Dear Floriano, Vivian and others, It is all very well to espouse the cause of Konkani. But all people are not the same as you gentlemen are. People can and do have difficulties with expressing themselves in a language they are no longer familiar with. It happens with all cultures, not necessarily Goan. There are people who have genuinely forgotten the use of of the language if they have not spoken for years, and I know a number of such people, past and present. They might understand, but the construct of the language to speak it confounds them. Then there are other Goans, brought up in today's Goa, who, for some reason, have not been spoken to in Konkani, and speak/understand only English (the Indian variety, that is). Yet others, who have not been brought up in Goa, yet speak Konkani fluently. I meet all types constantly, and sometimes my greeting in Konkani to the newly-arrived Goans to Melbourne gets a reply "I am sorry but I don't speak the language", with the apology followed by some explanation (born outside Goa, but did secondary schooling in Goa, etc). All explanations accepted by me, because I understand some of the difficulties people have with languages. So please have some tolerance, and rather than getting annoyed, perhaps you could offer some assistance in getting these people to relearn (or pick up) the language once again. Think the story of the sun and the wind - benevolence always wins, antagonism always loses. Regards, Gabriel.
>________________________________ >From: floriano <[email protected]> >To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <[email protected]> >Sent: Sunday, 16 December 2012 1:30 AM >Subject: [Goanet] Goencar.................. > >With your permission, I am going to put up this post everywhere because GOANS >must know that if they despise their own MOTHER TONGUE and run away from it as >if it a leper they are running away, GOA will be hard to SAVE. Goans shud read >the history of Jews and Israel. > > >----- Original Message ----- From: Vivian A. DSouza >To: [email protected] >Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2012 7:00 PM >Subject: Goencar.................. > > >I appreciated your posts. You stated it like it is. Although I was not born >in Goa nor brought up or educated in Goa, I speak Konkani proudly. > > >
