Dear Goanetters,
This is a delicate question. We Goans themselves are divided over the matter.
We know well that Konkani is our mother tongue. Konkani is the language of Goa
State. If 95 per cent of Goans speak Konkani at home, the language of the
primary school should be in Konkani. Let also English and Marathi be taught
from the beginning.. English will be taught throughout the curriculum. Let the
Konkani taught in the school be Goan Konkani and not "marathized' Konkani. Let
it be taught by Goan teachers and not by teachers imported from Maharashtra,
who do not know English. Let the meanings of Konkani words be given also in
English. A child can learn these languages easily. In that age group of 2-5,
the child picks up languages well. Before that age the child speaks the
language, only by hearing, without knowing anything about the grammar. A child
may mix up languages, for example, the child may say, "I am bos(s)-ing",
instead of "I am sitting". The Goan child is exposed to Konkani and English,
and now also to Hindi (if it is allowed to watch TV in the early age). Let the
child learn Konkani in devanagari as well as in roman script. Learning
devanagari at the tender age will pave the way to Hindi soon. Let the child
learn numbers in Konkani as well as in English (Arab numbers). Mathematics can
be taught in English with the help of Konkani. I remember that when we used to
learn Portuguese and speak Portuguese, the Teacher used to help the students by
speaking Konkani: "Are, ami amche bhaxent kitem mhonntanv? Tum kitem mhonnunk
sodtay? Sang, pollevum-ya!" We learn numbers and table of multiplication in
Portuguese. Later on, we learnt also in Konkani classes. But practically, we
knew it before we learnt Portuguese... The only difficulty is that we used to
say: "pon'nas ani panch", instead of "ponchavon", before we studied it in the
classes.
Therefore, I think that parents should choose Konkani for their children. Often
parents, who do not know English. try to speak "broken' English to their
children and to dogs... It is true that parents have the right to choose
schools for their children. They will try to send their children to the best
schools (according to their opinion). But they should know that all schools
will be teaching English. English is necessary for further education. They can
learn more languages later on. Therefore, there should not be any "communal" or
"rich-poor" divide. All Goan Hindu families do speak Konkani. Why should they
also not learn Konkani in the Marathi schools? Are there two mother tongues?
The official language of the State of Goa is Konkani (let it be in both
scripts, devanagari and roman). Let Konkani be mandatory for jobs in Goa.
Let us not wait to teach English till the 5th std. or 8th std. Let English be
reference/or link language, as well as a medium for advanced studies.
In our time, I studied Portuguese in the primary school, Latin at the age of
ten, French at the age of twelve, English at the age of thirteen, Konkani and
Marathi at the age of fifteen, and later on, other languages, including
Sanskrit.
Let them take French, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Italian or German, if there are
facilities, from 8th std. There are Goans and non-Goans who are applying for
Portuguese passport, without knowing a single word of Portuguese.
Let better sense prevail!
Regards.
Fr.Ivo
