Blog Post #5: Practical Consolidation of Language and Identity

01/10/2016

In this blog post, I have chosen one out of three options to write about which is to write a practical text. This choice is about "A new student is moving to Raha from a homogenous monolingual community. This student has never been abroad or lived in a multilingual setting. You have been chosen to write her a formal letter to explain the important relationship between language, culture, and identity." I chose to write about this certain topic because before I came here I was in a homogenous monolingual community so this letter is almost a letter to myself before my exposure to Abu Dhabi. 

Practical:

Villa 3, 15th Street,

Khalifa City A, Abu Dhabi

1st October 2016

Jane Doe,

3rd Steven Street, GoldCoast,

Queensland, Australia 

Dear Jane Doe, 

Good afternoon, Jane Doe, my name is Karma Thomas and I'm a representative of grade 11 who would like to welcome you to the school and the country. They have provided me with some information about you and how you have not travelled or moved anywhere outside Australia. So, let me begin by saying a lot is about to change and you are about to experience a lot that is completely unknown to you. However, in saying this I would like to assure you that there is no reason to be scared or worried because this exposure and transition will allow to you to grow in ways you would have never imagined. The most noticeable atmosphere change will be the variety of languages and cultures you encounter.

Compared to Australia, this is the biggest difference as in Australia most people speak the same language and share the same culture. These similar factors give everyone the basic identity of being Australian and allows you to easily understand everyone and communicate. However, you must gain the skill of recognising that in an international country everyone speaks a different language and does not share the same culture. This diversity allows everyone to have a separate identity to the person next to them. You must always remember to stay open-minded as each identity comes with their own unique traits that you must be respectful of. A person's language usually is based off their culture or nationality which shapes them as an individual. However, you will learn of those who are bilinguals and speak multiple languages due to certain personal circumstances. These circumstances could be their diverse family, them moving a lot or even them just wanting to learn more languages. It may seem like another skill to know more languages but this knowledge also shapes their identity. Many of  them will even slowly to change your identity as you learn more and more about the people around you. This will change you because your own identity won't just relate to your own culture but those you are exposed to. 

It is important that you remember that everyone is different to you and that everyone is different from Australia because this will allow you to develop and adjust faster. Everyone's culture and language forms their identity as their customs or traditions will be very different to yours or similar. Either way, you must be respectful of these similarities or differences and be intent on learning one's way of life. The relationship of cultures and language determines their identity, think of it as an equation, someone's culture plus someone's language forms the individual you interact with. For someone could share the same culture as many but their language could be different due to family or certain interactions. It's the culture and the language that make the person because values like culture and language can be distorted by certain situational factors and don't always rely on each other. I hope this educates you on what to expect from our school and Abu Dhabi, hopefully, you could find an appreciation for this international environment like I have. 

Sincerely Karma,