Welcome everyone, my name is Anparasan
I'm going to speak in Tamil for the entirety of this video
I actually saw a viewer comment on my channel
What that viewer asked was: "Why have I not made a video of me speaking in Tamil yet?"
After reading this comment, I thought to myself
Okay, I should definitely make a video in Tamil
Forgive me, my Tamil is not perfect
I do struggle a little
But I'm really happy that I'm making this video in Tamil
I'm not going to speak in English at all
Actually, I'll have to speak in English at some points
because my vocabulary in Tamil is a little bit limited
But I'll try my best to speak purely in Tamil
Before making this video
I had a conversation with my parents
about whether they had any ideas for this video
I asked them what I could speak about in this video
During the conversation
My dad gave me an idea to talk about the struggles of not knowing your mother tongue
Struggles that someone would face at home, with the family, in society
In my opinion, what would the struggles be
He suggested that I should focus on this topic
I'm going to be talking about these struggles in my video
Firstly, I have noticed
if parents do not teach Tamil to their child at a young age
then the child will lose its ability to speak his/her own mother tongue
Parents sometimes do not pay attention to the struggles that the child will face in the future
for example
when I speak to my grandparents
I can speak in Tamil to them
so I can listen to the stories that they have from back home in Sri Lanka
This brings me a lot of happiness
When I speak to them in Tamil, it makes me happy
But my cousins do not know how to speak Tamil
So it is really sad to see
My cousins and grandparents will be in the same room
My grandma might ask a question
And my cousin will respond "I don't understand you"
Then my grandma might respond "I don't understand anything you're saying"
This really upsets me to see
To hear that exchange of conversation in the room
Without sufficient language, I see the pain that both parties experience
I don't really know who to place the blame on
You can't place the blame on the child
Because the child grew up in the UK
Or grew up abroad away from Sri Lanka
How can you place the blame on the child that they don't know Tamil?
Because Tamil is not spoken in society
Tamil is also not a part of the education system
Yeah there's French, Spanish, German, but no Tamil
Can you place the blame on parents?
When they migrated from Sri Lanka
They needed to learn English to support their families
They experienced a lot of hardships
They might also be scared that their children won't be able to speak English
So they won't teach their child Tamil
However, I still think the parents are to blame
because
when kids are young
children are able to pick up languages
the argument that children won't learn English by teaching them Tamil
That's no valid argument
Take me for example
I can speak in both English and Tamil
I am bilingual
When a parent does not teach their children Tamil at a young age
I notice the severe communication problems that arise
For example, when a kid comes home from school
the kid can't express what's on his/her mind
with his/her parents
This results in no communication in the household
the kid goes automatically into his/her room. Why?
because he or she feels that they can't talk to their parents properly
The kid can't speak Tamil. The parents can't speak English
As a result of frustration
Communication dies
This is extremely unhealthy
All due to language barriers
Looking at it a different way
because I am able to speak Tamil
I am able to
.........
I am able to speak with my parents
I am able to speak with my grandparents
I can speak Tamil in my community
I can speak Tamil at my local Temple
Even when I travel to Singapore or Malaysia
I can speak with the Tamil people there and form a bond with them
But when someone does not know Tamil
How can you form bonds with people within the Tamil community?
So if someone does not interact with the Tamil community
our Tamil cultural values will also fade away
[confused]
how do I say this word?
[confused]
Sorry I'm struggling a little
Tamil will die out and our cultural values will too
This is such an upsetting concept
I always think to myself
With the next generation, or the generation after
will Tamil die out?
A lot of Tamil people internationally do not know how to speak in Tamil
I'm scared as to what the situation will be
Look at me! Even I'm standing here unable to speak Tamil properly
So just have a think
Tamil is such a beautiful language
but
let's give you guys a message
before ending this video
I have a message for you
If you're watching this video thinking
I don't understand Tamil
In English we say 'it's not too late'
You can still learn Tamil now
if you're upset that you do not know your mother tongue
You can do something about it
Go study tamil!
You have so many options
you can study in class
you can study with your parents
and practise your Tamil with them
let them know that you're interested in learning your language
and that it is not too late for them to teach you
If you want to learn your mother tongue, it is not too late!
Let's end this video with that positive message
I'm also trying to improve my Tamil
I can sort of read and write in Tamil. I'm trying to improve this
I'm trying to improve my vocabulary too
I'm trying to speak more Tamil at home, and with other people
when I went on holiday, for example to Singapore or Malaysia
I loved speaking to the locals in Tamil
Even getting on the train there
Hearing the announcements being made in Tamil
or reading the road signs
brought me so much joy
But not knowing Tamil brings so much emotional pain to so many people
Just think about that
about the problems that are created when someone does not know their mother tongue