All the species on earth has their own way of communicating with each other, but we humans have mastered the art of communicating with help of our advanced communication skills in the form of language. Across the globe, roughly 6500 spoken languages are used whereas in India 453 languages are being used by inhabitants. Though there are only 22 languages being acknowledged/used officially in India, our mother tongue plays a vital role in our lives.
With rapid urbanization and globalization, the English language has become essential for our younger generation in course curriculum, in fact in many parts of India and in many sections of Indian society people considered it as a status symbol if the child attends schooling in “English Medium School”. It is a requirement of the time where the academic scenario is competitive. However, at the same time, it is very important for us to teach the young kids our mother tongue.
Mother tongue never needed a book, pen, or formal setup. It comes with the flow and it articulate our emotions and expression to the core.
Connecting to origin: Mother tongue helps a child to connect to his/her origin. First to the parents, then siblings, extended families. In the process of growing up from a child to an adult, we all come across a time when we seek to know our ancestors, or native place and moreover “From where we actually came from”. Knowing mother tongue helps the child to deal with this part and makes more inquisitive to know about it.
Cultural Bond: Mother tongue is not just a language, but it has a cultural inheritance. If someone does not know the mother tongue, there is a high possibility of missing out our proverbs, songs and stories, which talks about our history. Because they are not documented, but passed by our grandparents and parents to us.
Evolving Thought Process: It is not just intelligence, but emotional aspects plays a vital role in child’s growth. Mother tongue helps in creating a bond with their own people, not only by mind but also by soul. It gives an understanding of the societal bond, culture, value system and moreover creates a base for adopting behavioral pattern that makes them home.
Sense of belongingness: As humans, we have a higher need of sense of belongingness. With knowledge of mother tongue, a comfort zone is created at mental level. The feeling of belongingness also means “The feeling of my own people and where I can fall back when needed” in an unspoken way.
Wider knowledge Bank: In growing up years, we read many books and it is not essential it is available in the regular official language. Many insightful documents/books are in our regional languages, which can be our mother tongue too. Learning mother tongue makes a child more insightful with access to various books/story books in regional language.
Mother tongue is not just a language; it is a thread of expressing your inner self, your real emotions without quoting with grammatical correctness. It is the ultimate tool to articulate your thoughts and being attached to your society and culture. In addition, it is a badge of knowing an additional language, which will definitely help throughout life.
Read Never Stop Learning
Amrita Nayak
( India )