{"id":6956,"date":"2022-02-21T15:42:02","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T15:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/?p=6956"},"modified":"2022-03-28T14:53:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T14:53:52","slug":"heritage-languages-to-keep-or-not-to-keep-anita-k-shares-her-language-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/21\/heritage-languages-to-keep-or-not-to-keep-anita-k-shares-her-language-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Languages: To Keep or Not to Keep? &#8211; Anita K shares her language story"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"6956\" class=\"elementor elementor-6956\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0741ea0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0741ea0\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e78a4de\" data-id=\"e78a4de\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-505d634 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"505d634\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every year on February 21st, the world celebrates \u201cInternational Mother Tongue Day\u201d. For those of us in the South Asian diaspora, raising kids outside of India, what does this mean?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ll start by telling you my story. My parents came to NY from Kerala back in the 70s. They were part of a vibrant Malayali community in NY, but eventually they moved to South Florida when I was in preschool. My parents sought out and helped to establish the Malayali community there, but it was not the same as living in NY &#8211; where you are surrounded by so many of your people that you can have a completely insular upbringing. Going from churches to social events to even the grocery store &#8211; you could speak and hear Malayalam spoken all day. In Miami? I heard more Spanish than I heard English, let alone Malayalam. <\/span><\/p><p style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">My language story is the same as many immigrant children. Here is the common lament of an immigrant parent, reflecting on their child\u2019s inability to speak their language:\u00a0<\/span><\/p><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cShe spoke so well until she was 5.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cAfter she started school, she only wanted to speak English.\u201d<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cThe school discouraged us from speaking our language at home.\u201d<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cI was afraid it would confuse her. I thought it would affect her ability to speak English without an accent.\u201d<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cI don\u2019t know how to teach her. She doesn\u2019t seem to understand me. It came much easier to me when I was growing up.\u201d<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cThere are no classes or proper books.\u201d<\/span><\/li><\/ul><ul style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\"><li style=\"font-size: 15px;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">\u201cWhat\u2019s the point? She\u2019s not going to use it anyway.\u201d<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0aafb2b\" data-id=\"0aafb2b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b2b68df elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b2b68df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Does this sound familiar to you? Are you facing this situation with your child now?<\/p><p>Don\u2019t give up. <b>The truth is &#8211; language is inextricably woven with identity<\/b>. To lose your language, is to lose a piece of your connection to your homeland and your family. To better understand why this happens, it\u2019s important to draw a distinction between 2 key terms: \u201c<b>mother tongue<\/b>\u201d and \u201c<b>heritage language<\/b>\u201d. What do they have in common? What\u2019s the difference?\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>Both terms refer to the language we were first exposed to as babies. But they have different outcomes. A <b>mother tongue<\/b> is easy to recall and may be practiced on a consistent basis with friends, family and the community. A <b>heritage language<\/b> on the other hand, is a language \u201cinherited\u201d from one\u2019s family, but is lost as a child ages. It is literally crowded out by the dominant language of the environment. In almost all cases, that language is English.\u00a0<\/p><p>Parents raising kids outside of India need to recognize them as \u201cthird culture kids\u201d (TCK). Their identities are a mix of their Desi heritage, their religious upbringing, their race, but also undeniably, a different nationality &#8211; be it American, British, Australian, etc. Our goal should be to help them navigate this intersectionality, recognizing there is strength in embracing it all. Raising them with our food, dress, customs, and holidays, can strengthen their identification with \u201cbeing Desi\u201d. Language is no exception, when it comes to identifying as Desi.\u00a0<\/p><div>\u00a0<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-798f1f0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"798f1f0\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-15ac0f0\" data-id=\"15ac0f0\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-63064cd elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"63064cd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Studies show that,\u201cthe most commonly observed pattern among the U.S. immigrant population is the\u00a0language shift phenomenon.\u201d This means that as families settle in the US, and children grow up, marry and start their own families, the ability to speak the heritage language diminishes. In fact, \u201cA consistent finding in the field of sociology of language is that heritage languages are\u00a0lost by the third generation\u00a0of immigrants.\u201d That means if the grandparents came from India, it is very likely that the grandchildren will not speak the heritage language. Furthermore, \u201cSuch a shift was even more rapid among\u00a0Asian-Americans\u00a0as compared to Latino-Americans across generations.