The Beauty of Being Indigenously Multilingual

Others may brag about being able to speak foreign languages like German, Portuguese, French, Spanish and many others, but this young woman right here is proud to nurse from the tree of diverse Namibian languages.

I can meet someone in the streets and say ‘morokeni’, ‘ngapi’, ‘matisa’, ‘hoe gaan dit,’ ‘ongeipi’ or even ‘kora’ with the right accents. Being multilingual is not to show off to others, but my own goal of self-satisfaction as a true Namibian.

I cannot even remember how I learned the first word of my second language, but here I am today, appreciating that I decided to conquer the journey of learning someone else’s mother tongue.

Every corner of my life I meet different people who ask me the same questions “what tribe are you from?” and “where are your from originally?” Some even go to the extent of gossiping behind my back thinking that I do not understand the language they are speaking, but what tribe I’m from doesn’t matter.

Surprisingly, most people think I am an offspring of two parents from different cultural groups or tribes, but I am not.

While some people think being multi-lingual is denying the pride of your mother tongue, I believe it is the greatest thing one can do to be able to call themselves a proud Namibian. I cannot deny that the influences of these languages delayed and affected my competence and performance in all the languages I know.

When it came to English as an official language, it has never been easy to reach the stage of fluency where my performance or how I speak in any environment is totally free from the influence of all the other languages I know.

In most cases I also find myself in a situation of ‘code switching’ or forgetting that the people I’m communicating with cannot speak the other languages at all.

In fact, the beauty does not lie beyond the boundary, but it lies within your boundary and this is where you can make magic happen by admiring and valuing what you have around you.

Because of this, I am better person in the sense that I have a better perspective of different cultural groups and avoid prejudicing or offending other people.

I refuse to pay attention to any stereotypes about any of the indigenous languages and I aim to learn more.

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