Mother Language Day

Happy International Mother Language Day!

In Teochew:

bho2ghe2 母語 “mother language / tongue”

bho2ghe2 rig8 母語日 “mother language day”

Pupils in Singapore (where I grew up) get an upside-down understanding of the term “mother tongue”, because in school it is the language they are told to learn (in addition to English) based on what ‘race’ is registered on their birth certificate. In most of the world, “mother tongue” is simply the language that one knows the best, which for most people is also the language they speak at home.

Mother Language Day is intended to remind us that many people around the world can’t get an education in their mother tongue or a language they speak at home. Many languages are also disappearing or endangered because they are not being passed on to the next generation.

Regardless of what you feel your own mother language is, we hope that you will treasure it and have plenty of opportunities to speak it!

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Posted on 2021-02-21 00:00:00 +0000