‘Mother tongue’ is described as one’s ‘native language’ – the ‘language one grew up with’ and is ‘spoken by one’s ancestors’. However, there is an increasing number of people that are growing up without learning their mother tongue. This is largely because individuals move to another country, which they now consider to be their home, i.e. an adopted country. Nonetheless, irrespective of where your path may lead you, it’s always advisable to study your mother tongue. Why? Let’s find out…
Communication
There is only one place to begin and this is with the various communication benefits that are associated with studying your mother tongue, even in an adopted country. It is likely you will want to visit your country of origin in the future and knowing the language will undoubtedly help. Moreover, learning your mother tongue can help you to maintain a good relationship with certain family members, especially grandparents. You will be able to broaden your interpersonal relationship network.
Identity
Learning your mother tongue is an important way of identifying with your culture. Many individuals who neglect their mother tongue later admit that they regret doing so, as they feel distant from the place they are from. Speaking your native language will allow you to explore your place of origin further, your historical roots and cultural traditions. It will make you proud of where you are from, which everyone should be.
Opportunities
Children who learn their mother tongue will benefit from a greater scope of opportunities in the future. Being multi-lingual is highly sought after nowadays. They will automatically have an advantage over others and will be able to pursue a career as an interpreter, translator or something similar if they so wish. It also helps if you’re taking a school counselling masters online, an accounting degree, or anything else, as you open up the door to more employment options. Moreover, it will make it easier for your child to pick up other languages in the future. The more languages you learn, the more enriched you become.
When you carefully consider each point that has been expanded on in this post, you aptly see why it is important to study your mother tongue in your adopted country. There are lots of benefits to be gained by doing so. Not only will it make you proud of where you are from and ensure you have a strong identity, but you will be able to develop interpersonal relationships and you will benefit from greater opportunities in the future as well.
There are various different ways parents can help to make sure that their children do not lose their mother tongue. Firstly, you can teach them at home – speak to them in their mother tongue and give them various writing and reading activities. Aside from this, explore whether there are other families in the local community that are from the same place as you. You can then meet these families and encourage play groups between the children where they speak in their mother tongue. And of course, if possible, visit your home country – this will help enormously.
We are happy to present this collaborative post to offer valuable information to our readers.