One of the major problems people face when they move to a new place or a new country is the language barrier. But then I feel like they're able to cope because the moment the locals realize you're not from there, they try their best to make things easier for you, either by maybe speaking the little broken English they know themselves or making hand gestures that could help you get what you want.
But what happens when you happen to be from that same place but just don't know how to speak the local language? That is an entirely different case because no one feels sorry for you (because they feel you should know the language), and you just feel embarrassed every time you find yourself in a situation where you can't understand what is being said to you but have to pretend like you do because you're supposed to, seeing how it is your language.
Well, in Nigeria, my country, we mainly have three kinds of languages: the English language, pidgin English, and then we have the ethnic groups with their own unique kind of language. So each ethnic group has different languages that they speak.
I'm from the Igbo tribe, so technically it means that I should be able to hear and speak Igbo fluently. But unfortunately (and trust me when I say that this hurts me), I can't. Well, I do hear the language to an extent because my parents did talk to us using Igbo language as kids, although they also mostly used English language.
But ever since I traveled down to the east, something that didn't use to be a problem suddenly became a huge one. And this was because almost everyone here was mainly communicating using the Igbo language, most especially the locals. So whenever I went to buy something, they would talk to me in Igbo while I replied with pidgin English because some of them could understand that properly.
But then there are those people who only communicate using the Igbo language and expect you to communicate back with the same language. Those are the people I dread the most because the moment they realize you can't speak the language, the next question they ask is, Where are you from?
A question I'm very familiar with because the moment they realize I'm from the same state as them, they start to ask questions, using the same Igbo language, questions about why I can't speak the language, where I grew up, and all that, which is crazy because you just found out I can't speak the language, yet you still expect me to answer those questions using the same language we both just confirmed that I can't speak.
Anyway, I do know it's a shameful thing not being able to speak the language of where I'm from, and I've been trying to teach myself. I've just been too embarrassed to ask for help from anyone because this is something I should know.
