Saturday, July 19, 2014

Language: An Observation

As far as the MSP,T village is concerned, the students going to school are Karen. This means that their mother tongue is Karen, that they speak Karen at home and with their peers. However, the language of instruction at school is Thai, which is very hard for students to learn, much more for those who only study during school time. At the same time, learning how to read and write Karen is left to the church, that teaches students the language through songs to be sung in church on Sunday, or to parents who have knowledge, patience and time enough. With the advance of ASEAN, good language skills in Thai and English are necessary. Yet, one’s mother tongue is part of one’s culture, part of one’s self. Unfortunately, the teachers working at the school teach only Thai language and other subjects in Thai. That is understandable, since Thai is already difficult to study for children, time has to be wisely allocated to subjects and the teachers speak fluent Thai, even if their cultural background may comprise two ethnic groups. Especially with young students, Karen has to be used for children to better understand Thai, and the teachers are aware of that. At the same time, concerning reading and writing Karen, parents as teachers of their children are not reliable, as they are too tired after their work and chores around the house, or might not educated enough to do so. The language may not be dying, since generation after generation learns to speak it, but language skills other than speaking are not cultivated.

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