On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 08:39:16 EST, "Patricio Jose Felix Vas" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Surely the Mother Tongue of Goans is Konkani closely followed by Portuguese and then English. My late father and mother were Goans born and educated in Goa and then left to be part of the great Goan diaspora. As true Goans they carried their customs languages and culture handed down for centuries by their forebears enriching the World in every country they settled in. In Brasil for example, Goans are classed as Lusitanians, Portuguese from Portugal as distinct from Brasilians from Brasil. Goans converse in Portuguese and Konkani except for those that settled in greater India. I was brought up speaking Portuguese as my main language (with my mother's milk), English - as I went to School in an English environment and educational system, and a smattering of Konkani, of which I must say I am ashamedly ignorant of being unable to speak. I am not a 'foreigner' Goan, but a true born and bred one. I will be buried not in Goa but in the land I have made mine and lived in for the past 50 years. I love Goa, the people culture and climate. It is a beautiful place with wonderful people. I hope and pray that the people -Goans and others who live in Goa - the Konkani speakers and their supporters, take to the streets in protest if they are to lose their language and identity to the real foreign 'liberators' from Maharashtra. I seem to recall that the Marashtris are keen to absorb the State into part of their own. Goans world wide - beware. Let us not lose our land and our identity. Patricio Jose Felix Vas ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
