Post by habiba123820 on Nov 3, 2024 10:31:47 GMT
One of the beauties of human language is its dynamicity and cultural intersections. In most countries around the world, people have to live in a melting pot of languages. Official languages coexist with native ones - and there must also be room for immigrant languages to constantly integrate.
But what is the difference between native language and official language and how do they coexist in the same region?
A native language, also known as a mother tongue, is the first language a person is exposed to in life, usually in childhood or youth. The learning process is done through interaction with other native speakers and involves intuition more than mastery of grammar.
On the other hand, the official language is connected with political aspects. It is the majority language in a country, used for business, local trade, studies and official documents. For wordpress web design agency example, English is the official language in England, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa, just as Spanish is the official language in Spain, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Argentina etc.
The importance of the Mother Tongue
Image by freepik.com
The importance of a mother tongue is that it brings identity. In many countries, mother tongue is used to indicate the language of a person's ethnic group .
Native speakers may not be able to explain why they put the verb in a certain position, but they will intuitively feel that this is the correct form. This is why native speakers are an authority on the language due to the natural process of language acquisition, compared to those who learn the language in adulthood or later in life.
[Children who grow up speaking their mother tongue and another official language are bilingual or multilingual from an early age.] The coexistence of both is very useful for developing linguistic intelligence and represents a differential in social life.
This is so valuable that UNESCO designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day .
Multiple Languages in African Countries
Image by southafrica-info.com
Africa is currently home to approximately one-third of the world's languages, with between 1,000 and 2,000 languages. At least 75 of these have more than one million speakers. There are four main African language families : Niger-Congo (Swahili, Yoruba, Fula, Igbo), Nilo-Saharan (occupies East Africa and the Northeast region), Afroasiatic (mainly in northern regions) and Khoisan (South Africa).
After African countries became independent in the 20th century, many countries had to keep the language of their colonizers as their official language because they still depended on the colonizers for politics and business.
Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Cameroon use English as their official language. Portuguese is the official language in the "PALOP" countries (Portuguese acronym for Portuguese-Speaking African Countries), including Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. Meanwhile, French is official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal and a few others.
But what is the difference between native language and official language and how do they coexist in the same region?
A native language, also known as a mother tongue, is the first language a person is exposed to in life, usually in childhood or youth. The learning process is done through interaction with other native speakers and involves intuition more than mastery of grammar.
On the other hand, the official language is connected with political aspects. It is the majority language in a country, used for business, local trade, studies and official documents. For wordpress web design agency example, English is the official language in England, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa, just as Spanish is the official language in Spain, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Argentina etc.
The importance of the Mother Tongue
Image by freepik.com
The importance of a mother tongue is that it brings identity. In many countries, mother tongue is used to indicate the language of a person's ethnic group .
Native speakers may not be able to explain why they put the verb in a certain position, but they will intuitively feel that this is the correct form. This is why native speakers are an authority on the language due to the natural process of language acquisition, compared to those who learn the language in adulthood or later in life.
[Children who grow up speaking their mother tongue and another official language are bilingual or multilingual from an early age.] The coexistence of both is very useful for developing linguistic intelligence and represents a differential in social life.
This is so valuable that UNESCO designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day .
Multiple Languages in African Countries
Image by southafrica-info.com
Africa is currently home to approximately one-third of the world's languages, with between 1,000 and 2,000 languages. At least 75 of these have more than one million speakers. There are four main African language families : Niger-Congo (Swahili, Yoruba, Fula, Igbo), Nilo-Saharan (occupies East Africa and the Northeast region), Afroasiatic (mainly in northern regions) and Khoisan (South Africa).
After African countries became independent in the 20th century, many countries had to keep the language of their colonizers as their official language because they still depended on the colonizers for politics and business.
Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Cameroon use English as their official language. Portuguese is the official language in the "PALOP" countries (Portuguese acronym for Portuguese-Speaking African Countries), including Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. Meanwhile, French is official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal and a few others.