Feb 15, 2021
Hebah Nigm takes us on her journey growing up in an Egyptian
immigrant family in Vienna,
Austria, and learning to speak 6 languages fluently by age 23. She
explains how her passion for
language learning developed through her interest in other cultures
and world travel. She
reflects on her own identity, being torn between cultures, and not
being fully accepted in either
Austria or Egypt. By contrast, she reflects on the stability and
consistency of her Muslim
identity, and her ability to connect with people across cultures,
borders and languages through
Islam. She then reflects on her international travels to Turkey,
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ceuta in
North Africa, Finland, Switzerland, Canada and the U.S. She shares
on her safety precautions,
the importance of travel planning, and provides tips for other
Muslim women travelers. Hebah
then talks about foreign language learning and why it’s important
to begin with a self-
assessment to understand what type of language learner you are. She
explains the importance
of exposing yourself to the language as much as possible and gives
tips on how to refine your
accent by carefully listening to the sounds, intonation and melody
of the language. And, finally,
she talks about her YouTube channel, “Hebah’s Rollercoaster”, where
she shares language-
learning tips, insights from her world travels, and reflections on
race, gender and her
Muslim identity. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE AT:
www.TheMaverickShow.com