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raunaq

@raunaq

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

one of the discussions happened today and therefore this made me to pose the following question. how important is it for your kids to know your mother tongue? with globalization era going on, do you think its important for a kid to know their own language, other than english and this situation is for people not living in their locals but who have moved out. if this topic has been discussed before then mods please close this topic.

Edited by raunaq - 18 years ago

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200467

Suspended

Posted: 18 years ago

I worry more about getting the culture and values right than the mother tongue. My kids can understand hindi just fine and speak it too...with a very cute accent though 😆 ....but it helps them tremendously when they visit India. They can actually communicate with their great grandparents with ease and elders back home are always appreciative that we made the effort to make sure they don't loose touch with their mother tingue. We still need to work on reading and writing hindi part but I am in no hurry for that as yet.

That said and done, I would like to say that any foreign language is a huge positive. If we can encourage them to learn french or spanish then why nor their mother tongue too? I think speaking their mother tongue keeps them in touch with their roots and culture better...just my pov here 😊

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YehTara, WohTara, SimTara

@simtara

Rocker

Posted: 18 years ago

Language is an intricate and inherent part of culture. As an immigrant who came to the US at a very young age, I find understanding and being able to converse in Hindi has been of great advantage to me.

Learning about a culture and actually understanding a culture are two very different things. I believe language plays a strong role in the understanding of a culture. There are certain messages, ideas and concepts that can only be conveyed 100% through the mother tongue. For example the concept of familial relationships. In Hindi we have a "label" for each and every relation we have and make. That, I feel, brings us closer and gives a stronger understanding of the meaning of relations. In contrast, English is rather limited in the concept of relations. It's all aunts, uncles, cousins and then the separation starts occuring with third cousin twice removed, etc.

Another example would be the concept of love. There are a limited number of words and expressions one can use in the English language when speaking of love. "I love you," "I really like you," "You mean the world to me," etc.. Yet in Hindi we have so many words just for the concept of love ... words that express varying degrees of love and the different relations attached to that emotion.

In the same way, I think religion, customs and traditions are better explained in our mother tongue. Many words carry a different meaning in their original form and a wholly different concept in the translated form.

Having been brought up in India and learnt Hindi, I felt I was at an advantage in several ways. First and foremost it was a part of my identity, something tangible I could grasp onto while considering and understanding who I am and where I come from. Secondly, it brought me closer to many people, relatives, friends and older "uncles and aunties" in the US. Knowing Hindi also helped me understand the culture I come from better and also helped me appreciate various aspects of it at a different degree.
Knowing Hindi also gave me a different perspective on life in a foreign country and allowed me to think in a different language which I feel lends a different depth or level of understanding. It also helped me grasp a foreign language (French) much more easily. Having grown up learning Hindi and English simultaneously, as well as Punjabi as a third language, I'd been accustomed to learning languages. Coming to America and picking up a foreign language was easier because my brain had already been trained to learn different conjugations, grammar, etc.

Knowing your mother tongue has other benefits. Chief benefit being you are able to converse with family and friends in a language much of the general public doesn't understand. While it may be annoying to some, it affords you the privacy in conversation which is sometimes absolutely neccesary.

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mittijalebi

@mittijalebi

Rocker

Posted: 18 years ago

i think learning your mother tongue is a great asset and very important. i am a canadian born individual and i speak extremely fluent punjabi.......i would say as good as my parents. i can read and write punjabi and hindi.

now i'm trying my level best to make sure that my kids learn our mother tongue as well.

learning your religion and culture is of course important but i believe that if you have a great understanding of your mother tongue you learn more about your religion and culture........sometimes things get lost in translation.

as well its beneficial when you go visit india.

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mcm226

@mcm226

Sparkler

+ 3

Posted: 18 years ago

Originally posted by: raunaq
one of the discussions happened today and therefore this made me to pose the following question. how important is it for your kids to know your mother tongue? with globalization era going on, do you think its important for a kid to know their own language, other than english and this situation is for people not living in their locals but who have moved out. if this topic has been discussed before then mods please close this topic.

to me its very imp,apni language,culture ko kabhi bhulna nahi chaahiye..........yeh parents pe depend karta hai ke wo apni mother tongue ko kitni importance dete hai,unko dekh-dekhkar hi bachha sikhta hai............at least itna to kar hi sakte hai ke ghar me mother tongue me hi baat kare taaki bache ko aadat pade n wo kabhi bhule nahi apni mother-tongue though accent thik nahi hota yaha ke bachho ka but its ok ...............at least India jaakar sabse easily converse to kar paayega bachha................

