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-Samrudhi Jaju
Let me first clear this idea of multilinguality, it is simply a person who can speak fluently in more than 2 languages.
Whenever I step into a crowd of people, After listening to my last name I am always asked one question, “You are not Marathi you are Marwadi, unbelievable! How are you more fluent in Marathi than Marwadi!” (these are 2 different languages, from many languages in India) Yes, I am of course fluent in Marathi because…
It all started from my childhood environmental experiences. I was born and brought up in Pune (Maharashtra). It is easier to live in that state if you know the language. I am surrounded by Marathi culture more than any other cultures. I speak Marwadi because it’s my mother tongue. Hindi is my communication language at my parent’s shop, as not all customers understand Marathi or Marwadi. As I grew up, my mother always used to chant Sanskrit Shloks which made me like Sanskrit language too. I also took it up as a subject in school.
I almost forgot, that in today’s era if you don’t know English you are quite offbeat. So since primary school I was also introduced to English and later on books, songs and series made me fluent in it. So I know the basics of 4- 5 languages. Which makes me multilingual!
In the later years I tried learning a new language as well. I took up Japanese. Learning Japanese was a challenge for me. To understand the pronunciations and remember the alphabets, it’s all a different story in itself, but it also helped me realise how beautiful it is to learn different languages. I also tried listening to different accents of the same language. There are minute differences. Watching different language series is also fun (subtitles are saviours). And it made me love languages again.
Learning any language is not only remembering vocabulary and grammar. It is a sweet recipe of new words, accents, and cultural influences. It’s like learning and understanding the geographical area of that language, experiencing and enjoying communication in that language.
Since I learned about special children in the curriculum, I came across 1 more form of language which is sign language - I am always fascinated by the concept of communication without words , how beautifully one can express the same feelings through different signs. I am looking forward to learning sign language soon!
According to a few studies, Early exposure to multiple languages can enhance children's communication skills, have the capability of comprehending social situations from a unique perspective that allows them to better understand others from a verbal, cultural and social perspective.
In India, we are treasured with so many languages, so why not try learning one? Do tell us what your views are on this.
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Interesting! Keep learning ❤️