When to Protect Language?

When to Protect Language?
Out of the three conditions stated above, protecting time comes when the second condition is fulfilled and enters in third condition. But it becomes very difficult to protect at this stage. Linguists suggest taking the initiative to protect and preserve language in the second stage, as this is the appropriate condition to protect the language.

How to Protect Language?
Regarding methods of protecting a language, there are ten ways. They are:

1. Willingness to protect
2. Communicate in your own mother tongue
3. Fetch the cultural rights given by the constitution
4. Inclusion of local language and script in school curriculum
5. Mother tongue in the curriculum
6. Train youth in their mother tongue
7. Mother tongue media
8. New terms in mother tongue
9. Promotion of language through art and religion
10. One voice to protect language

1. Willingness to Protect
The first way to protect language is to make a strong and effective will to protect and promote one’s language. There would be no alternative to protect one’s language and culture if a person unwilling to one’s caste and blames one’s own language. Such examples are there in history. The main reason for this is a lack of vibrant desire. The problem arises when any person of a caste has the humiliating feeling that she/he is of low caste and class, that she/he is uneducated and stupid. Such things lack to promote hope. This is the time to persuade and encourage them to learn all such matters and instil hope and desire to do something for their own community and culture. Language and culture of a community are needed at this time to create own identity. To protect and promote, we need to use valuable methods and procedures. One day will come when people will have enough material assets, and they will desire to know their history, culture and language. So without any hesitation, we should impart our valuable cultural heritage to our young minds; otherwise, the future generation will blame their ancestors for the loss of cultural heritage of their own.  Two to three generations later, people will make us culprits for destroying one’s own language, script and culture.

So, today, we have the right to assimilate our own language and culture of our own caste and community.  So let us not let our future generation blame us by inculcating them our mother tongue and script. Let us do something good that will benefit our new generation.

2. Communicate in Your Own Mother Tongue
Some people, whose population is smaller, lack to know that their mother tongue is on the way to extinction. These people, generally and young especially, become experts in other languages and mix other language’s words while speaking their mother tongue, which comes to be the cause of the destruction of the mother language. They don’t understand the inner policies of language. In the long run, they will speak only the ‘Khas Nepali’ language, though they communicate in both their mother language and medium language now. Lacking to comprehend these dynamics, they forget to speak their own language. Many languages have been extinct in the past in this way, and many languages are on the verge of extinction. The related officials and individuals should gravely understand such a tendency in the future.

3. Fetch the Cultural Rights Given by the Constitution
We should be able to grab legal rights given by the States. As provisioned in the constitution, communities with less population or aboriginals should be able to manage study in local script and language in their respective villages and provinces. But the matter of sadness is that Jung Bahadur Rana’s public order of using ‘Khas Nepali’ language as the only official language is responsible for bringing the present condition of all mother tongues.

From this website, I want to say that equal rights should be given to all languages and scripts as that of the medium ‘Khas Nepali’ language. Linguists, referring to the consensus of 2011 A.D., claim there are 12 scripts, 123 mother tongues and 125 castes. But by giving privilege to one language as the official language, other languages and scripts have been excluded.

There is an alternative provision for people who don’t understand medium language and script. Language and script are fundamental cultural rights of an individual to which the State mechanism must not prohibit. Otherwise, it would bring severe consequences. All aboriginal and ethnic minorities should be aware of this condition. Our government brings programs to protect and preserve birds but it is insensible to protect the age-old asset of human civilization, the mother tongue. So, I don’t think the State mechanism will do anything to protect our language and culture. We must be aware of grabbing rights to protect our religion, language, culture and script.

4. Inclusion of Local Language and Script in School Curriculum
A decision to include a curriculum, including letters, words, spelling, grammar, etc., in school-level education should be made. New textbooks should be prepared based on previous textbooks. We must promote our Language and Script in all social fields like business, trade, law, and social situations. At least we have to write names in our own Language and Script at the entrance of public offices and on the left and right of roads. We have to use our mother tongue in invitations, pamphlets and meeting minutes along with medium language. Our Sherpa brothers have established lots of organizations and institutions. If they are for Sherpas, all the communication should be done in the mother tongue—for example, speech assembly. Our Language and Script have their own uniqueness. For instance, our Language can’t be clearly written in ‘Khas’ and in ‘English’ Scripts, but both scripts can easily be written in our own script. Today, we have to make others understand the words and the meaning of our language in “Khas’ and in ‘English’ Scripts. This is a sad situation, but both languages can’t exactly transcribe our local words. So, words get fragmented and lose their original meaning, which creates the problem of not understanding the complete meaning of the text.

