Goal: Master immediate family members
This week, I meet with my language partners twice. We intensely covered family members. One partner drew up the family tree for me and the other orally went over pronunciation. I'll admit, this was a difficult task to master, as in the western language, for example, all aunts are aunts. In the Gujarati language, there are four different aunts! Mom's sister (masi), mom's brother's wife (mami), dad's sister (foi), and dad's brother's wife (kaki). This was the same for uncles, and grandparents. During the week, I was finally able to master these by making a digital album of my immediate family members on my laptop and pointing to them, and instead of calling them by their names (John), or English designation (uncle), I called them their specific Gujarati familial designation. This was extremely helpful and effective.
In addition to working on family members, we talked about culture in Gujarat. We talked mostly about the impact on women from arranged marriage, to how women and men are treated differently. I was really interested in this aspect since both of my language partners are women. As a transgender guy, I am intrigued to know that I would experience culture differently had I grown up in Gujarat where Pooja grew up. Here in the US, I was able to be myself, with few limitations from society. I most definitely wouldn't be pressured to marry anyone that I don't want. I am eager to understand more of the traditions of Gujarat such as dowries and the inner-workings of families, such as the fact that when a woman is married, she moves into the home of her husband's family and takes care of them. There are just a few examples of the rich cultural differences. This week was an exciting week and I am eager to learn more.
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