Multi Lingual

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Scottish Dance Competition at The Forks.
Pic: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
Speaking more than one language gives you an extra pair of eyes to see the world outside your arrondissement, canton or village.  It’s a plus, not a minus.

It enables you to join the fun when France arrives home hoisting the FIFA World Cup.  It allows you to say congratulations when Germany honours Angelique Kerber for bringing home the 2018 Wimbledon’s Women Singles’ title after defeating Serena Williams.
It helps you smile when people make jokes in Hindi or Yoruba in a public place or shock them with your reaction when they call you names.  Your music selection becomes wider.  Food choices become as illustrious as the ocean seabed with all that colour.

You are not irritated by surnames because you can place them in a geo-political and cultural space.  You might not like the politics of a particular country but you understand both sides of the political debate.
Most of all, you don’t feel inferior and say to other Canadians, Americans or Australians:

‘Go back to your country.’
By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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