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Minnesota is home to the nation's largest population of Somali immigrants. Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991, so these East African refugees have worked to make new lives in the Midwest, setting up mosques, businesses and schools and restaurants.
When 21-year-old Sadiya arrived in Minneapolis five years ago, she didn't speak a word of English. The only school she'd ever been to was a religious school called a Madrassa to learn the Koran. Life in Minnesota with its cold winters, surrounded by a language she didn't understand, was a shock. She wondered, does it get easier? Here is her story.
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Piece Description
Minnesota is home to the nation's largest population of Somali immigrants. Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991, so these East African refugees have worked to make new lives in the Midwest, setting up mosques, businesses and schools and restaurants.
When 21-year-old Sadiya arrived in Minneapolis five years ago, she didn't speak a word of English. The only school she'd ever been to was a religious school called a Madrassa to learn the Koran. Life in Minnesota with its cold winters, surrounded by a language she didn't understand, was a shock. She wondered, does it get easier? Here is her story.
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Intro and Outro
INTRO:Minnesota is home to the nation's largest population of Somali immigrants. Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991, so these East African refugees have worked to make their homes here, setting up mosques, businesses and schools and restaurants.
Our next Youth Radio Story takes us inside Minnesota's new Somali community, through the voice of one 21-year-old woman: Sadiya (sah-DEE-ya) Mohamed. When Sadiya arrived in Minneapolis five years ago, she didn't speak a word of English. The only school she'd ever been to was a religious school called a Madrassa to learn the Koran. Life in Minnesota with its cold winters, surrounded by a language she didn't understand, was a shock. She wondered, does it get easier? Here is her story:
Backannounce: Sadiya (sa-DEE-yah) Mohamed's story is part of MPR News' Youth Radio Series produced by Sasha Aslanian. Sadiya Mohamed was part of ThreeSixty Journalism, a youth journalism program based at the University of St. Thomas.
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James Reiss
Posted on May 05, 2010 at 08:48 PM | Permalink
Insha'Allah
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.