The Family

During the sahur at the masjid this morning, Arina and I was seated next to a family. Undoubtedly there was the mother, probably the eldest child around 20+, 2 boys between the ages 13 and 10 and a little girl probably the age of 5. While eating, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on the family's conversation. The funny thing was that I could only make out a few words. I peeked and saw that they were very much Malaysians. At first I thought it was in a malay dialect I couldn't comprehend. But as I listen a little longer, I realized it. I looked at Arina and realized that she was listening too. Her eyebrows furrowed, but as we exchanged looks, she smiled and mouthed "MashaAllah...". I smiled and we continued eating in silence.

They were talking as if in their own world, and making jokes and laughing. All in Arabic. Very fluent arabic! How remarkable!

After we cleared our plates and walked towards the wudhu' area, Arina said to me "I conclude that they lived in Egypt and they came back here for the holidays." I nodded- that was probably the most acceptable reason. How else could they be so fluent? But as we walked, I noted the mother in the purple hijab. Thinking "You'll only ever get the answer when you ask" (a personal principle), I made a silent vow that I would find her and ask her.

Before subuh prayers started, I spied her and her girls walking towards the wudhu area. They parted ways and the mother and the youngest daughter approached a lady to probably have a chat. The mother eyed me and I smiled, gesturing that I wanted to talk to her. She signaled for me to wait and so I sat next to them. After having finished the conversation, the mother approached me and asked who I was.

My name is Alia, I introduced myself.

Ah, how can I help you?

Well, I was sitting next to you during sahur. I'm so sorry I couldn't help but listen to your family's conversation. My friend and I were so amazed to hear your children speak in fluent Arabic. How was it that they were able to speak so well? Did you live abroad?

She smiled knowingly, perhaps all too familiar with such a question. My husband studied abroad previously in Jordan. So when we had our children, they grew up with Arabic. When we came back to Malaysia, we schooled them in an international Arabic school. And when they grew up, arabic was their main language of communication. When their younger siblings were born, they picked up the language from their older siblings.

Wow...  I smiled in awe.

She laughed, and said: The kids are delighted that they have a language that other people can't really understand as much as them. To be fluent in a language, you have to practice it often.

Those were her parting words. I thanked her, shook her hand and sat back next to Arina in saff.

I smiled in reminiscence. I understand well when she talks about her kids being able to speak in 'their own language'. When I look at her kids, they were really close and it reminds me of my family. When we came back from Oman, we only ever conversed in English. And we didn't mix so much with other people. Not because they couldn't speak in English, but because we couldn't speak much Malay. Though that's probably that's not the case with them...

MashaAllah, as Arina and I discussed about Arabic and the amazing family, I thought how awesome it is to be able to speak in Arabic so fluently. I lived 5 years in an Arabic country and spent another 5 years having Arabic classes, but not actually picking up and practicing the language.

InsyaAllah, I'm endeavoring to learn Arabic as much as I can!

Note: Conversation was in Malay, translated to English for the convenience of the writer.