Mahreen Siddiqui is aware of how essential it’s to maintain her mom tongue alive at dwelling.
The mom of three says if her youngsters did not communicate Urdu, they would not be representing their tradition.
“I feel your mom tongue is at all times essential. And it needs to be essential for everybody,” she mentioned. “It would not matter what they communicate. I feel the true that means to that language is inside that language. You can’t translate it.”
Her daughter Anayah Hashmi is in Grade 5 at Regina’s Huda Faculty. The ten-year-old is studying Urdu at dwelling from her mother, dad and siblings, who all communicate Urdu along with English.
“They sort of educate me methods to communicate Urdu, however I’m not fluent in it,” she mentioned.
Her mom says it is actually essential to have the opportunity perceive others talking Urdu.
“For sake of argument, if my youngsters are at all times talking English, proper? They usually don’t have any option to talk with my very own individuals, they might not be acknowledged as their neighborhood, proper? They are going to be acknowledged extra as a Canadian than as a Pakistani Canadian,” Saddiqui mentioned. “So that is the distinction.”
Siddiqui and Hashmi are two of 1000’s of Saskatchewanians who communicate a mom tongue that isn’t one among Canada’s official languages.
Within the 2021 census, 81.7 per cent of individuals dwelling in Saskatchewan reported English as their mom tongue. Simply over one per cent reported French and nearly two per cent reported an Indigenous language as their main language at start.
The remainder of the inhabitants, about 15 per cent, reported different mom tongues. Information exhibits Tagalog is essentially the most prevalent of these languages, adopted by Mandarin, Arabic, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu.
The United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO), estimates that there are 8,324 languages, spoken or signed, world wide, with about 7,000 of them nonetheless in use. However the group says linguistic variety is beneath menace, with many languages disappearing.
The group has celebrated International Mother Tongue Language Day for 25 years to advertise the significance of cultural and linguistic variety.
Native languages are disappearing. That is why these Regina households insist on having their youngsters communicate and be taught of their mom tongue at dwelling.
Uzma Nawaid additionally is aware of how essential it’s to talk her mom tongue at dwelling. The Regina girl is initially from Pakistan. She lives together with her husband and two younger kids, alongside together with her personal mom, who solely speaks Urdu.
“I got here dwelling sooner or later and the youngsters knew one thing, and so they have been telling me about it. I used to be like, ‘How did you find out about it?’ After which they have been like, ‘Nani advised me about it,'” Nawaid mentioned.
The language has additionally helped the youngsters hook up with the historical past of their household and their tradition.
“They discovered so many issues that I discovered after I was younger,” she mentioned. “I really feel so proud about that, that they’re studying. And it is all as a result of they know Urdu. As a result of my [mother] would not know English, and so they know Urdu. So it is nice, and it is crucial for me.”
Analysis exhibits talking and studying in a single’s mom tongue has many benefits. It helps develop a private and cultural id, and helps strengthen household bonds by closing linguistic gaps. It additionally brings higher general literacy expertise and offers kids a robust foundation for studying extra languages.
Hameeda Bagum says having the ability to talk together with her grandchildren helps them to grasp her knowledge as an elder.
“If we communicate Urdu at dwelling, they’ll be taught an extra language which can be useful. It’ll additionally make it simpler for them to speak with us,” Bagum mentioned by means of an interpreter.
Bagum’s son-in-law Syed Fasih agrees. He’s initially from Pakistan and his first language is Urdu. He says he considers Urdu his kids’s first language as nicely.
Bagum believes studying further languages will enhance an individual’s confidence and add to their skillset. Analysis helps her view, and exhibits that individuals who communicate multiple language have improved comprehension and significant considering expertise, and higher job prospects sooner or later.
That confidence features a sense of belonging, in keeping with Mahreen Siddiqui.
“Language by itself, I feel it is a tradition. While you communicate one thing, you’re representing your self to belong to some tradition, proper?” she mentioned.
Zainab Kamboh runs a restaurant in Regina. The mother-of-one speaks Punjabi at dwelling and with the youngsters.
“English is there in fact, however I additionally communicate Urdu and Punjabi,” she mentioned by means of an interpreter.
Her daughter, Liaba Janjua, is a Grade 10 scholar at Luther School Excessive Faculty in Regina.
Her courses are in English, however she is grateful to have the ability to communicate Urdu and perceive some Punjabi as nicely.
“It makes it higher when you realize extra languages, particularly that of your mom tongue, to attach along with your neighborhood and to have the ability to join with members of the family that won’t know the language, or might not be as fluent in it,” she mentioned.
“It is crucial by way of connecting and getting together with individuals.”
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