Around the turn of the millennium the now famous football superstar Ronaldinho started to emerge as a talented player who fascinates millions of fans around the world with his moves and goals. This was not different in the Arab world. Arab football fans began to watch and enjoy all Ronaldinho matches. They followed all his news and even started to passionately debate whether he was better than Maradona and Zidane. There was only one problem. They were not sure how to pronounce his name. While some football commentators pronounced the 'h' in his name, others didn't. Instead, they pronounced it as people nowadays do, namely something close to 'Ronaldineo'.
Where did the initial wrong pronunciation come from? The answer is: English. Those who pronounced the 'h' in Ronaldinho did so under the influence of English - a language they have been bombarded with since their school years. While this constant bombardment has not really helped the vast majority of them master English in any meaningful way, it has nonetheless made sure that they see the world through glasses made in America or Britain. These glasses do not only distort the world beyond English, but they also prevent us from seeing it, to the extent that what is not on CNN or BBC automatically becomes something not worth knowing. In short, getting to know the world beyond English through English presents us with nothing more than incomplete and often distorted images of the world.
The world beyond English is vast, different and diverse. It cannot be experienced with English only.
If you are unconvinced and still believe that English is the way, ask any Brazilian to pronounce Ronaldinho as it is actually pronounced in Brazil. To your dismay, you will be surprised to find out that even your current pronunciation of your beloved superstar's name is wrong: in most of Brazil Ronaldinho is pronounced something like ‘Honawdginio’.
