Language is a gift from God that parents can give to their children.

Language influences our thoughts and our thoughts influence our world view. We think in our language most times.

I have spoken with some young people to find out why they cannot speak their parents’ language and they always come up with the excuse “my parents did not teach me”

I have spoken with some parents to find out why their children don’t speak their local language; they come up with the excuse “my children are not interested in learning”

There is no bad student but bad teacher. If a teacher does his/her job well, the student will learn. God by nature has designed every parent to be a teacher; you don’t need to go to college of education to obtain a certificate before teaching your child. School can’t do it for you. In Deut 6:7, God commanded every parent to teach their children because He knows that we have what it takes.

So many parents have the erroneous belief that speaking your local language to the children will hinder them from understanding and speaking English. Yet, the same parents have no problems in paying lots of money for the same children to learn foreign languages like French, Spanish, German, or Mandarin. Because they are interested in foreign worldview.

Benefit of speaking our local language

• Languages Boosts a Child’s IQ – Have higher general intelligence and exhibit
mental flexibility.
• Increases a Parent’s pride in their children!
• Secrecy – You can tell your child something without a non-speaker hearing it.
• Be more perceptive of their surroundings.
• Understand others’ points of view.
• Have better focus, concentration, and attention.
• Delay immediate gratification in the pursuit of long-term goals.
• Have better memory and memorization skills, including better working memory.
• Be creative -Switch between tasks quickly.
• Have good listening skills.
• Diversification and integration.

What happens when a child cannot speak a particular language especially his mother tongue?

Believe it or not you will not stay with your children forever; they must be exposed to the outside world.

1. Intimidated – Inferiority complex when he is in the mist of other people.
2. Insecurity – The feeling that people are gossiping / talking about them.
3. Withdrawal – Limits their interaction with other children and makes them to restrain the good ideas they might have.

I can say that we have five categories of parents.

1. DIVIDED – Parents with divided opinion over language to be used in the house. Don’t teach him Ikwere let him speak Ahuda
2. IMPOSSIBLE – Parents that feels that it is impossible for a child in a
particular place to speak the home language.
3. TUSH/HIGH CLASSIC – Parents that feels they belong to a certain class up there, that speaking their native language makes them appear local.
4. DISCOURAGED – Parents that tried but got discourage because the
children were not cooperating.
5. SUPER – Parents that persisted until they got their desired result

How To Motivate Your Child To Speak your Language

If he would just understand how important it is to speak/read/write in your language he would be motivated to speak it!

• Knowledge – let them know in DETAILS why they need to learn it.
• Understand your child – know how your child loves to learn (bad teacher = bad student)
• Be a model – speak the language always
• Make it fun – come up with games in your language that will interest them.
• Positive feedback – always encourage them when they make an effort.

Encouraging a behaviour which moves towards the desired goal is far more effective than being told off for saying the wrong words.
• Incentives – always delight them with gift (no matter how small) when they try.
• Consistence – be steadfast in your pursuit for a desired goal, don’t start if you will not continue to motivate them to speak.
• Patience – Children will always be children, learn to tolerate them.

Persistence – It is not one blow that cracks the wall. Take a decision never to giver up that is what the difference.

• Bringing a native speaker.
• Language club: Enroll them in a language club.
• Travel – Take them home to the village often.
• Language immersion – make the house the desired VILLAGE, this you can do through:
1. Cd – local music/ cartoons ( the entertainment industry has failed, no good cartoons for children, local CD and cartoons are better)
2. Story telling
3. Books
4. Reading your language to them
5. Local language Charts

The Don’ts

1. Don’t laugh when they attempt.
2. Don’t always talk bad about your people.
3. Don’t threaten with negative consequences.

As I mentioned earlier, I am all for positive encouragement. You may get your children to speak the minority language by shortening their playtime or refusing treats if they use the majority language, but you are creating a negative atmosphere around the language which is not conducive to your children’s willingness to use it.

Conclusion

God is interested in languages – This is evident with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and they spoke in other tongues (Acts 2). Every individual was created with the ability to speak more than one language. Don’t say it’s difficult. Rather approach it with the mindset that “I can do all things (Phil 4 vs 13)” and you will achieve it.

Start now – it’s not too late.

Uju Bob-Madumere