Quick learner, in any language

Amna Al Zaabi, the child of an Emirati man and an expatriate woman, believes women should be given the chance to pursue their dreams.

Amna Al Zaabi believes she inherited her skills as a linguist from her father, but she says listening is a good way to start learning any language. She now knows five of them. Delores Johnson / The NaShow more

ABU DHABI // Amna Al Zaabi prides herself on her ability to learn a language quickly – a gift she says she inherited from her father.

“I pick up languages pretty fast,” the 25-year-old Emirati employee of Aldar said. “If you throw me around Russians, just give me six months, I’ll be good at speaking their language.”

She speaks five languages: Arabic, English, Hindi, Tagalog and Japanese.

“My dad knew loads of languages as well, but the only languages we had in common were Arabic, English and Tagalog,” she said.

“I taught myself spoken and written Japanese. I usually start with the listening phase. My ears would get used to the language and it became easy to pronounce the words.”

The first two languages she spoke were Tagalog and English, learning Arabic at the age of seven. “Back then I understood Arabic and knew the Quran by heart but I could not communicate in Arabic. And every time I would come back from the Philippines, it would be worse,” she said.

“I would lose some vocabulary and start talking to my family in English.”

Her regular interaction with Indian expatriates at grocery shops, the laundromat and at restaurants in their neighbourhood, and her interest in Bollywood films, helped her to learn Hindi easily.

“My dad got me a nanny who was from Nepal but she was fluent in Hindi, and I was also into Bollywood movies,” she said.

While other Emiratis may not talk openly about being the child of an Emirati father and a foreign mother, she is proud of her Filipino bloodlines.

“I don’t want to sound negative but I kind of feel sorry for them because it says a lot about their self-esteem and confidence,” Ms Al Zaabi said. “Some of them were bullied as children and carried that around with them.

“Back then, Emirati men started marrying expats, especially Filipinos, who were typecast as housemaids. But I feel I’m very lucky that my mum is Filipino and she’s educated.”

Ms Al Zaabi’s parents separated when she was young and she lived with her father, who died in 2010.

“He’s not the typical Emirati man. I’m sure a lot of dads are a lot like him now, but back then they were different. My dad was very open-minded and I saw that when he was still with my mum.

“A lot of the Filipinas married to Emiratis would wear shayla and abaya, but my mum decided to keep her religion and he gave her that ultimate choice.”

So it came as no surprise when he supported his daughter in her career choice. She is a graduate of applied media and communications from the Higher Colleges of Technology in Abu Dhabi

“He was really keen that I got a good education,” Ms Al Zaabi said. “For him, it didn’t really matter what I chose as long as I would aim high.”

Her main interests are technology and computer science, but she later decided to shift to applied media and communications. “I was more inclined towards technology – information technology and computer science,” she said.

“When I went to college, I wanted to study IT. In our first year, we had to study both IT and business. But I felt out of place and would often ask my dad to explain things to me.”

In the second foundation year, a class called Careers introduced students to other subjects to help them decide their path.

A demonstration of a radio show piqued her interest. “Wow, I listened to it and I liked it,” she said.

“When I told my dad about it, he said ‘Very good, I have no issues with it but you might want to give business another thought’.”

She chose media over business. “My father said: ‘If that’s what you excel in, then go for it,’ and I did. First I wanted radio, then graphic design, and I later discovered that I loved everything about it – directing, filming and graphic designing.”

At Aldar, she manages the digital content of the company’s website, videos and archives, organises events and co-ordinates between departments.

“I’m proud that Emirati women are given the chance to pursue their dreams,” she said.

“You’ll find female Emirati ministers, doctors, and TV presenters and I think that’s very refreshing.”