Ours was a nation that was proud of the diversity of the Malayalam language, saying that there are 100 Malayalams for every six Malayalams. However, today the new generation of that people imagines Malayalam as a Balikeramala that can never be entered. They look in awe at their own mother tongue.
It is difficult to write in Malayalam without mistakes. The sentences they write are riddled with word-by-word errors. Only those who love Malayalam get scared seeing such scenes all around. They keep repeating the question of whether Malayalam will die. Where did we go wrong in inculcating Malayalam in the new generation? It is time to think seriously.
Terrible form of Manglish
Dandelion = leaf
Karuma = buffalo
Rar = Ravi
Bee = Beedi
Soonka = Susie
Ndus = ice
Nnani = trap
Mbaliv = Oliv
Ggachakam = Picchakam
Rajayam = Victory
Afternoon = evening
This is a message that has been exchanged a lot on WhatsApp and Facebook recently. It was popularized in the name of a small child writing an exam in school. Those who read it kept sending this message to others out of curiosity. No guesswork as to whether this is true or false. Anyway, let’s just say that a joke is not something to be laughed at. Because it is a fact that we live in a land where there are many grandchildren who mix Malayalam and English letters and write words very naturally.
In the early days, we Malayalees are uncomfortable when we see Malayalam and English being written together. We made fun of it by calling it Manglish language. However, the above is a slightly more advanced form of Manglish. The big danger of mixing Malayalam and English in one word. We adults should not wash our hands of the responsibility of that accident on the heads of children who do not turn their heads. At least we have to realize that it is some wrong decisions of us adults that push them to that dangerous path.
Combined languages in first class
Today, a child’s formal education begins at the age of three. Play School, L.K.G. Or, whatever you call it, studies have begun there in earnest. The first step is literacy. It used to be like that. It’s just that there were no precious names like today’s LKG and UKG.
Such letter learning centers were known by vernacular names like Ashankalari. All the children of those days started their formal education in the first class only after learning the Akshara well and cementing it in their minds from these places or from the scribes or Ashatis. Apart from Malayalam, no other language was studied in classes one, two and three. The study of English begins in the fourth class. After that, start learning Hindi only when you reach five.
Today the situation is completely different. There is even a situation where English is taught before Malayalam. Most of the children have to learn Malayalam, English and Hindi when they reach the first class. In some places Sanskrit and Arabic also come in along with these. A five-year-old today has to learn about five languages. It would be a wonder if the above-mentioned accidents did not occur when the alphabets of five or three languages were thus learned simultaneously. When you hear the pronunciation of a letter, there are so many letter forms; Symbols are what reach a child’s mind today.
As the Malayalam, English, and Hindi symbols of that letter pass through his mind without missing a beat, he will be in agony. He would write in Manglish as Kali, Najdi, Mayar. If he says that it is wrong, he will ask back if he does not understand the matter and what is wrong.
Malayalam is fixed and other languages
There is only one way to get rid of this manglish disease. Take a firm decision to teach the child other languages only after consolidating Malayalam. LKG From class 1 onwards, adopt a policy of learning only one language. It has been scientifically proven that trying to learn other languages without fully understanding the mother tongue is a foolish decision. Except in this little Kerala, there is no practice of teaching other languages before the mother tongue.
It is good to learn many languages at an early age. But, it should not leave aside the mother tongue. Also, don’t forget that most of the people who are in administrative and official positions today have studied English only after the third class. None of them are deficient in other languages including English.
Mother tongue is not just a language. It is part of our body. We laugh, we cry, we dream, our language. After mastering that language, any language will be easy for us. We Malayalis are the best example of that.
Today there are Malayalis in any part of the world. Wherever you live, you will speak the language of that country better than the natives there. Because a person who knows Malayalam can handle other languages very easily.
It is usually said. Malayalam is the most difficult language in the world. Especially when it comes to writing. We can appreciate the extent of that difficulty when we think of the role played by a small child in learning to write the letter A.
The same child does not experience much difficulty in writing English letters. Not only that, but all the children will say in unison that English letters are easier to write than Malayalam. If you think about whether it is easier to write the letter A in English or in Malayalam, you can understand that it is correct. Therefore, in the new era of teaching English and Malayalam simultaneously, all children will prefer to write English letters more than Malayalam.
One must remember. Learning to write Malayalam letters is a bit difficult. What if it is properly fixed in the mind? The fact that the Malayalam language itself is being recorded should be recognized. Whereas English letters are easy to write. But learning the alphabet does not mean that you have mastered the English language. This is where the danger lies for today’s children. I don’t know Malayalam because I didn’t study the alphabet well. Even if you learn the alphabet, you can’t master the language, so you don’t know English either. In effect, both languages are almost extinct. Only after consolidating Malayalam, if we teach other languages including English, we can save our new generation from this danger at least to some extent.
All of us thought that the death knell of languages, including Malayalam, sounded when computers and mobile phones became active. However, today we are living in a time where Malayalam is holding its life with the same computer, mobile and technology. It can be said that the language is growing with the introduction of Malayalam typing. Our little Malayalam is so full in cyberspace.
For that growth to get more impetus, a new generation with proficiency in the language must be brought up. The easiest way to do that is to create alphabetized children. A generation that does not miss a letter… that is our dream… our goal.
Anish Narayan