Obviously, FN missed the point just like most people who did not understand what Joao Botelho Gomes wrote in his email of 16 October 2007.
I was surprised that nobody else except Bernado and me responded to Joao Botelho Gomes. I put that down to people not understanding Portuguese. Joao Botelho Gomes' post in Portuguese was provocative and implied that the Goan origin was very much linked to Portuguese language and that all Goans should read and write (and express themselves) in Portuguese, the de facto language of our ancestors (according to him). Whilst it is true that I am fluent in both colonial languages Portuguese and English and not in our own Goan mother tongue Konkani (I very much regret this) does not mean that I have to agree with Botelho Gomes. In my opinion Konkani is in the centre of our Goan identity. If we lose it, we will lose our Goan identity forever. Yes, we may all still speak and write in English and/or Portuguese but we should not lose our connection to Konkani and I still defend that Konkani should be the only official language of Goa like it was a few years ago. Best regards Paulo Colaco Dias. > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:goanet- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Frederick [FN] Noronha * ???????? > ??????? > Sent: 19 October 2007 20:01 > To: Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994! > Subject: Re: [Goanet] Goan Origin > > Strange that Paulo should choose two "colonial" languages in which to > make his point! > > Let's be realistic and honest: English and Marathi (now) are the > preferred written languages. Earlier, it was Portuguese primarily, > specially for official and historical purposes. Konkani is undeniably > the preferred spoken language. Hindi, Portuguese (a bit) and French > get studied in schools too. Lot of migrant workers have languages like > Kannada as their mother tongue; and Goa also had historic connection > with this, being the language of its former rulers. On the coastal > belt, one can see (a few) signboards in Russian and Hebrew, while > earlier German and the Scandinavian languages would be visible too. > And, not to forget, Konkani gets written in five scripts (including > Malayalam and Perso-Arabic, though there are some who would like to > forget that reality). > > Language is indeed a complex issue in Goa. FN >
