The world celebrated International Mother Language Day on February 21. The dominance of the English language has meant Indian languages are often undervalued. However, that is beginning to change. Individuals tell us why and how they are learning their mother language
Image for representational purpose only. Photo: istock
For Chennai-based Archita Raghu, who was born and brought up in Bengaluru, learning to read and write Tamil always seemed elusive growing up. It is because her family never went beyond speaking the language, along with English and a bit of Kannada. While she can converse to some extent in Tamil, she was never able to achieve the level of fluency she hoped for. “It never seemed necessary to learn just one language properly as I would move through friends' houses where Kannada, Urdu or Telugu was spoken. While I picked up a few words of all these languages, I had never completely learned my mother tongue.”