International Mother Language Day

Ya you are true..I see many cases in my family too..the grandchildren are really losing the bond with grandparents..Somewhere there is always a gap..even that was the reason for am being very strict in conversing in our language at home and make my kid talk to their grand parents atleast once a week..

 

When two literate Tamils meet they always talk in English despite all that hoopla about Mother Tamil. How many people all over the country stand in queues to get forms from English medium schools to admit their kids.? Will they show the same enthusiasm for a good quality scholl that uses the vernacular as the medium of education. UNESCO studies have shown that kids learn faster when they are taught in languages they speak at home. But this is only on paper and this idea has not been propagated widely. Japan has progressed despite the fact that a lot of people there don't know English and are educated in their mother tongue. English is spreading only now in Japan and that too not at the expense of the local tongue.

 

Sometime back there was a short film titled'Tamil ini mella saagum'conveying the agony of a grandfather visiting US seeing his grandchildren converse in English.In US , California, New Jersey are places where we find a handsome number of Tamil congregation and some areas in California look just like mini Madras.
In other places ,children while in school talk only in English and they don't have opportunities to talk in mother tongue.Now a days grandmas are much more progressive and have gone virtual.Even if the grandson speaks in tamil, grandmas reply in English.
English has established its place in schools and colleges and it may be harmful to think of changing it now.
I have invariably seen that people who go on lecturing about significance of mother tongue in public, invariably have their wards admitted in English medium schools.Though I have a great liking for Tamil, my children studied in English medium.Many brilliant kids who score max marks in subjects even fail in mother tongue.

jayasala 42

 

Tamils can be proud of the fact that they revolted against the removal of English from India in the mid 1960's. In the Tamil Nation, that was called "indee agitation". If not for that, and the consequence of the Union government keeping English Education, the IT revolution, and the mass export of IT labor all over the world could not have come about.

Yes.. Japan has done it with their own language; but then they were not under the rule of non-japanese speakers, trying to impose their language on them. Japanese pay a heavy price for their international trade in having to translate their trade materials into various languages, as well as paying high salaries to those few who can speak the various firangi tongues.

In Japan, many big companies require their employees to have a certain level of English proficiency. No new hires without a certain TOEIC score. The e-commerce firm rakuten is forcing their employees in Japan to speak only in English. This is very similar to how convent schools in Malaysia would have girls speak only in English within the school. And whenever a girl speaks Manglish, or say "lah", there is a fine. Not a big one, but then it adds up.

Rakuten forges ahead in English | The Japan Times

 

I have heard that the Japanese Consulate in Chennai is offering free classes. The Royal family is supposedly fond of the Tamilians, especially because of their art, music, and temples. When they were newly weds, they went to Madras. And a few years ago, they went back there again. I saw TV programs of their visit to Kalashetra, and listening to Veena and enjoying Dance performance.
Japanese is likely not as difficult as Tamil.

 

I make my D learn Tamil for I want her to enjoy the things I do. Its ok if she does not want to write 'venbas' and 'alabedais' but she must atleast enjoy 'aananda yaazhai'.. It will be really a pity not to pass on something that we really know she will enjoy..

P.S.Came back to edit the song i wanted my D to enjoy. Tks Nonya!

 

I went and looked at the English meaning of the lyrics... wow...are those hidden meanings for what I think it is all about ?

Vaan Varuvaan Song Lyrics English Meaning Kaatru Veliyidai | Tamil Song Lyrics