23/01/2023
Sharing the stories behind the robot fashion design by the students taking “Robotics and Creative Practice”👏
“A life spent away from my home country, the UAE, away from my relatives was how my childhood went! I lived in many countries and learnt different languages in those countries. But what about my mother tongue, Arabic? Even though I had frequent Arabic lessons at home, they weren't enough. It was hard to learn a language when I didn't practice it, and I couldn't practice speaking Arabic in France, South Korea or the UK. So what happened? Every time I'd go back home for the holidays, I'd get teased for my broken Arabic. I wasn't proud of myself and was embarrassed. Every Arabic sentence I'd say had mistakes and this discouraged me from speaking it. At one point, my first time meeting His Royal Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, he told me "كفو " (which means excellent). I had no idea what it meant and said "What??". It was sooo embarrassing, and I'm sure I would have known the meaning of the word if I lived in the UAE. I had a language barrier which was very visible to me. It prevented me from making friends and bonding with my relatives. Although I have passed that stage of my life and am now much more confident in my Arabic, I wanted to share my story because I know that that stage in my life impacted me, and I know that some of you reading this might share the same story. Language barriers can negatively impact our lives. Unfortunately, as human beings, it is in our nature to communicate through languages. Don't give up on mastering the language you're having difficulties with! Instead of being embarrassed about messing up when saying something, change that to a positive reminder to keep practising!” Made by Hessa.
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