I’m in a quandary about this impressive production. On one hand, it describes a young Somali woman now living in Minneapolis, striving to make her way in America. After hearing about boatloads—literally—of Indian-Ocean pirates from that hellhole in the horn of Africa, Somalia, we need to hear the voice of Minnesota Public Radio News’s Youth Radio Series Sadiya Mohamed reciting the verses of Stephen Dunn and Theodore Roethke to qualify for prizes for her English language skills. So much depends upon Sadiya’s ability to pronounce a line of poetry, such as “I learn by going where I have to go.”

What gets me here is Sadiya’s earnestness, her wish to distinguish herself in our nation of innumerable gifts, the United States—versus her difficulties with American English. At times she slips and slides pronouncing our notorious tongue twister of a language. We take English for granted. Compared to Spanish or Russian, in which pronunciation is far more standardized, however, English is a humdinger to speak, especially as a second language.

As a result, Sadiya doesn’t win a poetry-read-aloud contest—despite her English teacher’s loving words of encouragement. Worse, portions of Sadiya’s monologue aren’t as Linda-Wertheimer pristine as we’ve come to expect when we tune into public radio for our daily dose of Truth.