Since I was young, friends and family described the way I speak my Mother Tongue, Malay, as pelat. I had trouble pronouncing words like air (water) and articulated in an unnatural accent. I remember my first day of Malay class in primary school, I introduced myself to Cikgu using the informal pronoun “nama aku Nadia” instead of “saya”. That may come across as rude to your elders, and I was not aware of the proper form until my classmate informed me.

I naturally felt more comfortable conversing in English as mostly everyone around me did, except for my grandma. I grew up living with my grandparents, where we listened to 70s Malay songs, sang along while on car rides and watched P. Ramlee movies together. During Hari Raya Aidilfitri, my grandma would cook her scrumptious ayam masak merah that I would not miss to indulge in. I acquired the taste for spicy food, thanks to her cooking of traditional Malay dishes. The Malay language encompasses my heritage and identity, which I am proud of, despite sounding pelat.

With my fondness for languages, I enrolled into Japanese, Korean and Singapore Sign Language classes. My goal has always been to expand my abilities to interact with more people and learn about other cultures. My most memorable experience was a school trip in Japan, and we accommodated in a homestay. The host family was an elderly couple and we called them おばさん (‘obasan’ for grandmother) and おじいさん (‘ojiisan’ for grandfather).

Photo of Japan by Chris Fowler on Unsplash

As a welcome gesture, they prepared dinner for us on our first night. With my basic Japanese skills, I asked them whether the meal contained pork and it did. So, I explained that I am a Muslim. Fortunately, they understood and apologised for the misunderstanding. The next morning, they laid out a breakfast spread that was freshly picked from their own farm and reassured me. I was truly delighted by their respectful and considerate manner. This encounter brought me insight that the differences in cultures or languages do not impose barriers. There are limitless opportunities where we can learn from one another.

This piece was written by our #SGUnited intern, Nadia Alya. Nadia Alya is a third-year Linguistics and Multilingual Studies major.

Starting from this week, we’ll be sharing our interns’ experiences and memories of learning language. Click here to read more of BLIP Lab’s Multilingual Memories!

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