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| The symbol of mother language in Bangladesh which represent the blood that was shed to protect the mother language in 1952 in Bangladesh |
International Mother Language
Day 2012 (A short view)
Mother language or Tongue:
The language we all speak when we born or as we grow up, the language we share
our first expression. From Dictionary.com, “the language first
learned by a person; native language”. We all share our thought best in mother
language, our pain, our love, our hatred- exfoliates in mother language. I also
believe this is the best languages to learn and communicate. The knowledge that
is hard to teach in other language can be easily taught by mother tongue.
Mother language create image of the word in one’s heart. If someone has to
learn some knowledge in a different language rather than their mother tongue it
is hard to translate and gather the visualization – a lot of time is being
wasted. Our experience tells us knowledge is best learned when anyone can
imagine it, visualize it. So knowledge is best shared or learned in their mother
language.
This world is full of languages. There are
almost 6900 [1] spoken languages in the world. Canada is one of the diverse countries
in the world and with diverse amount of language. French and English are the Canadian
official language. In 2006,
98% of the population can speak one or both official languages. In addition,
English or French is spoken at least regularly at home by 94% of Canadians and
most often at home for 89% of the population, sometimes in combination with a
non-official language. [2]. Canada is also home to a rich variety of indigenous
languages that are spoken nowhere else. There are 11 Aboriginal language groups
in Canada, made up of more than
65 distinct languages and dialects. [3] Data gathered from the 2006
census showed that nearly all of the 60-plus aboriginal languages spoken in
Canada are endangered, with only Cree and Ojibwa among First Nations, and
Inuktitut - the language spoken by Inuit - proving strong enough to sustain
themselves in a country dominated by English or French speakers. [4] Two of
Canada's territories give official status to native languages. In Nunavut, Inuktitut
and Inuinnaqtun are official languages alongside the national languages of
English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in territorial
government. A Statistics Canada report issued in 2008 showed that between 2001
and 2006, the number of people speaking Haida, Tlingit and Malecite dropped by
about 30 per cent each. Last February, speaking on the occasion of
International Mother Language Day, a UN-backed celebration of indigenous languages
around the world, AFN chief Shawn A-in-chat Atleo sounded an alarm about the
"precarious position" of many of Canada's aboriginal languages.[5]
I
just want to say on the day of the mother language day, in order to save Canada’s
vast cultures, specially the native people of the Canada and their unique
languages; we need to start more initiative towards spreading the languages.
Libraries can hold events to spread the knowledge of languages to the local
community. Canada government can declare a day in Canada to popularize international
mother language day and create more awareness.
A
suggestion found on the Web: http://motherlanguageday.com/index.html
[4] b
c
Gordon, Raymond G Jr. (2005)
(Web Version online by SIL International,formerly known as the Summer Institute
of Linguistics), Ethnologue:
Languages of the world (15 ed.), Dallas, TX: SIL International, ISBN 1-55671-159-X, retrieved 2009-11-16
[5]http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/First+Nations+seek+official+status+languages/6178991/story.html
