In our household, we mainly speak English. However, my parents knew it was very important for us to learn Arabic as it is our mother tongue. For this reason, we were sent to study in the Government school and were encouraged alot to go out in the neighbourhood to mingle and play with the other local kids. 

My parents' efforts paid off with my siblings as they are fluent in Arabic to this day. Unfortunately, as a child, I was rather resistant towards learning Arabic and preferred English more. So it comes as no surprise that I was overjoyed when my parents decided to send me to a boarding school in India, after I finished from the 6th grade here. I was so glad to leave Arabic behind, embrace an education in English and even learn Hindi from scratch.

I only truly realized my folly when I started working in Bahrain back in 2006. My career path is Customer Service. So I had to converse with my customers in Arabic. It was at the moment I felt the utmost regret for not embracing my native language as a child. Nonetheless, I decided to change that by relearning the language again. I am so grateful that my fellow Bahraini colleagues were so supportive and kind enough to help me improve. 

Thankfully, I improved alot but still have a long way to go. The methods I used to learn was listening to Arabic music and the news on the radio and I encouraged my colleagues and friends to speak to me only in Arabic.

Though I know just enough Arabic to do my job and go through my day-to-life, I faced the biggest hurdles when I had any errands with Ministries and Muncipality. Back then, the local government staff were sympathetic and helped me translate anything I didn't understand as I muddled along. Even with the new generation of young Bahrainis working in Governement entities, most of them are polite and helpful.

However, in the last few years, I noticed a very sad change in the mentality of some the new lot of young Bahrainis. They have become rather nationalist, self-entitled and look down on other languages. It was on two or three occasions that I came across this behavior on my errands in the Ministries a couple of months ago.

I went to the Ministry of Notarization to complete some paper work and was directed to the Land Registration Bureau. They provided me with the directions there but when I did not understand some words they used, I noticed a subtle shift in their behavior when they explained a second time. I could see that contempt in their eyes but decided to ignore it.

At the Land Registration Bureau, I asked the lady there for help in translating some words I didn't understand on the form I was filling out. She very haughtily tells me, "You are Bahraini and should know your native language." It would have been rather easy for me to tell her to mind her own beeswax and do her job, but I decided to take the high road by apologizing for my poor Arabic and requested her assistance again. But she shot back at me, "You are Bahraini. You should know Arabic. Figure it out on your own." Luckily, I somehow did figure it out and finished the paperwork. However, I left that place with a bad taste in my mouth.

In the Arab world, we Bahrainis are renowned for our politeness, courteousness, good manners, compassion and going out of our way to help others. To me, that is the true essence of being Bahraini. I found these qualities lacking in these individuals. They represent the image of Bahrain and they do put the rest of us in a bad light with their awful attitude.

Some of you may ask me why I didn't I just report them through the Government feedback app Tawasul. My answer is what is the point? Even if they are reprimanded or questioned about it, people like that will always be in denial and think they did nothing wrong. In my opinion, they are a lost cause.

My advice, though, to my fellow countrymen and women reading this and facing a similar plight as mine is to please be proud of the Arabic language and consider it a treasure dearest to your heart. Make sure to not only fluently know the local dialects but also the Modern Standard Arabic. It is our native tongue that makes truly appreciate our culture and tradition; as well as to keep it alive and pass it on to the next generation.

To the expats, you may live here for a year or maybe your entire lives but I urge you to at least try to learn the basics of Arabic. This will help you in conversations and when you have any errands in the Ministries. Though most locals will be glad to help you out if you face difficulty in translations, there are a few bad eggs I noticed who take a sadistic pleasure in humiliating and intimatidating expats when they don't understand Arabic. 

If you have a local friend or a document clearance agent to help you out with these things, good for you. But the whole point is to be independent. You will face this same hurdle whether you are in Bahrain, Germany, Japan or Russia. It is very handy to know the native language to get around.

I wish you all good luck, pray you always experience the wonderful qualities of us locals and hope you never meet the bad eggs.