Saleh Kadi

As a kid I really didn’t see any of my cousins or aunts and uncles on my mothers side which all spoke English instead I spent my youth with my family on my dads side which spoke mainly Arabic. And that wasn’t a problem since most of them also spoke English so it was really hard to get to know any of my family members. But the problem was that everyone knew I dint speak Arabic and when I would walk in a room they all spoke it to me I guess they thought of it as adorable a 6 year old nervous trying to pick out small words that he knew, but I saw it as showing of or taunting me as if they were shoving the language down my throat. It got to the point to were I would walk away or not talk at the sight of a family member. But it didn’t stop when I moved away I was greeted with year round classes and tutors who did nothing to help I would even be disappointed when the week was over because I didn’t want to go to Sunday school where I felt shamed for still not learning the language. I feel these experiences are the reasons I don’t like to talk to people don’t know but I still to this day don’t speak Arabic.