Help! Language problem

[AlHoda]

:sl:

My dear brothers and sisters, I have a serious language problem, let me explain. I'm now 17, I was born in Germany, but I have Somali parents. I never actually lived in Germany, as my parents were refugees trying to escape the 1992 Somali Civil war, my parents and I came to Holland, where i basicly spend my entire childhood, after I turned 13, we moved to Egypt,Cairo to learn more about Islam and learn the arabic language. So, when I first came to Egypt, I couldn't utter a word of arabic exept la (no);D.
Anyway, I live now 4 years in Egypt and my Arabic gradually improved, but I can not speak it fluently as I haven't practiced a lot. My English also improved greatly, but I can't speak it very well. I learned the Somali language from my parents, and speak it with relatives and friends of the family, but I never learned grammar and spelling. I can't even write or read except for a little. Here is the problem, I don't speak or write any language very well. That is one of the reasons why I never socialize with people. i can write English well, but not speak it. My first language is dutch, which I knew better than the Somali language, but now after four years with never having spoken dutch to anyone, except the embassy, I'm starting to forget the language. I scan speak Arabic but not very well, I can read it most of the times and understand text but I always ask for help. I speak Somali now at home to family and relatives here in Egypt, but don't speak also very well as I am limited. I, have noticed that this is the problem of many somali children who grew up in the west and then moved to arab countries such as egypt, who can seem to master one language well, but speak several.

Can someone please advice me?

Jazakallahughair.

:wa:

A confused girl.

[AlHoda]

No comments:( Come on guys, I really could use the advice.

[Grofica]

i cant help you... i mean i am soooooooooooooooooo horrible with languages... well i can write OK but my speaking is like wow bad....

try and find some elder people maybe 1 for each language you want to practice or if you know some elderly person who knows 2 or 3 of the lanaguages you want to master and just speak with them. i am sure that they would love the company. i dont know about where you are but i know in the states they have programs for elderly people where younder people go just to spend time with them. not everyone has family that will visit but i guess things are a little more family orintated where your at... i dont know i would just find an older person... someone who grew up with whatever language... if your in an area that diverse then you should be able to find someone. even your mom might know someone...

just a thought :-)

by the way i soooooooo wish i had your gift for languages...

[Insecured soul]

take up some language classes sister

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[Rafeeq]

What I could understand is you never went to school or went to dutch school only?
If I am wrong, please forgive me. Your english is Okey, don't worry. For arabic, you need to take few lessons and I assure you, you will be very good in few days. You are very good in languages. No body can be master even if it is his/her mother tongue but one can get very good command on one/few if he/she shows interest towards it.
:wa:

[syilla]

Subhanallah such languages conflict...lol i guess the only way is to take a class or a lesson

[ardianto]

:sl:

Sister AlHoda, do you think you are in language problem ?.

Do you know sister ?, my English is very bad and I almost never have a chance to speak English with someone to train my English language. But this is a little problem because my big problem is ...... I am a stutterer !

A hour ago, a foreigner came to my office and that made me so nervous. Can you imagine if a stutterer like me must speak in a language that (almost) never spoken ?. Lucky, he understand what I was talking about.

[zakirs]

:sl:

I would advice you to practice english well ( as you will need it in almost any country) and since you are in Egypt you need to learn arabic as well. And remember something language is just a means of communication.It will never stop you from making friends.Heck i once made friendship with a italian
exchange student whose english was poorer than a 4 year old kid :). So all the best sister.

[Cabdullahi]

af soomaligu wa qaali wa inaad si udagdaga barata inshaallahu!!

[AlHoda]

af soomaligu wa qaali wa inaad si udagdaga barata inshaallahu!!

Inshallah:statisfie

[KittenLover]

Jus keep speaking it and you'll learn it, i've forgotten my native language i only know english and i look stupid at my relatves houses they laugh at me cos i dont know our native language

but i dont care anymore english and arabic is all i care about.

[Cabdullahi]

Inshallah:statisfie

did you understand what i said or did u just say inshallah

[AlHoda]

did you understand what i said or did u just say inshallah

yes ,I did, you said: The somalian language is precious, you need to learn it as soon as possible. :D

[Cabdullahi]

yes ,I did, you said: The somalian language is precious, you need to learn it as soon as possible. :D

did somebody translate it for you ? if not then your somali is at the required level

mashallah

[AlHoda]

did somebody translate it for you ? if not then your somali is at the required level

mashallah

No,alhamdullilah, nobody translated it for me, but I had to read it letter for letter;D ^^lol. my parents learned me a bit how to read, alhamdulllilah

[AlHoda]

No,alhamdullilah, nobody translated it for me, but I had to read it letter for letter;D ^^lol. my parents learned me a bit how to read, alhamdulllilah

problem is that I can't write like you o.:heated:

[Cabdullahi]

if you know the english alphabets which i presume u do then you should have no problems


wadanka masar ka waran?

[AlHoda]

if you know the english alphabets which i presume u know then you should have no problems


wadanka masar ka waran?

Fiican,alhamdullilah, btw the somali alphabet is different from the english one.;D

[seeker-of-light]

hehe^^ wow this is really interesting!
if i were you sis, i would try to study the language you find easiest first, the one you can speak with the most fluency at the moment, study it until you are really comfortable using it. then you can learn the others after that, inshAllah. hope this helped some

[Taqiyah]

af soomaligu wa qaali wa inaad si udagdaga barata inshaallahu!!

lol I thought she said she can't read Somali or write it she can only speak it...I always have a problem separating words when writing in Somali too like, honestly I don't know when to separate and when not to...like now you wrote, "si udagdaga", I personally would write it out as, "si dag dag ah" but I am not sure if it is correct that way...it just makes more sense to me...oh well Good luck sis Alhoda :D...

[AlHoda]

:giggling:

lol I thought she said she can't read Somali or write it she can only speak it...I always have a problem separating words when writing in Somali too like, honestly I don't know when to separate and when not to...like now you wrote, "si udagdaga", I personally would write it out as, "si dag dag ah" but I am not sure if it is correct that way...it just makes more sense to me...oh well Good luck sis Alhoda :D...

Haha;D I'm not the only one, but I guess, the generations who grew up in the west nver had a chance to learn, somali grammer, spelling, vocabulary and etc. Keep your head up sis...:peace: