The Strength of Language And Its Value Relating to Culture

Language is an aspect of your culture and it is sad to see that many tend to forget their native language and find it useless.

Jaan hai to jahan hai. This is an old Hindi proverb that holds one of the most positive messages we can ever receive. It means, if you have life, you have the entire world. You can have anything at all for it is just the fact that you are living, and breathing in this world, that enables you to do wondrous things. This is just one of the many beliefs in my culture that have been passed down from generation to generation, along with its various beautiful parts. One such part is none other than the language – the mother tongue of my nation, India – Hindi.

Language

Speaking another language is an amazing thing, to be able to instantly understand a foreign tongue without so much as giving it a second thought? To be able to send secret messages to your friends in code, moving your pencil in elegant shapes that no one but the ones who truly get you can understand? Opening yourself up to a vast new library of knowledge, all accessible to those who simply know how to read what has been presented to you? All of these are basic things that every immigrant, every bi-lingual child, should know how to do, for it impacts your life and your world.

But we as a people are losing this. Our culture, our history, our language. And this is not okay. 

The Lack of Remembrance of Their True Origins

How many people in our country – the land of the immigrants, the birthplace of the new dream, the great “melting pot” – can fluently speak their native tongue? Even if they do speak it at home, how many of those proud citizens will without shame utilize their beautiful language outside of the safe walls of home, out in the public eye where anyone can see, hear, and judge it?

I can already tell you, the number is far too little. Why is this? Why have we grown so self-conscious about what is so completely normal where we come from? What makes it so that “english” is the default way of speaking so much that we are losing our heritage because of it?

In the United States, the people who speak English as their second language tend not to practice their native language. While this isn’t by any means everyone, it’s a fair enough amount. Many share the fear of not being able to “fit in”. They’re afraid of being judged harshly for what makes them unique – and in their own parts of the world – normal. And of course, then there’s the people who have been so far detached from their original roots that they simply don’t feel as if it’s important to retain the dialect that no one uses anyways.

Importance of Native Languages

People forget. We do speak our native languages, even if we are immigrants in America. Because it’s our language, and it’s a piece of our culture, our history. A piece of us. Immigrants come to America to build a better future for themselves, for their family, for their children. A path forward. How can you truly move towards the future when you don’t even know the past? Shouldn’t our beginnings be as important as our present?

In the United States, despite it being a mixture of a variety of races, cultures, and ethnicities, it is obvious to us in 2020 that the “dominant” language is English. That’s all fine and great… until the point comes where your original language begins to fade away.

This article here is to help convince everyone out there – immigrants and not – that sharing one’s beautiful language of origin is just as important as using English, and is something that should be cherished and preserved. Not lost to the winds of time. Our diversity is our future, and we need to understand that something as simple as language can be the key to keeping our lives rich.

Forgetting Roots

As more and more immigrants continue to assimilate to the standard ways of the United States, many are changing their speech as well. Though the very first couple of generations if immigrants may not have spoken English fluently, with each and every generation that level of fluency increases, just a bit. As this occurs, the usage of their native language dwindles and dwindles as the children begin to try their best to fit in with what was and still is considered the “majority.”

An article from Financial Times reports that for the grandchildren of immigrants from Asia, more than 90% of them spoke only English as their language. That leaves a mere 10% who brought the knowledge of their native language with them to this country, and in reality, less than that who actually passed it down to their descendents to keep it alive.

More recent studies show that even the immigrants who do speak their native language are opting to not teach their posterity, in an effort to help them better immerse themselves with the culture present in America.

A 2015 Pew study found that 97% of Spanish-speaking US immigrants spoke the language to their children. You may be thinking, that’s a good thing, right? So many people are having their language passed down. What’s the issue?

Well, the problem is that this number has decreased over the next couple of years, and will only continue to decline. This 97% fell to 71% in the next generation, and then to 49% by the third. With a difference of only two generations, the percentage plummeted a full 48%. I can only imagine how much lower that number would get by the 5th or 6th generation if there was even a number left at all.

The Need to Belong

Why are we starting to lose what makes us special? The answer is actually quite simple – the need to belong. As human beings, we want to be accepted by our peers, and thus, feel self-conscious doing anything out of the ordinary. And in an English-dominated country, speaking anything else hasn’t been normalized, despite the sheer amount of immigrants that actually reside here. 

Because it’s not normalized, many feel strange about speaking out loud in a different language, and the stares that they receive in return certainly wouldn’t help matters. I know even I’ve felt a little off-put by the couple of looks I get when I begin to speak in my native language while I’m at school and on the phone with my parents or something like that.  This is just one of the struggles that come with being someone who is bilingual in the United States.

Although being multilingual in the United States does bring certain advantages (being able to talk about people without them knowing what you’re saying, for one thing), there’s still something off-putting about it in a society such as ours. Author Richard Rodriguez discusses some of these points in his memoir, “Memoirs of a Bilingual Childhood” that I believe many immigrants such as myself can relate to. 

He accurately claims that even though you can be fully comfortable in both English and your native language, there still seems to be some form of an invisible barrier between the two cultural worlds.

Uncomfortable Obligations

An uncrossable line between the private comfort that is your first language, and the English that immigrants feel obligated to use in public. Because our personal language is something so private and unique to us, oftentimes we feel – consciously or even subconsciously- uncomfortable sharing something so precious from our homes with the outside world, for fear of being judged or frowned upon for something that is so naturally a part of us. 

And thus, thanks to these practices that are so normally ingrained into our actions, these non-English languages that we should be practicing slip through our fingers as our usage becomes more and more sparse. 

Take me, for example. I’m an immigrant to this country, and I moved here when I was three years old. Despite that, my parents have always made it a priority for me to know about my culture, and my language. It’s a part of me, just as much as English and America is.

