February 21 marks International Mother Language Day, a day dedicated to promoting linguistic and cultural diversity while raising awareness about the importance of preserving native languages.
Language is more than just a means of communication; it is a reflection of history, identity, and culture. A mother language, the first language a person learns from birth, shapes the way individuals think, express themselves, and connect with their heritage. It carries the stories of ancestors, traditions, and values that define communities.
However, for many second- and third-generation immigrants, English or another dominant language often becomes their primary language, making their ancestral tongue feel more like a foreign language than a mother tongue. In a world where time is a luxury and skills are acquired based on necessity, the question arises: how does learning one's native language fit into this equation? What value does it hold beyond simple communication?
According to Dr Sahana Bajpaie, Senior teaching fellow in South Asian studies at School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, SOAS South Asia Institute, one’s mother tongue holds unique knowledge and ways of thinking, helping to preserve different perspectives and forms of expression. “As a Bengali language educator at SOAS for 12 years and a mother of a Half Indian (Bengali) and Half British daughter, I have observed that these linguistic practices foster a counter-hegemonic discourse, enabling, especially our heritage students in East London to access and engage with ontologically diverse worldviews that resist monolingual homogenisation”, she said.
For Priya Aggarwal-Shah, Founder and director of PREACH INCLUSION, learning her mother tongue was a labour of love. In a LinkedIn post that has gained much traction, she explains why learning and preserving her mother language was important to her stating, “I hated going to Gujarati school when I was young and how my accent had that 'Indian twang'! But I later realised how important it was to speak, read, and write Gujarati to communicate with family in India. It's helped me create meaningful connections with my cousins and grandparents, despite the distance.
“For my mother, her mother tongue has been a fundamental part of her job. Working in a post office in Harrow, where the population is approximately 40% South Asian, she's been able to support diverse customer needs through communicating in different languages.”
Adding about the importance of mother language, she said, “Languages are more than just words, they form part of and contribute to mannerisms; they signpost people back to villages and communities, and they get chopped and changed over time - my Gujarati is a mish-mash of Swahili with my parents' East African roots!”
Ask Dr Bajpaie’s perspective on why second-third generation immigrants should work to build a foundation in their mother tongue, she’ll tell you how it helps develop important thinking skills, improves brain flexibility, and strengthens academic abilities. “This process facilitates an enriched engagement with the extensive literary and philosophical canon embedded in ancestral traditions, thereby equipping students with a unique intellectual toolkit that augments their navigational capacity within a multifaceted and multicultural society.”
Learning one's mother tongue, even when it is not a language of daily use, fosters a deeper connection to cultural roots, enhances cognitive flexibility, and strengthens personal identity. In Dr Bajpaie opinion, the process of acquiring and mastering one’s mother tongue is inextricably linked to the formation of a robust, multidimensional identity.
She said, “Engagement with Bengali, for instance, not only anchors individuals in a continuum of historical and cultural narratives but also serves as a critical vector for self-realisation in a diasporic context. For our heritage students in East London, this linguistic immersion fosters a dialectical negotiation of identity—synthesising ancestral legacies with contemporary lived experiences - and thereby reinforces their agency within an increasingly pluralistic socio-cultural landscape.”
In a fast-paced world where practicality often dictates learning choices, mastering one's native language is not just about utility—it is about preserving identity, understanding history, and ensuring that cultural heritage is not lost. The challenge, then, is to make language learning accessible and meaningful, ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from the richness of their linguistic heritage.
