Assamese : My Language, My Dream

(This post was sent to us by Rantu Moni Deka. Rantu works as a Block Resource Person with Pratham in the Kamrup district of Assam. He loves creating Android apps and has also created some for the organization he works with. His poetry compilation ‘Eta Xopunar Opomrityo’ has been published in Assamese.).

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“You cannot dream or think in second language”

If you want to learn another language then you have to know your mother language first. One can have two or more native languages. Many scholars have given definitions of ‘native language’ based on common usage as the emotional relation of the speaker towards the language, and even its dominance in relation to the environment. However, all of three criteria lack precision. For many children whose home language differs from the official state language, it can be transferred to the second language. So, for example, if your child has developed good reading skills in Assamese, she is likely to be able to apply these skills when reading English. For this it helps if you encourage your child to read good fiction and non-fiction in her own language. Similarly, the skills of being able to plan out a piece of writing or develop an argument in a persuasive essay can be applied in the second language once they have been learned the first.

Pratham Books’ StoryWeaver gave me a platform to do something for the lovely kids I work with. Learning depends on the ability to read. When children have access to enjoyable, enriching stories in their own languages, the transformation in their reading skills are visible. The sheer joy of reading stories that are engaging and capture their imagination can make children become readers. This is what made me try to give the children something in their own language.

I love my mother language the most. It’s in my heart. Often, I feel very irritated when someone makes a mistake in Assamese spelling (even when I read road side banners). My friends always ask me why I only find the mistakes. I mostly speak Assamese and it is my mother tongue. But quite honestly, I often say words that Assamese never owned, then I ignore the mix up with other languages.

Nowadays it hurts that some people dislike their native language and are shy to speak in it. I guess I’m wondering how rare it is for people to actually dislike speaking the language they grew up with merely because it is so effortless to do so. I am one of these people and none of my friends seem to understand (even those who love languages). I wouldn’t mind if I never used English again in everyday conversation 

Some of us, educators, while introducing a language (generally English in the pre-primary years), follow the mother tongue approach. Children are introduced to the language not through reading and writing but how a mother tongue is introduced at home. Through casual conversations, simple songs ~ have you observed the blissful interactions between a mother and her child…then you’ll understand what I mean. It’s not just the language, it’s the way the language is introduced which also makes one’s mother tongue even more special.

I have translated many stories in Assamese on StoryWeaver. The stories translated in mother languages are the ones that the children can understand the most. Assam government school students have access to libraries in school, but the books are not always suitable for them. The children of course are not interested in them. But they loved StoryWeaver stories which were translated into Assamese. The children feel so happy with the colorful illustrations and a story that can be easily understood by them. If Pratham Books’ story books are given to them in their mother language in their school library and also in a village library where the children meet together – then my dream will come true. Because of my busy schedule I can’t do more translations in Assamese, but I encourage all to try it and also try my best to translate as much as I can. With a dream similar to that of Pratham Books …. ‘an Assamese book in every child’s hand’.