I speak Hindi. I’ve been learning it since I was 4 years old and learned it alongside English. If you asked me what was my first and second language, I couldn’t tell you. I know both of them naturally and can read, write, and speak it completely fluently. Well, minus a few grammatical errors, but that goes for English too, as I’m sure many of you can relate.

But the catch is, to this day – meaning all 16 years of my existence – I haven’t met a single person my age who can do the same. And I don’t mean just Hindi – I mean any of their native languages. My friends who should have the knowledge of this just…don’t, saying it wasn’t a priority for them to learn.

Which I get, of course. And yet…you know English, don’t you? How is that any more important than your heritage? And then, of course, there’s the other side of the spectrum, where they fully know their language, yet refuse to speak it in public. Many of my friends are plagued with the self-consciousness that comes simply with being different.

Even my little sister is the exact same way, falling prey to this very mindset. She was born in America, and couldn’t be farther from me. She doesn’t see the importance of learning to read and write a language that isn’t English, claiming it to “have no point.” I disagree. Not only does learning and retaining your language keep you in touch with your heritage, but if you’re an immigrant split between countries like me, it makes you feel as though you’ve found the other half of your identity. And boy is that a feeling!

Feeling of Liberation

Let me tell you right now, there’s nothing more liberating than being able to have a full conversation with your friend in your native language as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. Which it should be. That feeling of “belonging” that we all look for? That’s where it is – that special bridge of connection with someone that feels natural and perfect and right.

This is the magic that learning your origin language provides. I’ve felt it, but just barely. This needs to change. More people need to connect to their culture. But most of all, we as citizens of America, the “great melting pot”, need to normalize this.

Too many people think that it’s “weird” that some teenagers know how to speak another language. When I’m taking a phone call from my parents, I go back to my native tongue.

There have been too many instances where kids have stopped in their tracks to stare at me as I’m speaking as if it’s something incredibly rare. They can’t help it, and I don’t blame them. The fault lies in the system, as the usage of any language other than English hasn’t been normalized yet, despite this country being built up from the ground by immigrants. 

While people don’t normally mean to be patronizing or condescending when they ask me to “say something in Hindi!”, what they need to understand is that I’m not some sort of freak in a zoo. I’m a person who speaks a language as valid as English. I don’t speak Hindi to entertain others. I feel as though far too often, these kinds of issues are laughed off or dismissed, and this isn’t okay. Our languages shouldn’t be strange or rare in the eyes of others. They are just as real and meant to be respected.

Isn’t it funny that we’re supposed to be a country of diversity? And yet we shy away from that very thing enough that even speaking anything other than English is viewed as foreign and unnatural. This issue has gone to the extent that people feel the need to hide it for their own safety! How is any of this supporting the liberty and freedom of speech and so-called “diversity” that America is supposed to represent?

An Issue not Only in The USA

It’s not fair of me to point the finger to the United States. Lately, even in India – the country where Hindi is the national mother tongue – kids are forgetting their own languages. They continue to speak English, trying to show off their knowledge of the “modern” language.

However, it’s all at the expense of their culture, even in their own country. How has it become that English is the only “true” language of the modern world? What of our history? What of the thousands of years of rich culture? We need to change this stubborn mindset, our generation. Only we can make a difference.

This is because even the adults of the previous generation are starting to forget their language as well. Now, while some people are trying to re-learn their native language in college, it isn’t as effective as practicing it from your youth and immersing yourself in it naturally. After all, can you imagine being completely fluent and comfortable with the language you currently learn at school? It would feel strange and foreign, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t be able to truly understand it, and the culture, as well as your primary language – English.

Similarly, these adult students would be unable to completely and totally grasp the age-old beliefs that encircle every word. An article on HuffPost talks about the unique perception of the Hindi word “kal.” It means tomorrow – but also yesterday! Strange, huh? It actually showcases the Indian belief of rebirth, a vital part of the foundation of our culture. Without a concept like this in English, “Americanized” brains can’t appreciate the cultural value of the special words within the language itself.

Like Rimjhim – the joy of rain, or Raabta – a connection with another’s soul. Every language has its share of gems. You need to put in the effort to find them, and understand them for all they’re worth. This is a message to everyone. Preserve your language and be proud of who you are.

After all, we can never truly move forward without understanding where we come from.

How many people in our country – the land of the immigrants, the birthplace of the new dream, the great “melting pot” – can fluently speak their native tongue? Even if they do speak it at home, how many of those proud citizens will without shame utilize their beautiful language outside of the safe walls of home, out in the public eye where anyone can see, hear, and judge it?

How many people in our country – the land of the immigrants, the birthplace of the new dream, the great “melting pot” – can fluently speak their native tongue? Even if they do speak it at home, how many of those proud citizens will without shame utilize their beautiful language outside of the safe walls of home, out in the public eye where anyone can see, hear, and judge it?

How many people in our country – the land of the immigrants, the birthplace of the new dream, the great “melting pot” – can fluently speak their native tongue? Even if they do speak it at home, how many of those proud citizens will without shame utilize their beautiful language outside of the safe walls of home, out in the public eye where anyone can see, hear, and judge it?

How many people in our country – the land of the immigrants, the birthplace of the new dream, the great “melting pot” – can fluently speak their native tongue? Even if they do speak it at home, how many of those proud citizens will without shame utilize their beautiful language outside of the safe walls of home, out in the public eye where anyone can see, hear, and judge it?

How many people in our country – the land of the immigrants, the birthplace of the new dream, the great “melting pot” – can fluently speak their native tongue? Even if they do speak it at home, how many of those proud citizens will without shame utilize their beautiful language outside of the safe walls of home, out in the public eye where anyone can see, hear, and judge it?