Episode 44: Language & Cultural Identity - Interview with Urmi Hossain
Jul 3, 2023
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Urmi Hossain, a polyglot, author, YouTuber, and woman empowering others, shares her experiences growing up in Italy with Bengali heritage, feeling between worlds. She discusses challenges moving to Montreal as a French speaker and her passion for Spanish. Urmi's personal story of self- and cultural identity and the role languages played in that is inspiring and empowering.
Embracing dual cultural identities and fostering acceptance and understanding is empowering.
Language learning can create connections and foster understanding between diverse cultures.
Deep dives
Embracing Dual Cultural Identity
Ormi Hossein, a polyglot author and YouTuber, shares her personal journey of growing up with Italian and Bengali heritage, feeling neither fully Italian nor fully Bengali. However, she comes to the realization that she doesn't have to choose between cultures and can identify as both Italian by birth and Bengali by blood. Ormi discusses her love for languages and her proficiency in 4.5 languages, including Bengali, Italian, English, French, and Spanish. She highlights the different accents and dialects she encountered during her travels in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, emphasizing the diversity of Spanish language. Ormi's personal story serves as an inspiration for embracing dual cultural identities and fostering acceptance and understanding.
Language Learning and Identity
Ormi shares how her language learning journey played a significant role in her self-discovery and cultural identity. She recounts her experiences learning English, French, German, and Spanish, both in school and as a hobby. Ormi explains how these languages helped her navigate different environments and shapes her identity as a polyglot. She also discusses the challenges she faced when moving to Canada and experiencing different accents and dialects, highlighting the importance of linguistic flexibility and adaptation. Ormi's passion for language learning and her willingness to embrace different cultures exemplify the empowering nature of language acquisition on personal identity.
Cultural Acceptance and Empowerment
Ormi reflects on her journey towards cultural acceptance and empowerment. Initially, she struggled with feeling torn between her Italian and Bengali heritage. However, she gradually came to embrace both cultures and decided to define her own identity. Ormi shares her experiences of being a third-culture kid and the challenges she encountered while navigating between different cultural expectations. She emphasizes the importance of accepting oneself and not letting others define her cultural identity. Through her work as an author, YouTuber, and blogger, Ormi seeks to inspire and empower others to embrace their unique cultural backgrounds and celebrate their individual identities.
Language Learning as a Means of Connection
Ormi discusses how language learning can create connections and foster understanding between cultures. She highlights the joy and excitement she experiences when using Spanish during her travels to Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Ormi emphasizes the importance of immersing oneself in different cultures and languages to truly appreciate their richness and diversity. Through her YouTube channel and blog, she aims to provide language learning tips and resources, while also interviewing language coaches and educators. Ormi's commitment to spreading the message of cultural inclusivity and language learning as a bridge between cultures makes her work valuable in promoting connections and understanding among diverse communities.
In this episode, I share a fascinating and wonderful chat I had with Urmi Hossain, a polyglot, author, YouTuber, and a woman empowering and inspiring others. Urmi shares her history of language learning, which began in childhood as she grew up in Italy with Bengali heritage. She tells of growing up in Sicily, speaking Bengali at home and Italian in the community and how she often felt in between worlds, neither fully Italian nor fully Bengali. Urmi takes us through her path toward realization that she doesn’t have to choose between cultures and which one she identifies with, and that, in fact, she is of both – Italian by birth and Bengali by blood.
In this chat, we get to hear about Urmi’s journey through other languages, as well, about the challenges she faced moving to Montreal as a French speaker, and about her passion for Spanish. You will hear the love for Spanish in her voice as she takes us through her travel experiences in Mexico and the Dominican Republic! It was such a pleasure to have this chat with Urmi and be given the honor of hearing her personal story of self- and cultural identity and the role languages have played in that. I hope you enjoy her stories as much as I did, and make sure you check out her work linked below.
Find Urmi's Work Here:
Book: Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth from Interracial Struggle
Blog: My Ways, a female-focused platform to empower girls and women to take control of every aspect of their lives
Youtube channel: Urmi Hossain, a channel about study methods for the CFA, career, language learning, and personal growth
Where to find me: Love, Joy, and Languages Blog
All podcast episodes can be found here.
Instagram: @love.joyandlanguages
Twitter: @LoveJoy_Lang
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