Spread throughout the foreign language department are students who grew up speaking the language they are enrolled in. These “native speakers” come in to the program with varying degrees of proficiency. Although some might view native speakers as taking an easy route to a high grade, many have reasons other than their GPA in mind.
Bakri Abushouk, a sophomore studying first year college, minors in middle east studies. Abushouk was born in Al Hasahisa, Sudan and grew up speaking a local dialect of Arabic.
“I can understand and speak very well, but what I didn’t learn was the reading and writing,” Abushouk said.
His family moved to North Carolina in 1998 where Abushouk learned English in school while his family spoke a Sudanese Arabic at home.
“In Sudan, no one was very educated,” Abushouk said. “We spoke slang.”
Since starting in middle east studies at NC State, Abushouk has been working on the modern standard Arabic, or Fossha, that is the literary standard for Arabic and can help in understanding ancient texts like the Quran.
“I’m not learning it to get an A, I’m learning this language because it is my mother’s language.” Abushouk said. “I want to be able to read and understand the Quran.”
Abushouk said the language comes relatively easy for him because of his prior experience, but the writing can still be challenging.
Professor Bethany Farag of the middle east studies program teaches Arabic classes. She says students with a background in the language, known as heritage students in the program, can be a valuable aid to the classroom.
“Heritage students bring a lot of relevant cultural background to the class and can give other students help in things like pronunciation,” Farag said.
While some students enter with just speaking proficiency, others enroll in a language they are fully fluent in. Lisa Kremer, a junior studying communications and concentrating in public relations, takes advanced German classes. Born in Solingen, Germany, Kremer grew up with German as her first language. Moving throughout Europe and America growing up, she was fluent in English and German upon entering NC State.
“I take German because I love the community and really enjoy the poetry and literature,” Kremer said.
Kremer has played a role in the language’s community by tutoring at local high schools and attending German festivals in town. She is also in the running for president of NC State’s Delta Phi Alpha, the German honor society.
Inside the classroom, Kremer says she will share her experiences with the class to give an inside perspective to the material they learn. Lutz Kube, a German teaching assistant professor at NC State, taught Kremer in his New German Cinema class.
“Experienced speakers can play a positive role in the class,” Lutz said. “Lisa was an active student in the class and she could help other students in some language aspects.”
In most classes, native speakers can be a resource for the rest of the class with their cultural knowledge and experience with the language. Although Kremer says that in some cases, she did not always feel welcomed as a native speaker.
“I’ve had professors who ignore me in class because I already know the language,” Kremer said.
Lutz says that in his classes, sometimes other students would be intimidated by a native speaker due to their language competency. Though it may be intimidating to some at first, Lutz still believes in engaging experienced speakers in his classes.
“I think the advantages of a native speaker outweigh disadvantages,” Lutz said.
Students with language experience have various reasons to enroll in language classes. Some are like Abushouk and want to perfect formal usage and writing skills, whereas others are proficient and seek to engage in the culture of the language.
“I’m not going to lie, for me it is easy, but that’s not why I take German,” Kremer said. “If you’re a native speaker, you can use your knowledge to help others improve.”