\u201d(* <em>1 refer below<\/em>)<\/p><p>Why do you think heritage language loss is so prevalent in our South Asian community? Logically &#8211; we are far away from our homeland, we lack resources, these languages are very different from English, as well as the fact being a native speaker is not a qualification in itself for being a good teacher. But that doesn\u2019t get to the heart of the matter. It is beyond logic and eludes most language teachers and parents &#8211; as it has to do with the heart.<\/p><p>\u00a0\u201cHeritage language is not just academic\u2026it&#8217;s psychological, rooted in shame and longing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><p>As language is tied to identity, if a child is unsure of who they are, ashamed of being Desi or even afraid to try to speak the language &#8211; we can\u2019t expect them to be successful, least of all become fluent. Kids can feel a greater degree of perfectionism and the fear of failure is more acute. It\u2019s not as simple as failing an exam. It means you fail at being Indian, that you let your family down. For TCK to have a chance, they have to want to learn. They have to accept that this language is not wrong, bad or \u201cother\u201d &#8211; that multilingualism is normal.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-49e75c1\" data-id=\"49e75c1\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-58170a5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"58170a5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">Think of the slew of microaggressions (negative messages) (<em>*2 refer below<\/em>) \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">a TCK may experience daily at school:\u00a0<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amma is not a word &#8211; we say Mommy in this country.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your skin is so dark, like the color of poop!<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OMG your dad has an accent!<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your name is Arjun? Wait\u2026can I just call you AJ?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What kind of Indian are you? Feathers or forehead dot?<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or from home:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You&#8217;re not Indian enough.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LOL you have a terrible accent when you speak [insert HL here]<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was so easy for me to learn when I was a kid. What&#8217;s wrong with you?<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don&#8217;t you know the difference between &#8220;pali&#8221; and &#8220;palli&#8221; in Malayalam? You\u2019re hopeless!<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you can\u2019t learn the alphabet, then I can\u2019t teach you<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div><p><strong><em>Footnotes:<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div><div><p>1 <span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">Cho, Grace<\/span><i><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\">. \u201cPerspectives vs Reality of Heritage Language Development\u201d, Multicultural Education Journal: Winter 2015.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\"><i>2 <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are all anecdotal statements I\u2019ve heard said in classrooms, to my kids and even myself.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f938611 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f938611\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b6fa33e\" data-id=\"b6fa33e\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2093bcd elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2093bcd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/6AC5CE5B-7AC1-4FBA-9D6D-3ADD0709755E-768x1024.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/6AC5CE5B-7AC1-4FBA-9D6D-3ADD0709755E-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/6AC5CE5B-7AC1-4FBA-9D6D-3ADD0709755E-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/6AC5CE5B-7AC1-4FBA-9D6D-3ADD0709755E.jpeg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0d16d11 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0d16d11\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><b>In Picture : Anita K with her family<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0a87936\" data-id=\"0a87936\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6b6cf23 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6b6cf23\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><span style=\"font-size: 15px; font-style: normal;\">It\u2019s not something we do often in our culture, but we need to talk about feelings. From a young age (even younger than you think) our kids will need help processing these questions and the feelings they create. Before we judge them for resisting our language, why not explore what is making them uncomfortable? Could they have received criticism or have been mocked by a relative for speaking incorrectly? Did someone at school make fun of them for their [insert language, food, dress, culture, skin color] ? Do they just want to blend in and be like everyone else?\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Imagine your kids being able to connect with your family back in India. Can they ask Patti \u201cHow are you\u201d in Tamil? Can they enjoy playing with their cousins and pick up the slang? Do they understand the priest during a pooja or the preacher in a bilingual sermon?\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is possible. There are so many more resources available today than my generation had growing up in the 80s and 90s. There are initiatives cropping up around the globe everyday with the vision of growing multicultural and multilingual South Asian kids. Take advantage of the resources out there, ask for help, and if it doesn\u2019t exist &#8211; maybe you can help create it! Expect your kids to resist at times, but keep the big picture in mind. Learning their language will help them find themselves.