English is not the measure of intelligent mind

Speaking good English is not the measure of intelligent mind and sharp brain. English is only a language, like Runyankore, Lugbara and Luo. Nothing about it is so special, nothing about it makes anybody have sense.

Modern children don’t speak their mother tongue. They are always meet dificulties in life, a good example is singer Navio aka Dan Kigozi, he got issues in his music career. There are issues he will never put accross to common man in Uganda simply because he cannot speak his mother tongue.

There are guys out there you tell, “enshekuro’ (pounding motor) “Ekinnu” in Luganda, but they will remain agape!

Mother tongue shaming.  You live in a bother most times. For instance,  you attend a friend’s aunt’s impromptu birthday get-together; an intimate setting with most of guests gathered in the living room. Everyone is conversing in vernacular except you and, soon enough, the aunt realises you don’t understand what they are saying.

Guess what happens, they begin chastising you. As everyone seat back quietly, probably dumbfounded by the tirade, they disparage you for using a Kinyankore name and say it is dangerous to live in Uganda and not speak your native tongue.

The shame can be so bad that you will go through a period where you avoid introducing yourself with a Kinyankore name.

This shaming also belies the fact that many people, wish they did speak their mother tongue! There are people who think that local languages are second class and that speaking English indicates that you have a superior IQ.

Most children born abroad and those growing up in urban areas they speak English only, and then end up speaking it at home too. Parents do not intend to teach them their native tongues, and when they return to their upcountry homes, they realise the gravity of their mistake in not making sure they should have picked it up when they were younger.

They try to enrol them for lessons and, as adults, they try learning local languages again on several occasions, but they have always struggled. They still cannot speak it, but not for want of trying.

Because of this gap, children have always felt like a part of their identity is missing. They also hate it whenever they are unable to have a proper conversation with their grandparents and learn more about them and their history while they are alive. The language gap block their relationship, and forming a close bond.

“Recently, I have realised that there is more to this feeling. Our languages connect us, and not knowing your mother tongue can ostracise you and make you feel like an outsider. I have often felt like I don’t fit in, like I am not part of the “village” in many ways,” reveals one of the victims.

People’s stories of how they ended up not learning their mother tongue vary, but based on her experience, she advises all parents to teach their kids their native languages if they know them. The children may resist, but they will thank you later.

Any language is valuable. Languages open doors. They get you welcomed among strangers and connect people in a foreign land. They help you lower the price when haggling. “I have seen family members and friends benefit in a myriad of ways from being able to speak their mother tongue as I listen longingly,” she says.