16:37 Gulf News: We are limiting the diversity of languages by not giving enough importance to indigenous languages.
16:39 Sudha Kathuria: I strongly agree as our root to communication is derived from our mother tongue and this was our first step into the world of languages. Therefore, learning a new language and forgetting your own is like making new friends and forgetting your old ones.
16:41 Fred Salmorin: I agree that at this point in time, almost everyone is living in fast growing cities where the Western culture has influenced everyone to speak in English. We forget to use our own language even if we are talking to our countrymen and I believe that this is a trend that will continue.
16:41 Sudha Kathuria: To a great extent, the easily accessible and communicative language has started taking a toll over the traditional or regional languages as they are easy to be understood and to make others understand as well.
16:41 Pavneet Kaur: I agree, as in today’s generation, there is a lot of competition and the importance of English and other languages is equally important. However, unfortunately children are nowadays not aware of their mother tongue and give preference to English.
16:42 Sudha Kathuria: I feel that it has nothing to do with Western culture, rather the inappropriate adoption of it that leads to such problems. One needs to be specific and conscious at all times to let new values of the changing society be adopted in a way that we do not forget our own. It’s like walking hand-in-hand with the old and the new.
16:45 Pavneet Kaur: The world is just the way we look at it, and if we do not take the Western culture positively it is our mistake.
16:45 Sudha Kathuria: In my house my children do not understand the simple phrases used in our mother tongue, which makes me feel that by the next generation probably our mother tongue will become extinct.
16:46 Fred Salmorin: Yes, we are limiting our own language usage when we are living and working in a country far from our origin. We are then forced to use the English language for various purposes, which is beyond our control.
16:47 Gulf News: Increased influence of Western culture is drowning out indigenous languages.
16:48 Fozia Imran: I agree that the West has become the new norm and anyone who does not follow will be left out.
16:49 Sudha Kathuria: I agree and believe that changing values, work environment and the place we live in is all equally responsible for the death of languages today.
16:50 Fozia Imran: Language itself is not in its original form anymore. There is now a combination of languages.
16:52 Sudha Kathuria: Many families today insist on speaking their mother tongue at home irrespective of which part of the world you live in and that’s the true way of letting your language live and breathe.
16:52 Fozia Imran: It is not about culture and religion anymore, rather about the regional influence on our language.
16:53 Fred Salmorin: I agree, however, whether or not the influence of Western culture is there, it is our choice to preserve our own language. For example, I walk into a fast-food chain store and the staff at the counter is of my nationality, therefore I order using my mother tongue, and this a way to preserve our language.
16:53 Fozia Imran: I agree with Sudha that families must keep languages alive.
16:54 Pavneet Kaur: In fact, teenagers these days tend to respond to their parents using English!
16:56 Fozia Imran: Normally, when you walk into a shop or a restaurant, you speak the language of the country or English, not that of the person you are speaking to.
16:56 Fred Salmorin: Western culture is not our enemy, preservation still lies with us.
16:56 Pavneet Kaur: It is unrealistic to say that there is little importance of culture and religion in today’s society. The atmosphere around us may not always be as we would like it to be because there will always be changes and it’s about how you take the positives and negatives.
16:57 Gulf News: Internet is to be blamed for the death of certain languages.
16:59 Fozia Imran: I agree because most of the information found over the Internet is in English. Other languages are not very popular with search engines and as a result, this promotes one language only.
16:59 Sudha Kathuria: To a great extent, internet and global communication is responsible as all social networking sites insist on English as the main language. To a certain extent, even the keyboard is designed for English, so what else can you expect from people to work upon the sustenance of other languages?
16:59 Fred Salmorin: I disagree. The Internet is using the English language for the whole world to communicate and understand the meaning of its content.
17:00 Pavneet Kaur: Certainly not. The Internet is a just a medium through which people communicate! If we use the internet in a better way, we may end up learning a new language.
17:00 Sudha Kathuria: I strongly agree on this as this is the root cause for dying values, culture and above all languages.
17:01 Pavneet Kaur: I firmly reject that the Internet is the root cause the death of languages.
17:02 Fozia Imran: Yes Mr Fred, but in order to have access to that language, it has to be given more importance than the mother tongue in order to be learned and comprehended.
17:02 Pavneet Kaur: In fact, today Google can be used in Hindi as well as Telugu!
17:03 Fred Salmorin: Accept it or not, we need a language to be used as a common for all and as I mentioned previously, we can still preserve our native languages in other ways.
17:08 Fozia Imran: Speaking the language at home only does not allow a variety of vocabulary and context. What is the other way? Literature, media and social networks are all in one language. It’s good to have a common language, but then how do we promote our mother tongue?
17:08 Pavneet Kaur: In conclusion, I would like to point out that the diversity of languages is decreasing and will continue to do so if we do not nurture the minds of the young generation to start learning from the world! Our mother tongue is as important as English is in today’s society. Learning and knowing our language will not bring us to the ground!
17:08 Fred Salmorin: We are now living in a fast-paced world and we do not have time to translate each others’ ideas by using our own language. What we can do is to teach our children the values, culture and the importance of native languages. This is just part of evolution and the continuing change in the world that we are living in.
17:09 Pavneet Kaur: The ancestors have provided us with such diverse culture and we shall keep this ritual by moulding it better and not destroying it!
— Compiled by Donia Jenabzadeh/She is a trainee with Gulf News
