Have you ever come across a person who doesn't speak his / her mother tongue and wondered why ? Well ... I have .... and now have found convincing answers too.
After coming to the US, one of my first observations was that, the kids born to Indian parents usually did not speak their mother tongue. (they understood, but wouldn't converse in mother tongue). They insisted on continuing the conversation in "English". I had seen this in India as well ... if a kid as young as 3-4years replied in "English", I could see the pride in the face of parents. But this practice is more strong in the US, I realised. After living here for sometime now and seeing my little one growing, I have realised why this is the case.
I am sure all of us agree that "Language gets polished when you speak more often". Its just not true to just spoken languages .... its true to Computer languages as well. You gain command over language when spoken/used often. So kids in the US are exposed to English all the time ... be it in school, with friends and even in grocery store. They realise pretty early in their life that their parents understand English. They also realise that their mother tongue sounds different than what the others around them are communicating in. Its amazing how early in their life they figure these things out.
The fact that even the parents friends circle may not necessarily consist of people speaking the same mother tongue justs adds to their exposure to English.
Picture this: Some one speaks to you in a language you are quite comfortable, other than your mother tongue.... say English. You would never reply back in your mother tongue ... you'd reply in English. The assumption in the above situation is that the other person speaks your mother tongue too. The same holds good with kids too.
All this does not mean that the kids do not know their mother tongue .... they very much do and are quite comfortable with it too. Sometimes, it takes the parents to go some extra miles to ensure the kids to speak in eir mother tongue.
Atleast I will try my best that my kid is comfortable with my mother tongue "Kannada"
7 comments:
Good going. I personally think that it is the parents' responsibility to make sure that the child speaks in the mother tongue. English, they will anyway learn, but the same cannot be said of the mother tongue esp while living outside your own country.
Cheers :)
Oh I could write an entire post on this subject :) Perhaps I should (hmmm....?)I take pride in the fact that my son speaks excellent kannada. Like Shruthi says (and it is no surprise that we agree on this matter) we cannot escape English. But if parents are determined, kids will learn their mother tongue wherever they live and are that much richer for it. Good for you Pridera, you want to teach your daughter kannada. She will grow up and thank you for it!
Shruthi,
Totally agree ... parents are reponsible to a large extent in shapin the kid.
Anu,
You sure should take pride that you son speaks Kannada ... I have seen almost everyother kid here not speaking. Congrats to you ! I hope I can talk with the same pride after the next few years.
Jai Karnataka !!!
I will teach my kids Chinese because few years from now, half the world will have chinese people ;) So, chinese will be more spoken language around the globe.
just kidding :D
Interesting and thought provoking article. The same theory explains why we speak in Kannada with our cousins, even though it is not our "mane maathu". It sounds so odd when your sister's friend V speaks the "mane maathu" with her husband. It makes me feel as if they belong to the previous generation. I know it is wrong on my part to feel so, but can't help it.
I am really not sure how kids of Chinese origin manage to speak Mandarin. My previous manager was of Chinese origin, but had never been to China. Nevertheless, he could read, write and speak Mandarin.
Roshan,
I'd probably want to get some tips with your chinese manager :)
Hey just visited your site from Cantaloupe's and guess what! I did a post on kids speaking mother tongue very recently too:)
I totally agree with you on this.....its the parents job to make sure the kids speak their mother tongue. I want my Sunu to speak fluent kannada too...please give me any tips thats helpful.
Post a Comment