Language barriers, connecting with people, and self-discovery

I’m Samira Aicha and I’m currently working as an underwriting assistant at Liberty.

Language barriers

Originally from Cameroon, I came to the UK in 2011 with little to no understanding of the English language. As my first language is French, there was a language barrier that made it very difficult for me to connect with people, especially when making friends at school. This meant that I had to put double the effort into studying the language as well as doing the best I could to keep up with schoolwork. Coming from a totally different country meant that I had to learn a new culture, which was challenging but made me open my mind to a new world.

It was quite a painful and hard journey for me because I couldn’t really express how I felt or voice my mind the way I wanted to, but it was with great help of many lovely people I have met through my journey until now that I can say I am very much comfortable in the new world that I am in. Still having a French accent even after 13 years of living in the UK is quite funny to me! I guess you can never really leave your roots, which is not a bad thing!

Though I had to leave behind my family and friends back home, I have never forgotten the memories we created together. It’s easy to forget about your true self when you have to create another idea of yours, but I truly believe that it’s still in you. It’s very important for us to stay true to our original self, remember where we come from, and be proud of it.

Connecting with people

As someone who truly wants to break the cultural barrier and learn other people’s languages and cultures, I believe that connecting with people through languages is such a great privilege and this shapes who we are as a person. This is one of the reasons why I decided to open an exchange language community at Liberty, where we can learn through each other and make more connections! From creating a platform to find language buddies within Liberty to sharing tips on learning languages, this community is a space for opening doors to new relationships and expanding one’s knowledge of languages.

I had to go through many challenges to be where I am today and I can say that I’m proud of myself. That’s what has shaped me and made me a tough warrior. Like my mum has always said to me, “don’t let your failures defeat you”. She has always taught me to start back up on my feet and keep fighting, keep trying. My mum is a very strong hearted woman with lots of love to give and she is someone I look up to, so I owe her a lot of respect. 

Self discovery

Learning different cultures and also learning about the world are things that I really look forward to do, so I am very excited to travel more and find out more about myself! I enjoy writing my experiences in my little diary book and reading back memories. I think our purpose in life, for everyone if I may say, is to find ourselves in this world. And once we have done that, I believe we will truly be happy.