Years ago, there were few countable families staying abroad...not many of them settled there either. However, everyother family these days, resides abroad, away from India. Giving birth to children in an alien country is a challenge, more difficult is overcoming the Language hurdles. Until the children are little and still growing up, before they start preschools, they seem to be 'our kids', i mean, we can call them 'Telugu Ammai' or 'Telugu Abbai', same as in everyone else's native language.....however, this situation changes within few weeks of the child's entrance into Daycare centres or Preschools.

 

 Learning a new language is not easy for every child, this is the state when some children get confused, and find it difficult to continue speaking their own Mother Tongue. Whereas some children handle things easily, they even learn a new language and manage to speak both, at times, mixing both. Parents of some children often complain that their child has not been speaking atall or staying dull, at the same stage when other children are learning to speak......encountering multiple languages is the issue. Children usually learn thier first language from parents, and when they notice the parents speaking a different language outside, they sit wondering how Mom and Dad are speaking an unknown language. This happens even with children of parents who have separate Mother Tongues. According to a child, When Mom speaks a different language, they want to learn it too. 

 

 

 

 

To overcome this challenge, it is best to continue speaking only one Mother Tongue at home. make sure to ask the child reply to you or express to you only in the same language you taught. Mingle with more families with children of the same language. Encourage even other children of that group to speak your native tongue, atleast when you all meet up. If affordable and feasible, taking the child to your native place, more often before the child crosses 6-7 years of age helps them to speak and like your language. It is not because the older generations or your families comment or tease your children, but because 'our Mother Tongue is the best language and means to express our feelings. We lack words and expressions that communicate our feelings when using a foreign language. I have personally seen children of the same family not understand every word that the parents or relatives speak when the happiest moments are shared, and they keep asking the Mom to translate for them, which is boring to everyone and the child misses the happiness and intimacy with the family. I am on the same path now, trying my best to ensure my child becomes and remains a 'Telugu Ammai'. Language teaches to express feelings and my native Language is the best. I am writing this in English just to help others of different languages with their childcare.