By Samantha Tshibanda
This Fall we will be publishing a series of spotlight articles about multilingual students and faculty at DU. These articles are based on interviews that Dr. Kamila Kinyon and a group of multilingual students conducted about interviewees’ lived experiences, including continuing connection to heritage languages, role as writers and teachers at DU, and thoughts about multilingual and multicultural identity. This project is funded by a Faculty Research Fund Grant awarded to Dr. Kinyon for 2023-25. We welcome this opportunity to celebrate DU’s multilingual community.
Monica grew up in Kenya, surrounded by a wide variety of languages. Kenya is a multilingual country where people primarily speak English, Swahili, and their native language. Monica’s first tongue is Luo, although she also speaks Swahili and English proficiently. She explains: “I’m pretty fluent in all of them. I would say 100% fluent in Luo, Swahili, and English.” She explains that in Kenya it is normal for people to mix languages which is quite popular among the youth who speak a mix of languages called Sheng. This mix combines components from different native languages.
Monica’s official schooling introduced her to English at a young age. Kenya’s educational system requires English as the primary language of instruction, which helped greatly with her fluency. She discusses how “while I was growing up in school we had specific days to speak different languages. So, like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you could speak English, and then, probably Thursday, Friday, you’d have to speak Swahili.” Although this switching could be confusing at times, it ensured that students became proficient in both languages. As Monica states: “It’s decided for you. Today, you have to speak Swahili. Tomorrow, you have to speak English.” Monica had to adjust to only using English in the United States after leaving Kenya, which was a change from the multilingual interactions she was used to there. Despite this, her good background in English from her schooling made her transition easier. She states that while she didn’t face any big challenges, the experience was unique in that she could no longer mix languages during her daily discussions.
Monica emphasizes the benefits of multilingualism, particularly in transitioning to new countries and educational systems. Her fluency in English facilitated her integration into American society and academic settings. Additionally, her ability to teach Swahili here at The University of Denver gave her the opportunity to share her culture.
Language is deeply tied to Monica’s cultural identity. Although she currently thinks primarily in English, she spent her early years thinking in Swahili. This transition shows her life phases and locations from her childhood in Kenya to her current residence in the United States.