Post #2: The Importance of your First Language

From experience, being raised with, and balancing more than one language has been increasingly difficult. In my efforts to keep up with a language that is not my own, I would sometimes forget to take care of my native language, something which is particularly important if you no longer live in your native country. Depending on your native language and the country you have moved to, you may have to go the extra mile to keep up with your native language. In my opinion, maintaining the skill of speaking your mother tongue is extremely important, as it is a critical part of your identity. In this post, I aim to discuss and argue my position on the issue of the importance of a person’s home language parallel to Tan’s essay as I feel it is the concept that most associates to me.

Native language establishes links to your family and native community. If not maintained, a language barrier will be created and how you value of your culture and heritage will also decrease. Other than just a form of communication between you and your culture, your native language is also a form of intimacy. In Tan's essay, her skill to properly communicate with her mom in Chinese, on the other hand still being able to perfectly communicate in her second language, I believe, created a sort of emotional connection with her mother that she would not have gotten if her native language was not as good. Her observations of how her mothers possibilities in life were limited as a result of low respect from people made Tan come to realization of the significance of language and dialect, which  

I could defiantly identify with this as I feel as if thee are certain ways of expressing thoughts and describing concepts in Arabic, my mother tongue, that cannot be directly translated or understood in English. If I was to not be able to communicate in this language of intimacy my country and I, my relationship with my direct and distant family or even my native community would be significantly different. Personally, I have not had any major problems with language barriers between me and my Sudanese community. I have had some trouble learning new concepts to do with the Sudanese-Arabic language as all languages throughout the world are constantly evolving overtime.I have eye-witnessed several language barrier effects on other Sudanese children though and it was obvious that the emotional connection between them and the Sudanese community was weaker that strong native speakers. It was also interesting to see how their perceptions and values of our culture also was weaker than other children as the language barrier caused them to not acknowledge many of the aspects to do with my culture such as customs and traditions. 

Other than the links your first language has with your culture and surroundings, your first language 

Work Cited:

 http://www.idra.org/IDRA_Newsletter/January_2000_Bilingual_Education/Why_is_it_Important_to_Maintain_the_Native_Language?/