Everything but. . .

Submitted by Macabea on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 16:29
The interesting and surprising exposure to language in Abu Dhabi
Question: What is the most spoken language in Abu Dhabi?  Answer: English. 
 
Question: What is the second most used language in Abu Dhabi?  Answer: Urdu
 
Before coming to the UAE I had one semester of intensive elementary Arabic.  Even though that means I can only engage in general greetings, single clause phrases, and negotiating prices, I thought it would at least help me.  Yet, I’ve never once even thought “Ahhh!  I wish I spoke more Arabic!”  Other than the random “inshaallah” (God willing) and “yalla” (Let’s go) I haven’t had a single moment of Arabic language necessity. 
 
This goes to show how international of a city Abu Dhabi is.   Only 10-15% of the people are actually Emiratis- UAE citizens.  The rest are either rich expat Westerners or South / Southeast Asian workers.  In fact, I’m sure that I’ve more often wished that I spoke Urdu, Hindi, or Tagalog than Arabic, by far.  Especially in taxis, because you never know quite for sure if the driver understands.  It is true that all signs are in both Arabic and English, but most often the Arabic is just transliterated English.  Since I can read the letters it is always fun to sound it out: “Mi-ku-du-nul-dz. . . . ohhh McDonalds!” In general, English is the way to go.
 
What has been fun though is how many languages are spoken around me, not only on the streets, but also at the school and my internship.  I’ve had conversations in all of the languages I am familiar with: German, Italian, Spanish, and Swahili- and it is fun to think that in my four months in the Gulf my other languages will get better.  I’ve also made close friends with a Russian student and so I’ve been exposed to a lot of Cyrillic writing and cool little Russian sayings.  I have another friend who is constantly on skype or her phone with family in Turkish- though I have little desire to learn much of it, and another one who sometimes uses Norwegian phrases. 
 
Language has definitely been a part of my experience here, as it has my whole life, but in a way than I didn’t expect.  It was similar in Tel Aviv last semester. I didn’t take Hebrew there, and I never felt like I had to learn much of it.  I’m sure that being in countries where English is heavily understood provides me with a different kind of abroad experience than others.  Maybe it makes these destinations less ‘exotic’ in the way that De Botton discusses, but language familiarity allows me to more deeply explore other cultural, political, and economic issues that interest me and assist my education. 
 
However, when I do finally return to the states- after my 14 months away have ended- I’m sure it will be nice to relax and understand everything going on around me.
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meglius's picture

Multi-language UAE

Submitted by meglius on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 10:51.
What an interesting experience to be placed in an unseemingly multicultural community and to surrounded by so many languages! I'm jealous that you know so many and have been able to use them all, too. I never would have expected that from UAE. I also did not know that Arabic functioned the way it did in that literal translation, so that's cool that you can decipher those signs around you, proving a command of the language in that respect, and of course being able to still use it in that way. And I'm sure, although you don't use it all that much, that more Arabic will accumulate over these next months and you'll come home knowing more than you expected.