This is directed mainly towards Pakistanis living in the Middle East. I have come across people on this forum who were born and brought up in an Arab country or have been living there for several years, yet they don’t speak Arabic. I find this very odd. How is this possible?
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
I’d like to direct this to the Hispanics/Latinos living here as well.
er wait…they can’t respond here. oh well.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
Browsing my Facebook, I can testify they ALL, even those who moved to middle east a week ago, know at least two words:
Mabrook
Ramadhan
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
those people mostly live in a society within a society. they don’t have too much interaction with the local people. i think local Arabs don’t speak English either. a majority member of desi community in the ME is illiterate expats. they mostly deal with their own people. there is no need to learn the local language.
same is true with Italian, Portuguese, Latinos, south and central Americans. a good number of them hardly speak English .
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
Those living in Saudi , some of them are able to speak arabic.
The problem is with those living in the rest of the Gulf ! Every community lives a pretty secluded life from the Arabs , who have their “own” areas, their “own” acitivities, they dont mingle with the masses ..
Plus arabic speaking isnt really much needed because at the shops it mostly pathans or indians speaking urdu , at the administrative offices , the arabs are speaking Urdu or English ! Most Pakistani’s like to have their kids go to English, Indian or Pakistani schools ..
So really there is no way to learn Arabic unless one makes an effort for it. In Saudi, many Pakistani’s learn it because they deal with Arabs day in and day out, arabic is spoken in markets, offices, schools etc .. Saudi arabs even mingle with other communities, all my Saudi cousins can speak it .. none of my family or relatives from Dubai can !
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
This is what confuses me too, but about Indians.
Oh you are Muslim and live in Hyderabad but cannot speak Telgu? Did you ever think, hmmmm what is this language 80% of the people around me are speaking?
And what about Indians who don’t speak Hindi? Do they ever go hmmm, look at this language that a good majority in the country speaks. Maybe, I should learn a few words.
Yes, yes I know, there is no real benefit to learning hindi, Telgu, Tamil, whatever unless you want to watch movies. As long as you know English, that is all that matters.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
Once when going to the US with my in-laws (who lived in Kuwait until the 1990s), the US border immigration guy was a Moroccan immigrant to the USA who gave my in-laws a hard time about living in Kuwait for 30 years and not learning arabic!
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
if 90% pakistanis living in the west can speak english.
if 90% pakistanis living in middle east can not speak arabic.
That is BAD indication of plight of Pakistanis living in middle east.
if out have 90% 20% 0r 30% CAN speak English, but don’t know Arabic, those are just disrespect full bad eggs in middle east.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
My father, born and raised in Hyderabad was fluent in Urdu, HIndi & Telegu, including reading and writing. Same goes with this siblings, and all my other family members who did not immigrate to Pakistan after partition.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
even funnier is when you meet south indian muslims from places like chennai, mysore, pune.. speaking hindi with thick regional accents, and claiming their mother tongue is urdu. like really pal..
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
Do the ones who are born and brought up there not learn it in school? 
I’ve seen supposedly ‘stupid’ people (footballers, models etc) who’ve moved to the UK not speaking English manage to pick up enough to do interviews, press conferences and so on within a year or two..
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
That’s just mean. The hispanics can get by without learning it, so there just isn’t enough of an incentive to learn it.
To the OP. Why can’t non-Sindhis in Karachi not speak Sindhi? Because they can survive, heck flourish, despite not speaking or understanding any. I sure as hell never felt the need to learn the language. Us immigrants outnumber the Sindhi speaking natives, so it’s the Sindhis who have to learn the lingua franca Urdu instead.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
Because English is the language in UK, and US. In the US unless you want to segregate yourself and do business with only your kind, then you can get by without knowing English. Anything else, you have to know English. Plus there is a desire to learn English by most people so that they can be part of society. Society itself in Western countries is very open and accepting.
Just from my experience in Saudi, the education system is separate for locals and non-locals. Non-locals are not required to learn Arabic. Locals go to their own public schools which are primarily Arabic and teach English as a subject. Everyone else is on their own. There are lots of private schools due to this. These schools adapt either the US, UK or some European country’s syllabus. Most of these schools are really expensive, and often school fees are part of a salary and benefit package offered to a foreigner. If you read expat forums, you will see people talking about this.
There are Pakistani and Indian embassy schools as well. Pakistani school can be either English medium or Urdu medium, and prepares students for the Pakistani education system. There is a huge difference in cost between the Pakistani school and one of those fancy international schools. Attending one of those American or British private schools is a matter of pride for many people. Not everyone can afford these schools, and not all Pakistanis are making the big dollars over there to afford this education.
Now getting to the point, you can live in any of these middle eastern countries and live in your own bubble, and never interact with any local. My experience is from Saudi, I bet in Dubai or Doha you can go the entire time without even encountering a local (that’s a joke!) At work and outside of work, even the locals will speak in English with you (or not speak with you at all).
It’s not exactly an integrated society that you are used to in UK. Locals lead their own life, expats lead their own.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
I meant they can’t respond here because…this is a Pakistani forum. Just like I don’t regularly (or ever actually) browse Hispanic-themed forums, I wouldn’t expect them to either.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
i guess language is harder than you think to learn for me especially] . If these people see no use in it and have little educational support in learning the language they are less likely to learn it or if they intend not to stay in the country for a long time.
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
my huby has been in UAE for almost 10 years now he can understand n speak Arabic very well, but honestly speaking I have been here in UAE for 5 years I hardly find any need of Arabic, all taxi drivers are either Indians or paki pathan bhai so Urdu n English works wth them, sweapers are mostly bangli so again Urdu n English works . maids , shopkeepers ,waiters are Philippines so English works.
English is the first language in all schools and nursaries
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
p
Double like. When we used to live in Pakistani dominated area..near Pakistan international school. I used to play cricket and soccer with fellow Pakistani students at that time. And all our neighbors were Pakistanis. Therefore, i understand arabic but can’t speak. I used to know lil..but i forgot..
Re: How can you live in a country and not speak its language?
I meant asking them why they can’t speak English was kinda mean. But I guess you didn’t mean any offence.
The most preposterous thing I’ve heard yet is that Hispanics can speak English but they chose not to. Why would they do that? It’s not like not speaking it does them any good.