Tag: language

Why I’m Learning Spanish In My Leisure Time

The author writes about his motivations behind learning Spanish in his leisure time.

I’m learning Spanish because I like to learn new things and maybe in the future it’ll be useful in my career as a data analyst and writer.

I’m learning it on the duolingo app and this blog post is not sponsored by them.

Currently I’m at rank 14 of my Spanish learning journey. And I’m gradually moving forward.

But I have to say, it’s an altogether new experience. I kind of love it.

I’m learning about Spanish culture and their ways of thinking through the language.

And it’s fun.

I mean I’m still learning new words in Spanish and I sometimes struggle with the gender related words or the tense. But I’ll get there soon..

Maybe in the future I’ll join a more comprehensive course in Spanish than duolingo. 

I was also asked by people if I’m learning French or German. But I just say I’m moving forward gradually.

I don’t want to put too much pressure on my mental health and I want to take it slow.

I might learn French and German later but right now I’m learning Spanish also because it’s easy to pick up quickly.

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

8 Reasons Why I Need To Learn Santhali (My Mother Tongue)

In this blog post, I will write about why it’s important that I learn and know Santhali, my mother tongue.

I am a Santhal, from the Santali community. We are one of the biggest Adivasi communities in India and we have our own language, our own script, our own religion and everything else.

Growing up I didn’t get the opportunity to be surrounded by people from my Santhali community. And so I don’t know how to speak my mother tongue fluently.

My grandparents came to the city from their village for jobs. My parents know Santhali but I face problems with that.

So you might think, why is this guy writing a blog post on learning his mother tongue? Isn’t knowing English and Hindi enough to live a good life in India?

My answer is “No”.

Knowing my mother tongue is important for many reasons-

  1. Survival of our identity as Santhals
  2. Survival of our culture
  3. Empowering our people to live self-actualised lives
  4. Contributing to the larger society through sharing the wisdom and lessons from our culture
  5. Celebrating the sacrifices of our leaders
  6. Creating Santhali literature in our own Ol Chiki script
  7. Feeling unity and pride for our community
  8. Upholding our religious and spiritual practices and traditions

I am sure there are more reasons but these came to my mind at the moment.

So currently I am learning Santhali and Ol Chiki script on my own. I would love some guidance but even if I don’t get the guidance, I believe I will be able to learn them very quickly with conscious effort if I am focused.

I am listening to the Santhali Akhra radio show on AIR Kolkata Geetanjali Akashwani radio station almost every day and I am asking my family members to speak to me in Santhali. I also listen to Santhali songs and I especially love Singrai Soren’s “Sekej Sekej” song.

Sometimes I feel demotivated due to my slow progress but I need to have faith in myself and a little patience to learn the language and the script.

So this was my blog post on why it’s important for me to learn Santhali. Please comment- What is your mother tongue and do you know it well?