel less the need to learn their mother language especially not living in the country where they are from, but I think that is wrong. I am very pro-multilingualism, I think that being able to speak fluently two languages or more is something that should be a lot more encouraged. Myself I speak three languages and it has given me a love for languages and a bigger appreciation of them. Each and every one of them has it's own vocabulary grammar (that is the only sad part, try learning French or Arabic grammar) and mentality, I mean sure it is very easy to open your laptop and translate something, but the essence of the language while doing that is lost and you cannot enjoy it. Your home language is priceless, and if you have the opportunity to learn it it should be taken, because the long term benefit is definitely worth it.

Name (A poem)

I used to think "my name is pretty lame"

So many girls being called the same,

Made me develop a need to up my game.

But then I asked myself what is the true aim?

I am called after a flower called Jasmine

Sadly the only word that I found that rhymes with that is dragon

Back to the point, or more like the line

It's a flower with a smell that reminds me of home

My grandfather would tell me the whole tree is mine

"You can pick any flower of yours and enjoy it's arome"

But then, things started confusing,

And I started getting confused.

I was taught from a young age,

That my name was written as Yesmine

Yes with an e in the end and it lies in between

The s and the y 

And a lot of people would ask me why?

So I started conforming

It was first by letting people write my name the way they please.

I thought maybe I would feel more at ease.

The variations were always fun to see,

Write my name wrong, but at least you know me.

The a took place of the e,

And it was a relationship similar to the one 

That you may see in the sky between the moon and the sun.

They were never together always apart

They took each other's places from the very start.

The Hamsa in Tunisian Culture.

We have learned in class that culture is something subjective and so vast. Culture can easily be generalised and we all have a different definition of what it may be and what we see ourselves fitting into. I think that as a person that has lived in various countries and adapted to many cultures, I like to think that I really belong to the world culture, but at the same time I don’t. Putting aside that I have lived in various countries all different from one another, that I was attending a french school most of my life and that I would watch endless hours of Disney Channel up until the age of 12, I was still raised in a Tunisian household. 

Today I’m going to talk about the Hamsa pronounced Khamsa خمسة  meaning five in Arabic, also known as the Hand of Fatima to french speakers . Now this symbol was originally used mainly by the people in the Middle East and North Africa, but it is very multicultural and can be found in countries in Asia. People in Islam and Judaism and also apparently Buddhism associate with it, but it not a religious symbol (does anyone understand this nuance?) . Today it is now popularised all over the world, a design found to be “tumblr” and “stylish” that is imprinted on many clothing, jewellery and decorative items. The origins are said to go back from Mesopotamia (today Iraq) as well as Carthage (Tunisia). The meaning of this varies from culture to culture , but I’m going to focus more on it’s meaning in my country.

The Hamsa can be an amulet, necklace or even at the entrance of houses, and it is a symbol of protection and it is believed to fight against the “evil eye”( a malicious stare that may cause harm to the person being stared at, from death to just bad luck) . It is the number five that is associated to protection against the “evil eye” which could fight the looks of an envious person or the thoughts of jealous people and before it is believed to be one of the ways to combat that. The open hand stops the bad eye. The number five can also be associate to the five pillars of Islam ( Belief, Worship, Fasting, Almsgiving, and Pilgrimage), the appellation of Fatima comes from the name of the daughter of the prophet Mohammed (pbuh) , which was more popularised when the colonialists came to North Africa as they were not able to pronounce Arabic and the actual name of the symbol. It does date well before any religion was born, making it more something more spiritual than religious, even if the previous information may not make it seem that way. 

Historically and traditionally, the Hamsa can be hung in front of the house, either being in the shape of a flat ceramic (like the one below) or a ceramic directly in the shape of the hand and until today this can be seen in old houses. Sometimes it’s painted in red or even  blood from someone’s hand that was dipped in a sacrifices blood from Eid. Now it was also given to expecting or new mothers to ward off the bad eye and anyone would have it around in their house or wear it as jewellery to get the bad eye away. The hand can be fingers spread apart to get the evil away or put together for good luck, and really the direction of the hand pointing upwards or down is just a variation of design, like placing an eye on the palm is a variation as well.

I wear on a daily basis a Hamsa necklace that goes incognito most of the time. I can still remember my grandma’s reaction when she first saw it. She said: “ Oh it’s cute you believe that can take the evil eye away”. Well at least I know sarcasm is a hereditary thing. Anyways back to the point I was trying to make. In the end I think that the Hand of Fatima or whatever you want to call it is a beautiful symbol, it has so many different interpretation and one culture alone can see it in different views. I think that it is important that when wearing a symbol you may not know of, it’s important to know the meaning behind it, because you are wearing something that is a part of a history and a specific mindset.

First post

Hey guys it’s Nicole jokes it’s Yasmine but you call me Nomine (get it)

I am Tunisian but consider myself to be a child of the world because I have moved quite a bit in my 16 years of existence. I like to cook, take pictures, write poetry, sing, draw and I think that is about it. In this year I would like to try new things and get out of my comfort zone. I would also like to for the future learn more languages, share the diverse art forms I practise to the world and travel more (even if I am scared of planes) .

I think language is very important because it is how we express ourselves, orally or by writing and it is very important to learn it at school.

In my day to day life, language gives me the opportunity to express myself and how I feel. With languages, it is possible to enjoy various types of media and to read.

I actually have felt excluded because of language numerous times. Up until the age of 4, I only spoke english because I was enrolled in a British school in Nigeria and I also had a British accent. This clashed with my family in the holidays when we would go to Tunisia because most of the time I would not understand my extended family and they would not understand me.  The misunderstanding that I cannot forget is when I told my grandmother I wanted to sleep, and she understood “slip” meaning underwear in french. She wondered for a while why I constantly wanted to change my underwear.  Eventually I was enrolled in a French school in Saudi Arabia and I learnt how to speak French and Arabic, but I lost my British accent.

That’s all folks.