A few days ago I came across an article by Arab-American writer, Tasbeeh Herwees called The Names They Gave Me. I found it particularly interesting since it was related to the Language and Identity part of our course. Further, it was something that I was very familiar with and I found the article to be very well written.
In her article, the author talks about how she grew up in the United States with an Arabic name. Her mother felt very strongly about her keeping her real name instead of adopting an American nickname. This is followed by many awkward encounters with teachers who are incapable of pronouncing her Arabic name, leading her to feel as though she was a burden. She compares this to a tribe who did not have a name for the color blue, leading her to the conclusion that "It does not exist because it has no name". This story is one that is probably shared by most children with names that are native to their home country living in the United States.
However, I realized that this is a story that is not only related to children growing up in western countries. Since third grade, I have attended international schools here in the U.A.E, and I have noticed that this is also a common theme for us. Children coming from countries all around their names quickly accustom themselves to a twisted form of their names. Even as an Arab living in Arab country, I have realized that Arab names are rarely pronounced in the correct way at school. After a few years, we begin to introduce ourselves in the same way our western teachers and friends said our names. To me, that seems like a destruction of our identity. And in a way, that sounds hypocritical to me, because we do have the power to correct those who mispronounce our names. However it was exhausting to correct them time and time again, to watch them struggle with the letters and sounds. In order for us to embrace our differences and collectively strengthen our languages, we should make the effort to pronounce names correctly. Herwees describes the time her math teacher works to correctly pronounce her name as a moment which made her feel as though her "name was a crown". And that should be the case with all names, in order to strengthen them as individuals and keep their identity.
In her article, the author talks about how she grew up in the United States with an Arabic name. Her mother felt very strongly about her keeping her real name instead of adopting an American nickname. This is followed by many awkward encounters with teachers who are incapable of pronouncing her Arabic name, leading her to feel as though she was a burden. She compares this to a tribe who did not have a name for the color blue, leading her to the conclusion that "It does not exist because it has no name". This story is one that is probably shared by most children with names that are native to their home country living in the United States.
However, I realized that this is a story that is not only related to children growing up in western countries. Since third grade, I have attended international schools here in the U.A.E, and I have noticed that this is also a common theme for us. Children coming from countries all around their names quickly accustom themselves to a twisted form of their names. Even as an Arab living in Arab country, I have realized that Arab names are rarely pronounced in the correct way at school. After a few years, we begin to introduce ourselves in the same way our western teachers and friends said our names. To me, that seems like a destruction of our identity. And in a way, that sounds hypocritical to me, because we do have the power to correct those who mispronounce our names. However it was exhausting to correct them time and time again, to watch them struggle with the letters and sounds. In order for us to embrace our differences and collectively strengthen our languages, we should make the effort to pronounce names correctly. Herwees describes the time her math teacher works to correctly pronounce her name as a moment which made her feel as though her "name was a crown". And that should be the case with all names, in order to strengthen them as individuals and keep their identity.
This article is a great find and your analysis is excellent. I will definitely use this with my Grade 11 class this year.
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