Sahar Khelifa worked as a teacher of Arabic and Quran at an Islamic school in Saskatoon. She had a functional knowledge of Arabic but preferred using English in her daily life. After working with the Saskatchewan Organization for Heritage Languages (SOHL) over the summer of 2014, she gained a new appreciation for preserving heritage languages. SOHL works to keep over 70 heritage languages alive in Saskatchewan amid the dominance of English. Khelifa now feels more comfortable speaking Arabic and less fearful of making mistakes. She believes that losing one's native language means losing one's culture, so heritage languages should be maintained in Canada's multicultural society.

1. What SOHL Taught Me
Topics: Language Schools
"He said that if culture is a house, then language was the key to the
front door; to all the rooms inside. Without it, he said, you ended up
wayward, without a proper home or a legitimate identity."
- Khaled Hosseini, And The Mountains Echoed.
Let me start off by saying that prior to my interview, I did not know very much about SOHL, aside
from the fact that it funded the Islamic Arabic School in Saskatoon, where I worked as an Arabic and
Quranic teacher.
I did not know SOHL’s mandate was to keep languages alive, nor did I know that it was the only
organization of its kind in Saskatchewan. In fact, besides my functional Arabic, I did not know very
much about heritage languages at all.
My functional Arabic has a bit of a story. Arabic remains my first language, but English has become my
language of choice. I have lived in Canada for over 15 years, and have spoken little more than English
all the while. Even with my Arabic-speaking friends, and despite the constant efforts of our parents
who ordered us to converse in Arabic whenever possible, English continued to roll off my tongue; on
our occasional family visits to Algeria, my country of birth, where Arabic is one of the main
languages, English also had its own sneaky way of making it into our conversations. It is something of
a miracle really that I did not lose the language all together. More than anything, I think I was mostly
embarrassed for never speaking, reading, or writing as fluently in Arabic as I do in English. I took
Arabic throughout elementary school, and every now and then I might read or type in Arabic or try
and hold a proper conversation with someone in the language, but I remained fearful of getting too
comfortable with Arabic, as one might fear getting lost in the dark. For instance, when I was asked to
teach Arabic at the Islamic Arabic School in Saskatoon, the familiar discomfort that has come to
accompany my feelings for the language quickly crept up and I politely declined the offer. But, seeing
that despite my lack of ability, there were few others suitable for the job, I accepted the position,
albeit hesitantly, and decided I would have to learn along with my students.
Now fast forward to the summer of 2014; the summer I met SOHL. After four months of working with
the 70 plus schools that are a part of SOHL and seeing their struggle to keep their languages alive
amidst the massive and growing dominance of the English language, I felt truly blessed to know the
little Arabic I did, and I suddenly felt a little more protective of my mother tongue. I am not so
agonizingly annoyed when I have to type in Arabic now, and I don’t mind trying to read Arabic articles
or Facebook posts, even if it might take me twice as long as when they are in English. I don’t think I
am ready to start switching my English novels to Arabic ones just yet, but I have entertained the idea
on more than one occasion. I am more willing to speak in Arabic now, even if I might mispronounce
something every few words or completely blank out and have to restore to a half-Arabic, half-English
sentence to get by. I am alright with that now because I know the secret to language learning is in the
2 years | October 28, 2014
What SOHL Taught Me By Sahar Khelifa
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mistakes we make. Embarrassment should never serve as a barrier to your learning something new;
perhaps what is more embarrassing than making mistakes as you grow is refusing to grow in the first
place, so you won’t have to deal with the mistakes.
And so, I would advise anyone who might feel similarly tugged between two cultures and two
languages; tied to one by blood and the other by adoption: never lose sight of your native tongue
because to lose ones language is to lose ones culture, and in the pluralistic, multicultural country that
is Canada, we cannot afford to lose the cultures that make us multicultural. As a speaker of another
language, you are a champion; both as one who preserves a native heritage, and as one who embodies
the true meaning of the word Canadian.
Sahar Khelifa, worked as the summer Public Engagement Program Assistant at (SOHL) the
Saskatchewan Organization for Heritage Languages.
Comments
1 Comment Sort by
Natalie Julia Owl · University of Regina
Excellent article!
Unlike · Reply · 2 · Oct 28, 2014 6:39pm
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