Some people laugh over it, while others lose confidence. Keeping this matter in consideration, we should use our script once again as a matter of prospect and challenge for us. If we become able to use all scripts in our currency by pressurizing the government, the state has its pride, and great support to protect script would be there.

5. Mother tongue in the curriculum
The mother tongue should be included as a part of the school curriculum, be it elementary or secondary level. We must teach our children symbols, signs, poems, and socializing and cultural activities in our mother tongue. Furthermore, we have to make arrangements to teach in our mother tongue subjects like agriculture, science and astronomy. We have to develop a curriculum in our own script and train subject teachers with expert trainers from time to time.

6. Train Youth in Mother Tongue
Small children and youngsters who don’t know their mother tongue should be taught to read and write, managing classrooms. Different knowledge-based activities, reading, and writing, like stories, poems, environment education, aesthetics and spiritualism, should be imported to students.

7. Mother Tongue Media
Different programs like radio, TV News, and others should be broadcast in mother Tongue. Further, we must promote our mother tongue through daily, weekly, monthly and annual newspapers and magazines.

8. New Terms in Mother Tongue
To accommodate our mother tongue with the modern times, we have to give appropriate names to modern instruments and gadgets in our mother tongue and use them accordingly. Gradually, we have to add them to our mother tongue dictionary also.

9. Promotion of Language through Art and Religion
The power of Art and Religion protect language and script very well. Further, they can revive the destroyed language and script. We have to perform all religious activities in the mother tongue, and its debate and analysis should also be done in the mother tongue only. Such activities greatly support the protection and promotion of our mother tongue. David Crystal has opined that languages are extinct from the daily activities and daily life of the people. Religion is such a thing which remains the same. So we must follow religious activity according to our tradition to protect our language as it has a great role in enlivening the language and script of all humans. An example of Africa is appropriate here. Matters related to arts and religions are seen remaining intact when dozens of the languages in daily use were destroyed by the English language in many African countries. Art and literature are effective mediums to protect and promote the mother tongue. We should sing songs and entertain in our mother tongue. Theatre activity should also be done in our own languages. We should encourage our people to practice oral stories and jokes in their mother tongue.

10. One Voice to Protect Language
All of us should be unified to protect and promote our mother tongue. It is the responsibility of all of the mother tongue speakers to make alive our destroyed mother language and preserve it. Further, fathers and mothers should only speak their mother tongue at home. They should speak in their mother tongue with their children. In almost every situation, we should speak in our mother tongue, be it looking after cattle or be it school situations. We should learn our language with great hope and enthusiasm. People who have money should open their hearts to establish organizations. Teachers and instructors of language and script should teach with great care and labour. Linguists should help by showing loopholes in language and script with their great knowledge. Members of our community who are in media should broadcast news programs with an analysis of language and script. They should show drawbacks, loopholes, reasons for destruction and ways of preservation through media.

Politicians and bureaucrats should work in the policy field. They should labour hard to apply the constitution and law in the favour of their community. Great gurus of our religion should encourage with their power to enliven and preserve our language. Further, they have to preach for the betterment of all humanity.

Summary
In this 21st century, it is difficult to use one’s mother language only as in the past. Using other’s language has become very common and necessary, as people of the world are in close and complex relationships. There are three reasons for this compulsion.

a. Other language attraction
b. Use mother language only
c. First mother language and then other

a. Other Language Attraction
Blind use of other’s language has caused the destruction of the mother tongue. They wonder in other’s language. They lack the ability to see good and bad aspects of other’s language. They are unaware of what to assimilate and what to reject. Such activity causes the destruction of the mother tongue.

b. Use of Mother Tongue only
People should have a great sense of ownership of their mother tongue. In the case of the struggle of languages, one must be able to see other languages as opposition. This motivates them to learn one’s mother tongue. If needed, they should be ready to prohibit other languages.

c. First Mother Language, then Other Language
The first duty of a person is to continue and preserve one’s language. Thereafter, learn other’s language and utilize both of them together. If we can’t follow the first reason, our own language and caste will become extinct from this world in no time.

Secondly, sticking with a mother tongue only takes a person nowhere. We live in a complex modern time where prohibiting a second language becomes difficult. Science and technology expand the work we do every day.

Outer expansion of technology contracts the inner knowledge. Others do not care about language with minority populations. And not using other languages closes lots of opportunities. So, opting for the third option becomes compulsory.

In using other’s language and protecting one’s language, we should feel easy. We should use other’s language as a means to ‘cross bridge’, i.e. an instrument to move forward. We should learn to utilize these languages when necessary. If we can do this, there won’t be a mutual danger to each language. To find an option where both languages can exist is the only alternative. It is not that nothing has been done to gain it. If we can’t manage it well, there is no guarantee that we can’t turn to the first condition.

Thank You