Loosing Linguistic Identity in Delhi

Loosing Our Identity :

 

Recently I travelled to Delhi and by chance the day I reached, got an invite from my friend to attend Karnataka food mela, I was so happy to be part of it. Soon I got ready and travelled 25 kms to reach the venue. We could see a big board written Karnataka Sangha Delhi and took pictures of it and posted all over social media about Karnataka’s pride in national capital and  that too in Hindi speaking region.

We tasted some authentic Karnataka cuisine and  got a chance to meet and speak in North Karnataka Kannada dialect, Tulu and even in Konkani. It all just made my day. As I was passing by I heard baby crying “mom its spicy… too spicy … “ suddenly one more child asks in Hindi “Mamma Spicy ko Kannada main Kya Bolte Hai” (Mom what you call spicy in Kannada) that time I realised none of younger generation speaks in Kannada or Tulu or Konkani. They all know only Hindi and English. It was a big shock to me.

 

These parents don’t talk to their kids in their mother tongue because they think it's useless. To them international and so called National languages give their children a competitive edge and that's all that matters. I have even heard a few teachers advise parents to stop using their mother tongue at home to help their kids improve their performance at school.

 

I just felt, thanks to my mom today I can fluently read, write and speak in my mother tongue Konkani.

After all, language is the key to our culture and our roots. When children learn their mother tongue, they also learn more about where they came from and what their culture stands for.

One of the major challenges we face as parents living away from home is giving our kids access to the rich cultural heritage of our region, state or country. Many of us emigrate from our homes out of necessity -- better job opportunities, better lifestyle, better education for the kids. While we are busy making a living abroad or outside their linguistic territory, we forget the fact that our kids are growing up in a foreign land. There are so many things they do not learn. While many of us parents try our level best to inculcate our traditions and heritage in our children, others do not think that doing so is necessary.

Learning multiple languages has been proven to boost brain power... if that language happens to be their mother tongue, so much the better.

In fact, this advice was even doled out to the parents of a toddler who was going to play school. There's no doubt that this child would have learned English over time in school. But what about the mother tongue?

Here are some reasons why many parents don't speak to their kids in their mother tongue:

·         They think it will not do them any good in academics or in their work life later.

·         Some parents have a sense of inferiority about their cultural roots and don't want their child to learn a language they themselves see as being somehow "less than".

·         Some of them think it can help them learn English or Hindi at a very early age.

·         They simply do not see the point in teaching their mother tongue to their kids.

I beg to differ.

·         Your kids, especially when they are growing up other places will have every opportunity to pick up other  languages. They'll have that much sought-after competitive advantage and the necessary communication skills to thrive in their current environment. But there are also so many advantages to learning their mother tongue as well. They'll have a sense of rootedness and guess what, learning multiple languages, has been proven to boost brain power And if one of those languages happens to be their mother tongue, so much the better