Written by: Binayak Kumar Mahato - 22025, Grade XII
Posted on: 20 December, 2021
The most significant asset people bring to the task of learning a second language is their native tongue, which acts as a Language Acquisition Support System. The importance of English in today's world cannot be understated. English is one of the world's most important languages. Science, technology, commerce, economics, international politics, and diplomacy have all adopted it as their common language. Taking the data of 2021, around 1.35 billion people speak English worldwide either natively or as a second language. Chinese mandarin is supposed to be the second highest language spoken worldwide. Hindi and Spanish accounted for the third and fourth most widespread languages that year. Three out of every four English speakers are said to be non-native speakers. English is a compulsory subject in most of the countries primary and secondary schools. It is regarded as a promising and distinguished future source.
Our mother tongue is the language in which we were raised. It literally means "the language our mother taught us," or "the language we have spoken since childhood." It is said that every ten miles in Nepal, the language changes. This makes it impossible for us to speak with a standard accent because we all speak English in our own unique style. This is known as Mother Tongue Influence, which occurs when the impact of one's mother tongue on English becomes apparent.
This issue comes as a result of the vast number of vernacular language schools in Nepal. As a result, MTI affects the vast majority of Nepalese. Another factor could be that English is introduced to youngsters later in their lives. Children who begin learning a second language in early youth acquire it faster, according to studies. Learning at a higher age makes it more difficult since the children already internalize the sounds of his or her mother tongue and apply them to English, which is where the difficulty begins. Finally, it could be due to a lack of English exposure.
People enjoy making fun of those who speak with a strong MTI. It is not appropriate to do so since persons who speak English with MTI are well aware that they are speaking incorrectly. They are aware that when they speak English, others make fun of them, therefore they avoid doing so totally.
