“Beta, Chalo aajao”. I told my daughter today. A second later, I noticed many eyes were looking at me as if I was talking something alien or something terrible. I was NOT speaking English and that what caught everyone’s attention. I was a threat to the society it seemed.
I saw the girl in a short bright orange dress, by her looks she looked like originally from India or Nepal, looked at me through the mirror at an angle. Then the lady cleaning the floor shared a glance with me and immediately looked away to get unnoticed.
This was all because I used my native language Hindi. I was not able to make it up to them how dare I use a language other than English.
This is not surprising that they were expecting too much in terms of communication from a modern mother and daughter duo. It all lies in the culture today. The expectation is rising but for me, the choice is also mine only. I prefer my mother tongue over any alien language unless it’s for someone who doesn’t understand it.
Language is language. What is the big deal about speaking in a language which no one speaks in your home? Sticking to one’s native language is a matter of pride.
Languages are a communication source and that’s it.
No language is superior or shows the status of any person and that’s the only truth.
I love to see that all Arabic locals here prefer speaking and communicating in the same local Arabic language and they are infact proud of it. They do not want to impress anyone. This is UAE. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are almost as good as any other developed cities in the globe. The Emirates are full of foreign expatriates who have no clues about Arabic.
Teaching my little one our mother tongue and still respecting all other languages is my priority.
How would you raise a multilingual kid?
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