'Mother language is like mother's milk': Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan

Somajiguda: Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday equated learning in mother tongue in initial years of childhood to giving mother's milk to the new-born baby. Since both will have immense positive and vibrating effect on the well-being of the children in their entire life. She stated that respecting, loving and promoting mother language is nothing but respecting and loving our own mother.

The Governor was participating as the chief guest at the International Mother Language Day, organized by the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapally, and Desiya Chintanai Kaghagam.

Highlighting the importance of learning in the mother tongue in the childhood, she said that research has concluded that a child's brain has tremendous scope for absorption in its formative years and learning through the mother tongue will immensely help children to grasp imagine, retain better. "In case of mother tongue, first we develop the competence by listening and express our feelings through own words.

Afterwards we learn to read and write. This ideal sequence is not possible to maintain while learning the other language, wherein we first learn to read and write and their other things", she said. She stressed that there is no alternative to mother tongue. "It is paining me to know that some youngsters are not able to speak correctly either in their mother tongue or in English. The precise reason for this is non-imparting of learning in mother tongue in the initial years.

If children are taught in their mother tongue during the initial years, they could be able to learn the other languages quite easily.'

She said that the languages are the most powerful instrument of preserving and developing tangible and intangible heritage, and the effort to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will contribute to linguistic diversity and multilingual education.

She appreciated the organizers for celebrating International Mother Language Day like this as the celebrations like this will help in reducing the extinction of languages and promote the utility and spread of linguistic diversity and in turn has an immense potential to contribute for the Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

The International Mother Language Day was organized by the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapally, and Desiya Chintanai Kaghagam. Prof. M. Selvam, Ph.D, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathidasan University, Dr. G. Gopinath, Registrar i/c, Bharathidasan Univerity, Thiru. Ma. Ko. Chi. Rajendran, State Organising Secretary, Desiya Chinthanai Kazhagam, were among others who spoke on the occasion.