The things that brought me closer to my Culture and language

I grew up in a multilingual and cultural home, where I speak 4 languages. My mother belongs to the Akan and evegbe tribes whereas my Father belongs to the Hausa and Fulani tribe of ghana. The languages spoken in my home are Hausa, twi, 3w3, and English. And throughout my adolescent life, I’ve begun to realize the importance of culture and language through a series of life lessons and events.

 Code Switching was definitely the first thing that brought me closer, because unlike everyone else only a few people had this given skill to code-switch between languages, And I was a part of that few. I’ve always code-switched long enough for me to even remember, and when I first came to this Country my code Switching skills definitely came to the test. I had to be able to accurately switch “broken” English to Standard American English. I was often bullied in school and made fun of because I spoke with an accent. The way I pronounced certain words did not meet up to America’s Standard correct English. And sadly I was often made fun of because of that. But funny enough if the dice were to be turned and the card was to be switched, I argue that the form of English I spoke was far superior to the way Americans speak English. Because back home we were taught standard British English and terminology in school, we always thought the way we spoke English was superior and if an American was to speak English to us they would be laughed at because we had that type of hierarchy. but that all changed when I came here I was fragile in the sense that I was new to the culture, norms, and ways of speaking; I certainly struggled but code-switching was something that helped me a lot, I was able to somehow balance life as a multilingual and as a person who constantly had to switch between ways of speaking English, I was able to completely abandon Standard English out of home and comfortably speak however I pleased without anyone and any rules stopping me from speaking however I wanted.

                     I was able and able to be myself and comfortable myself remix all the languages that i knew into English to create a  language only I and my family members understood, and this was something unique to me and the only few that were able to attain and use this skill, but I long realized that the culture of Code-switching is now being forgotten I see people who abandoned their culture and language to pursue the American way of life and to be accepted into Society. I never understood this until I fell into the same issue too. I wanted to pursue American culture and started unknowingly abandoning my languages and cultures and eventually stopping code-switching. But I realized that code-switching was a part of me and  made me connect to my languages more because it made me feel unique and appreciated the  languages I spoke which aren’t known to others. And I finally realized that to pursue something you do not need to Abandon where you come from.

     I was truly able to Connect With my Language through Fabric and the Culture as a whole.  I remember the First time When we were told to come and Showcase Our African Clothes at a show our School was hosting. At first i did not want to do it As it seemed irrelevant but after A few thoughts running back anf forth i decided to do come in With my Ankara Print Fabric only if my friends where on board with helping me, After Discusing wih my friends they all were onboard with the plan but fastfoward, we where getting dressed to present our clothes but unfortunately in that time tha we where briefy gone; Our instructor( the one who planned and brought everything to motion) was looking for us,she waited and waited but seemingly the crowd got frustrated and they decided to carryon without us;At that time our teacher was also looking for us because other than presenting the clothes we also had a dance with our class that was curated and was to be also presented,We made it to the scene Carried the flags that we where representing danced, i remeber the crowd looking at me and my friends dresses in Awe, and that was when the passion of getting closer to my culture and Language Struck me, And before this i had long ago realized that there where alot of African Children who came here and had completely forgotten and Abandoned their languages and Culture whilst trying to become More Americanzed and Accepted by Society. I realized I didn’t want to be like that, I wanted to be someone that is deeply connected to their roots and the way of life taught to her by her elders, I also did not want to be treated like a foreigner in my own Mother land, the very own that nurtured and brought me up only for me to come back to it with a loss and lack of identity and with one that did not belong to me.

             I was able to more Connect to my culture, Simply because I participated in and Attended weddings, for as long as I could remember I was always the errand girl for old African Aunties, and honestly, I really despised going to weddings because of that because I had this reputation around the Aunties for being a hard worker no doubt but I felt even more pressured when they would seemingly take advantage of my skills and later play the card of; “oh Dian Allah ya raya ki, Safi to gida mei albarka, yaryan ga na da kirki o, kuma halin ta na da kiaw” which means( “oh child, May Allah bless you”, “she has truly come from a good/ blessed household”, “this girl is really good and kind’’and “ this girl is really respectful and has a good personality”) they praise and tell me how wonderful as a person I am but in the end order me around, and not to make it seem like a bad thing I really like working and being righteous. But I was never impressed by the somehow two faced-ness of the old Aunties and whilst some genuinely liked and cared about me; some just wanted someone to send around.

      I would be sent around to buy food for the old people, carry loads of supplies for people, serve people and just be someone who is constantly known just by always being sent around; this brought me to the culture more because I was hands-on with everything and I was able to observe and carry out tasks for weddings, bringing out ceremonial objects and things for brides to wear and eat. And no matter how I’ve always wanted to dislike some African Aunties( Aka the African communities Karens) for doing some highly annoying things they do like, badmouthing people’s children and even going on to the extent to insult their parents, and also purchasing  costly things they only use for one day;  they were the ones who unknowingly made me closer to my cultures. And I would be always thankful.