Over the last few months one question that has popped up a few times is “How are you teaching your girls your mother tongue and can you give any recommendations?” So I thought it would be useful to share some tips on what we have done so far.
Culture as you probably have gathered, plays a big part in our family. As a couple, we really want our girls to learn our mother tongue. Our thought process is that if we can encourage our children to learn other languages, why not our mother tongue?
Below I share how we are helping our 6 and 4 year old girls learn, Yoruba, one of the many ethnic languages spoken in West Africa and native to Nigeria. It is predominantly spoken in the south western part of Nigeria.
Speak it at home
This should seem obvious. Speaking at home helps a child pick up the language naturally as it is part of their everyday life. We (more like I) struggle with this because English is a default. However, we are making the effort to speak more so the girls can learn all the more.
I recently came across an article where the young lady being interviewed said that she wished could speak in her mother tongue and that her Nigerian mother had made more of an effort to teach her. The few words and phrases she knew were those used by her mother when being told off.
The mother tongue should not just be used when we are telling our children off (owning up to this one) but should be shared and taught as a language in its entirety.
For some families it may be that only one parent speaks the language and for others neither parent speaks. Even if you do not speak the language yourself there is the opportunity to learn together. This can make the learning experience even more exciting and will be a confidence booster for your child.
Support group (Family, Friends, Caregiver)
If you have a member of your support group who speaks the language, this is a great way to help your children learn and offers additional support.
When the grandparents, uncles and aunties, facetime or call they would often speak to the girls in Yoruba. They help them along by translating and encouraging the girls to repeat the words. When the Grandmas visit, the results are even more glaring and all we do is build upon all that has been learnt to help the girls retain it. An example is the girls greeting us in Yoruba every morning and kneeling down when doing so. Same thing when they say Goodnight after putting them to bed although this is usually finished off with cuddles and a kiss (here is where the fusion comes in).
Play
Role/’Pretend’ play
When the girls are playing, top of the list being their ‘pretend’ plays from running a café to planning a picnic, hosting a tea party etcetera, occasionally, we would use the time to practice Yoruba, taking turns asking questions and replying. We focus on the nouns, names of items such pot, plate, the specific food or drink item and then move on to the verbs, action words such as sit down, cook, eat, drink, sleep and the list goes on.
Usually, the girls are having so much fun that they do not realise they are learning. I then hear them playing and practicing the words with each other. This is usually followed by cheers for good effort.
Songs and Games
This was how our girls learnt the parts of the body in Yoruba.
I have heard the “Head and shoulders, knees and toes” nursery rhyme tweaked with the English words replaced by words in the mother tongue.
We made up our own tune and used it to teach parts of the body:
Ojú – eyes, Imú – nose
Enu – mouth, Etí – ears
Owó – hands, Esè – feet
Orí – head, Èjìká – shoulders
After the song, I would randomly call out a part of the body in Yoruba and the girls will point to that part of the body sounding out the word. I remember how excited they both were learning this song. This song is still a favourite and we add on more body parts once existing knowledge is fully grasped.
The key to learning is consistency and celebrating the progress.
Look out for Part 2 where I share a few more child friendly tips.
xoxo
