over a month in the U.S. I became more proactive about meeting people «locally», i.e., at my host university as physical proximity facilitates longer and more sustainable connections. I met a fellow Fulbrighter Sharif from Afghanistan at an event for international students and scholars at Montclair State.
When we think about Afghanistan, news reports of never-ending war conflicts come up in our minds. But no journalistic report (even the most well-balanced one) or an in-depth research article would replace actual interactions with individuals who have had to witness and/or suffer the consequences of these atrocities committed in their home country.
It was a unique opportunity to do that while getting to know Sharif who seemed longing for company and open for new connections. For this interview we sat down on a lawn in the university campus. Despite 5 years of being a university teacher, I felt we were just students catching up in between classes having profound conversations – that was the way I had been imagining university life to be…
For Sharif learning English was a «long and steady process». He got his elementary education in Pakistan where it is the second language of instruction. Despite limited opportunities to speak, there was a lot of reading and writing practice in English.
Initially, it was somewhat difficult and even teachers themselves weren’t so good at grammar nuances. Whenever a student asked a question, the teacher switched to Urdu for giving explanations. At least a lot of opportunities to practise writing were provided. In senior classes Sharif took control of his language learning and improved his English dramatically by reading extensively outside the school curriculum and watching films.
As Sharif started building his career in Nutrition and Food Science, he found himself increasingly having to interact (send emails, make phone calls) with colleagues he shared no other language rather than English. Besides, as part of his job duties, he had to stay on top of the latest research in his field which is published in English and only considerably later might be translated into other languages.
In Afghanistan English isn’t taught until Grade 5 and 6. There are two national languages – Dari and Pashto – which everyone learns at school. According to Sharif, that might explain why English isn’t introduced earlier to avoid the pressure of teaching three languages at a time.
Unless a student in Afghanistan isn’t ready to take control of his own language learning outcomes the way Sharif did, there are some extra courses they can enroll in which are taught completely in English. That would certainly require extra time and commitment.
Dari and Pashto are both equally important in the country, but that has not prevented English from gaining increasing popularity. For example, as Sharif feels, around 30 percent of the population have some level of proficiency compared to probably one third of this number decades back. Despite the colonial past, Afghans seem to have become more «liberal» about speaking a foreign language which can now be commonly heard in social meetings. The nation’s natural resilience helps to embrace changes and do their best to incorporate the world’s «primary» language into their day-to-day lives.
Even after having worked on a few international projects and some overseas experiences, Sharif still feels his reading, writing and listening are above his speaking. He has only spent a month in the U.S., but is hoping to perfect his skills during the next 2 years he is going to spend here on his Master program.
Sharif expects English to play an even bigger role in his professional life as his is «a new emerging» field and being able to develop it in his home country will involve continuous interactions with international funds and organizations.
Sharif believes his identity certainly transforms as he switches between languages. Unlike when speaking Dari and Pashto, English and Urdu require some extra time to make up his mind on how to speak, how to react causing him to feel «caught up».
Sharif is sure his little son will grow to be multilingual as there is definitely going to be more need for that in the future. But at the end of the day, the number of languages one speaks isn’t that important.
∞ Humble but very articulate, Sharif seemed quite optimistic about the future of his country back then. We would occasionally catch up with him on campus over coffee «to put the world to rights». He actually became one of the backbones of our Montclair Fulbright group, a «community of practice» we, MSU Fulbrighters, created at our host university to stay connected. Sharif had a consistent and comprehensive approach to arranging group meetups. It seems like this «businesslike» approach to language learning has borne fruit for him. It was also so much pleasure to be able to stay in touch and have insightful discussions online after I left the U.S. a year following the interview.
«Routine» news stories become personal when you know a soul from the place where a report is being made from. I have certainly felt more involved watching reports coming from Afghanistan ever since I met fellow Fulbrighters from there.
Despite new challenges posed by more political turmoil that followed, Sharif went on to have an international career in a few more English-speaking countries.
A European’s experience with English (Milena, Austria)
Languages spoken: German, English, Slovene, Chinese.
Field of study/career: Molecular Biology.
I met Milena from Austria in one of the weekly events at my university called «Connecting Through Cultures». She was one of the very first Europeans I ran into here in Montclair. Having been to quite a few places in Europe, I still held onto this collective image of it despite being perfectly aware of how different the countries making up the EU are (linguistically, culturally and somewhat politically).
Due to geographic and historic reasons, as Russians we might have conflicting views of Europe and the West overall. In the mid-19th century two opposite groups – the Slavophiles (those believing in Russia having its own way and not follow the West) and the Westernizers (emphasizing Russia’s inferiority and the need for it to adopt the Western standards) emerged in the Russian Empire. Probably, up to this day, the Russian society is divided over how they feel about Europe in particular. I personally imagined that Europeans would have access to more educational (including language learning) opportunities compared to Russians.
So, Milena and I sat down to have a slow pensive chat on campus on a bench offering a blurred distant view of the Manhattan skyline.
In Austria it is mandatory to learn English from the 4th Grade. Milena doesn’t feel there was too much focus on grammar. Even though her native language and English are of the same language family, pronunciation is completely different, so that was a bit of a challenge. Grammar wasn’t that difficult, though, compared to that of German.
English is pretty popular all over Europe as it is the language for connecting with people from all across the world. Based on Milena’s experience, everywhere she has been inside the EU all young people were fluent in English. Older generations might not be so open and the main reason for that might be that it is easier to learn a foreign language while you are young.
Milena went to Great Britain for a week with her school where she got to speak English continuously for the first time. That brief trip helped to «get into the language». Of course, living in Europe makes it easier to get around and mostly it is the regular use of social media and watching English movies that facilitates language learning for young Europeans. That is why speaking it is «not much of a big deal» in the EU where it feels «almost like the second language».
When it comes to German, Milena’s first language, the way it is spoken in Austria is different. Basically even though it is the same