As the title indicates, this article maps the phases of awareness of the writer as a subject of language learning and acquisition. It begins with the acquisition of a first language and proceeds to offer an account of the learning of additional languages. As these learnings accumulate, identity becomes problematised. In particular, the article explores issues of problematic subject formation in encounters with English. These issues include conflicts with an Islamic belief system, expected deference to a particular version of the Western literacy canon and deciding on an appropriate stance viz-a-viz the imperialism of globalizing English.