I found this beautifully illustrated book whilst clearing out a cupboard today and it got me thinking about the loss of language.
This is my favourite kind of illustration, free hand and full of character, all I wanted to do was read it, but I couldn’t. Being a second generation Bengali in the UK I can’t read or write Bangla, I was taught the basics as a child but that soon faded with time. I can speak, it’s not perfect but it is good. It never bothered me very much until quite recently. This a language I understand but cannot read! It’s frustrating.
I have tried to take my own initiative and had failed attempts. I joined a class, only to realise that I was the only adult, parents would come to pick up their child and assume that I was the teacher. I tried private classes but that didn’t work out. I don’t feel the spirit of retaining the language in the community. There is a whole generation like me; who are in the middle. What happens to the next generation? Is it only the colour on their faces that will make them Bengali? I honestly don’t know. Language is the basis of our culture, people fought for this language, there is so much communicated in Bengali that is lost in translation. So what does that mean?
These changes are far greater than just me, but I acknowledge how it makes me feel.
Just as people change over time so does language. We are hybrid. We are the product of change, do we embrace it?
The genuine want must be there to learn, I spend so much time learning other languages, working and living life. If I care I will make time. I have the resources. This is me challenging myself. I want to read this beautiful book and the pictures won’t do.
Hi there, I only moved to the UK 10 years ago, and I feel the ‘loss of language’ already, always having to speak a different language. It’s been compounded by the fact that my almost 3-year-old daughter only says the occasional Bangla word, even though I try to speak to her in Bangla all the time. This post puts it into perspective for me – it’s not going to be as easy as I had imagined it would be.
But like you, I’m not going to give up. Thanks for writing this. Rumana
Hi Rumana! Thanks for your response, I’m glad I’m not the only one. We are so used to living a fast paced lifestyle that I think we forget the consistent effort we need to put in to see the fruits of our hard work. I definitely don’t want to look back and think about ‘all that wasted time’
Tanha