So these people have reduced the value of language solely to its economic gain?what a painfully narrow and unimaginative view. A mother tongue is not meant to be a transactional tool, it is the soul of a people. It carries cultural nuances that no foreign language can replicate.
Kgwedi ya June was not ours as a country, Lantlha we find out that re ntse re shaba ka mafele, before we could recover we find out bana ba rona ba thakanna classrooms le dikoko, now gatwe CNN, New York times, 7 days heewee heewee. We need a public holiday to cry.
I guess we are raised different, building my parents a house or revamping it and wanting “ownership”because I did that? Is weird to me, even if they pass I wouldnt want to own it, I did that for them to live comfortably, siblings and their kids to have a nice home.
In those moments, through those familiar and simple words, I felt something no other language could offer me,a sense of pride, of recognition, of belonging. These were not just thank-yous,they were affirmations of identity, love, and kinship,tse di logilweng mo temeng ya gaetsho.
Last week in my home village, I had three simple encounters that reminded me of the deep, soul-stirring power of my mother tongue.
First, I helped an elderly man slice his bread ko Choppies, ha ke fetsa he said, “Ke a leboga, ngwanaka”
Later, I assisted an old woman with her trolley in another shop, ko Spar, and she smiled warmly and said, “Tanki ngwana wa ga kgaitsadiaka”
After I had finished my shopping carrying a 12.5kg bag of mealie meal in one hand and a heavy bag in the other, rushing to catch a taxi....
an old man is standing at the corner of the pharmacy and said with, “O tshwanetse o imelwa, ngwana wa ngwanake. Tla ke go tseise."..and he carried letogo la phaleche to the other side of the road...For me..
Also, to deny your child to learn the language of their people is not being woke people. You are simply cutting the roots that ground them. And you are propelling them into a language that they can only speak on the surface but whose people can never fully embrace.
So these people have reduced the value of language solely to its economic gain?what a painfully narrow and unimaginative view. A mother tongue is not meant to be a transactional tool, it is the soul of a people. It carries cultural nuances that no foreign language can replicate.