SomaliNet Forums

green, this problem is much larger than myself.

Aemon,

Alpha, first start with yourself then your children might not be in the same situation but if you are happy with the way things are then

Green, I don't quite think you and alpha are defining "somali muslim canadian" the same.... do you think all it takes to keep the Somali dhaqan alive is to be fluent in the language?

greenday wrote:Alpha its never too late, Somali is a beautiful language if you give it the chance

Nanees if you can understand the language other things follow.

I taught myself Somali, with little help from my Grandma, if you hear me speak Somali you'd think I came straight from Somalia speaking wise that is, my writing sucks, but I'm working on it. In our house hold we only spoke Arabic, no one cared if we knew Somali or not, we hardly interacted with Somali people, knew very little about Somali culture, I learned everything Somali here in Canada, it was a whole new experience. Af Somali is one of the easiest language to learn.

greenday wrote:Alpha, first start with yourself then your children might not be in the same situation but if you are happy with the way things are then

You're making this about me. I'm trying to paint for you a picture of a particular reality most of us are oblivious to. 2nd and 3rd generation immigrant Somalis will most likely have little to no appreciation for "being Somali". Why? It isn't a result of their choosing, but that of implorable familial standards.

Nabeela, I've never met my grandparents. Until very recently, I hadn't known my maternal grandmother's name. Learn a language?

greenday wrote:Nanees if you can understand the language other things follow.

Well, I know tons of people fluent in Arabic or French or Spanish.. does that mean that they're Arabic/French/Somali Muslim Canadians/Americans?

The language, although apart of the culture, is an entirely separate entity. You can know a language and never understand the culture. Although my somali skills need life-support, I grew up sitting on gambars, wearing baatis, eating canjeero first thing in the morning and I tell my younger cousins stories of dheg dheer and cigaal shidaad for bed time There are also many people out there who can speak the language perfectly but have no idea who caraweelo is or how to put on a guntiino keeping the Somali dhaqan alive means mastering and preserving both sides of the coin.. one w.o another is still a dying society

Alpha, its sad that some parents dont think their culture is important hopefully when these kids are older they do what Nabeela did and get a DIY Somali

You not know your grandmothers name its just embarrassing

Nanees wrote:

greenday wrote:Nanees if you can understand the language other things follow.

Well, I know tons of people fluent in Arabic or French or Spanish.. does that mean that they're Arabic/French/Somali Muslim Canadians/Americans?

The language, although apart of the culture, is an entirely separate entity. You can know a language and never understand the culture. Although my somali skills need life-support, I grew up sitting on gambars, wearing baatis, eating canjeero first thing in the morning and I tell my younger cousins stories of dheg dheer and cigaal shidaad for bed time There are also many people out there who can speak the language perfectly but have no idea who caraweelo is or how to put on a guntiino keeping the Somali dhaqan alive means mastering and preserving both sides of the coin.. one w.o another is still a dying society

If you can do these things then your Somali is more than fine

greenday wrote:

Nanees wrote:

greenday wrote:Nanees if you can understand the language other things follow.

Well, I know tons of people fluent in Arabic or French or Spanish.. does that mean that they're Arabic/French/Somali Muslim Canadians/Americans?

The language, although apart of the culture, is an entirely separate entity. You can know a language and never understand the culture. Although my somali skills need life-support, I grew up sitting on gambars, wearing baatis, eating canjeero first thing in the morning and I tell my younger cousins stories of dheg dheer and cigaal shidaad for bed time There are also many people out there who can speak the language perfectly but have no idea who caraweelo is or how to put on a guntiino keeping the Somali dhaqan alive means mastering and preserving both sides of the coin.. one w.o another is still a dying society

If you can do these things then your Somali is more than fine

no because if I'm at, lets say a 85% overall understanding of our dhaqan, then I can only hope to pass on lets say 65% to my children, and so forth until its down to 0%.

Nanees, when there is peace in Somalia more people will go there on holidays so it will never get to 0%

greenday wrote:Nanees, when there is peace in Somalia more people will go there on holidays so it will never get to 0%

Do you really think Somalia will find peace in our lifetime?

*Paternal grandmother. I get those mixed up sometimes. Though it's been nearly a decade since I last heard my maternal grandmother's name.

greenday wrote:Alpha, its sad that some parents dont think their culture is important hopefully when these kids are older they do what Nabeela did and get a DIY Somali

You not know your grandmothers name its just embarrassing

You're making it very difficult for me to continue with this thread.

Alphanumeric wrote:*Paternal grandmother. I get those mixed up sometimes. Though it's been nearly a decade since I last heard my maternal grandmother's name.

greenday wrote:Alpha, its sad that some parents dont think their culture is important hopefully when these kids are older they do what Nabeela did and get a DIY Somali

You not know your grandmothers name its just embarrassing

You're making it very difficult for to continue with this thread.

Alpha, this is a judgement free zone.

Have your GP's passed? If you don't mind me asking...

Nanees wrote:

greenday wrote:Nanees, when there is peace in Somalia more people will go there on holidays so it will never get to 0%

Do you really think Somalia will find peace in our lifetime?

were is the optimism??, we will all be going their for holidays playing with tanks and ak47s