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Duha

@Duha

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

I think its very important to be able to read/write n speak ur mother tongue! i can only speak, when it comes to reading or writing up stuck! if i visit my homeland its so embarassing n i wish i was taught all this or actually took interest when i was younger!

Im british n English comes naturally to me - actually i prefer speaking english as im most comfortable with it! thankfully my mum speaks urdu so to communicate with her we have to speak urdu - i think if it wasnt for my mum no one in r home would speak urdu!

N hopefully when i have children id make sure both languages r spoken equally - buttt i feel english has to be given a higher priority as its spoken everywhere especially if ur future is living n a foreign country - but that doesnt mean kay gora mahol rahay, ur culture, religion language should also be included!!

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season915

@season915

Voyager

Posted: 18 years ago

I mainly grew up in India, so I know my Gujarati and Hindi very well. And, I can understand quite a bit of Sanskrit as well. 😎 I have made it a habit to read Guj and Hindi newspapers and magazines every other day.

But anyway, I think knowing your mother tongue is a very important aspect of knowing your culture. Everytime I go back home and converse in Gujarati, I feel a certain sense of belonging which tells me that yes, this is where I belong. When parents encourage their children to know Spanish and French, I feel very sad that some of them sideline their own languages. When I have children, I am going to make sure they know how to talk to their people in Gujarati.

And not knowing Hindi is just sad... You so can not enjoy Bollywood masala then. When Abhishek Bachchan scares the wits outta the court peoples in Guru, I was like 😍 about him. You so can not get the same effect with subtitles. So, just for the heck of wonerful Hindi flicks, please make your kiddos know Hindi. 😛

Edited by rutumodi915 - 18 years ago

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raunaq

@raunaq

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

Originally posted by: rutumodi915

And not knowing Hindi is just sad... You so can not enjoy Bollywood masala then. When Abhishek Bachchan scares the wits outta the court peoples in Guru, I was like 😍about him. You so can not get the same effect with subtitles. So, just for the heck of wonerful Hindi flicks, please make your kiddos know Hindi. 😛

i can understand this part. when i read the subtitles, its irks me becoz they can be so misleading. when i watch movies in other language, my friend translates it for me since the subtitle is not enough to get into the depth of meaning. so i do agree with this part of yours

Edited by raunaq - 18 years ago

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@mermaid_QT

Inactive

Posted: 18 years ago

Originally posted by: raunaq

i can understand this part. when i read the subtitles, its irks me becoz they can be so misleading. when i watch movies in other language, my friend translates it for me since the subtitle is not enough to get into the depth of meaning. so i do agree with this part of yours

😆 I love the subtitles to make fun of the whole thing.. speak about lost in translation.
I remeber once they called baby shower as baby wash 🤣
and I fell of my chair almost!

Nice posts everyone 👏👏.. I agree. It is very essential for children to know their mother tongue and few more languages too. It is a great asset to be multilingual. Learning them early possitively modulates certain aspect of analytical thinking skills :) - being multilingual has both social and physiological benefits :)
qt

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souro

@souro

Alumni

+ 2

Posted: 18 years ago

#10

I know you guys are talking about teaching one's mother tongue to their children but just wanted to ask, have you noticed how some people develop a funny accent while speaking their MT after living out for some time.😕 Just a few days ago I saw this bengali girl who had come over here in Mumbai for the induction training and guess what I heard her speaking in bengali with another guy with a funny li'l accent and sprinkled with hindi, and that too after just three weeks of staying out of home.😕 I won't speak about myself, as I've been out of my home for just seven years. Still, even if I continue in that way for another 50 years I still won't forget my MT and would definitely like for my future kids (i.e. if I get married in the first place 😛) to know Bengali.😊 Having presented one end of the extreme, I'd like to say that just today I met with a guy in our Co. meeting, he is not even bengali (only his mom is bengali) and has never stayed in Bengal in his 30 yrs, but as soon as he met me he started talking in bengali and was overjoyed to find someone with whom he can talk in bengali (because where he stays there're not many bengalis there). I feel really good when I meet such people who don't forget their mother tongue even after spending their whole life outside their motherland.😊

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