Significant Literacy Moments

By Durre Sameen

  • Born and first words heard are The Procolamation of Oneness of God and the words of Azaan(Call to prayer)

    I was born in a Muslim Family, in the city of Lahore. As a custom the very first words said a baby hears are the procolamation of the Oneness of God and the words of Azaan(Call to prayer). Since it is a custom in the Muslim world that the first words a baby hears are what may be he or she never realizes but they leave a lasting impression, the arabic words are used.

  • When two years old heard verses of Holy Quran

    Since a baby is born he or she stays at home for a little while. Thats how he she learns language and basic words. I remember my mother singing the verses of the Holy Quran in my ears while making me sleep. I still remember the rhythm and even though i couldnt pronounce words properly i could very well follow the rhthym.

  • Learning counting from my caretaker...

    It is a custom in a Pakistani culture that people who could afford a caretaker have it and they take care of a child and are with them for the entire day. Same way i remember my mother had a girl aged 13 for me to play with and talk and learn. I remember I learned counting in Urdu Language from her.She hadnt got any proper educationa nd couldnt read or write. She tauht me how to count, using the pet parrots i had.

  • Learning Arabic from my Grandmother

    I didnt go to school until age six. I used to live in a little city called Gujrawala and there werent any girls schools. Hence my mother made me live with my grandmother who taught me the characters of Arabic. I remember she taught me how to grab a pencil properly and how each character is prunounced.

  • Learning the Urdu Language

    Since i was in a small city there werent any English schools. I did myfirst grade from a school that could only teach the national language of teh country;Urdu. I learned from the charaters and used to mix up arabic with urdu a lot due to similar characters.

  • Learning abc at the age of nine when moving to a bigger city

    We finally moved to Lahore, a major city of Pakistan. I remember feeling left out on the first day as the children in second grade could read and write almost big sentences and i didnt even know the alphabets. However because of my bilingual skills and talkative nature i quickly learned by observing and listening and asking.

  • Learning to speak ENglish Language in summer vacations

    I could write and read English very well, but was always scared to speak and embarass myself. My cousin vistied us from United States and all she knew was English language. In order to make her feel comfortable i spoke English and mbecame much more literate in the language...

  • translating for a foreign student in grade 8 made me very literate...

    I remember that i learned by speaking and communitng to a foreign student who came to Pakistan and lived for almost two years. By speaking with her and teaching her the local language Urdu i learned a lot more

  • Visiting library for the first time

    I remember thsi was the year when i visited the library for the first time. I remember wanting to take out all the books home and our teacher telling us we could only borrow one at a time...Spending thsoe two hours made me feel illterate and literate in so many ways...

  • Writing for college magazine...

    I remember passing my GRE exam with flying colors and the school editor aksing me to write an article for the school magazine..I felt proud and became very confident on my english writing and reading skills.