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How did my language story turn out? I just finished my first formal course in Malayalam and I can already start sharing this knowledge with my kids. They were shocked that even Amma had to study and do HW. I did better than a novice, but I still made a lot of mistakes and constantly mispronounced words, but \u2026 I absolutely loved it. It has fulfilled a part of me that I didn\u2019t know was missing. <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-851bb6d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"851bb6d\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-bc7b012\" data-id=\"bc7b012\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6c5148d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6c5148d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><b>About Author :<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anita K. Sachariah Srinivasan is the Founder of BhashaKids, a startup that aims to create bilingual learning materials for kids learning South Asian languages. A public speaker, facilitator, mompreneur and Learning Coach, Anita started BhashaKids in 2019 to help other South Asian diaspora families connect their kids with their heritage languages and culture. Frustrated by not being able to find quality learning products to help her kids learn their heritage languages, she set out to create them herself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her work includes creating bilingual and inclusive learning materials for kids, coaching parents, coaching language teachers, working with language schools to develop their curriculum, as well as supporting authors of underrepresented children&#8217;s books, including bilingual books. Raised in the US by South Indian parents, Anita speaks English, French, and some Spanish. She is (re)learning Malayalam, her heritage language. Raising a multilingual and a multicultural family, you can hear Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, and Spanish (besides English, of course) spoken in her home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><strong>Website \u00a0:\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 15px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bhashakids.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/bhashakids.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p><p><strong>Instagram :<\/strong> \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bhashakids\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@bhashakids<\/a><\/p><p><strong>Facebook<\/strong> :\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bhashakids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bhashakids\/<\/a><\/p><p><strong>Email :\u00a0Support@bhashakids.com<\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4dd36ff\" data-id=\"4dd36ff\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-20ec090 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"20ec090\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1023\" src=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/16E984F6-9B73-4157-B3FA-5F8F8F73500B-768x1023.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/16E984F6-9B73-4157-B3FA-5F8F8F73500B-768x1023.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/16E984F6-9B73-4157-B3FA-5F8F8F73500B-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/16E984F6-9B73-4157-B3FA-5F8F8F73500B-769x1024.jpeg 769w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/16E984F6-9B73-4157-B3FA-5F8F8F73500B.jpeg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f2389f8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f2389f8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><b>In Picture : Anita K Sachariah Srinivasan<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ae3b1d0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ae3b1d0\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-83f3a51\" data-id=\"83f3a51\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4c07fd2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4c07fd2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"879\" src=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/25EAAEA9-1666-405A-A78B-E2BC33E7DD2F-768x879.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/25EAAEA9-1666-405A-A78B-E2BC33E7DD2F-768x879.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/25EAAEA9-1666-405A-A78B-E2BC33E7DD2F-262x300.jpeg 262w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/25EAAEA9-1666-405A-A78B-E2BC33E7DD2F.jpeg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53b0325 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"53b0325\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><b>\u00a0Tamil Flash Cards Set<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-54ad020\" data-id=\"54ad020\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b2719a3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b2719a3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"894\" src=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/92ED8F8C-1C5C-4BE8-B154-E8CD99152AF8-768x894.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/92ED8F8C-1C5C-4BE8-B154-E8CD99152AF8-768x894.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/92ED8F8C-1C5C-4BE8-B154-E8CD99152AF8-258x300.jpeg 258w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/92ED8F8C-1C5C-4BE8-B154-E8CD99152AF8.jpeg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-758e52b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"758e52b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><b>Malayalam Flash Cards Set\u00a0<\/b><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e5fd5a4\" data-id=\"e5fd5a4\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2358992 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2358992\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"828\" height=\"922\" src=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/08C0221D-0252-4516-8C66-B18268F95526.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/08C0221D-0252-4516-8C66-B18268F95526.jpeg 828w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/08C0221D-0252-4516-8C66-B18268F95526-269x300.jpeg 269w, https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/08C0221D-0252-4516-8C66-B18268F95526-768x855.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5fcf086 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5fcf086\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><strong>Hindi Flash Cards Set\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3084809 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3084809\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-75da7ec\" data-id=\"75da7ec\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every year on February 21st, the world celebrates \u201cInternational Mother Tongue Day\u201d. For those of us in the South Asian diaspora, raising kids outside of India, what does this mean?\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ll start by telling you my story. My parents came to NY from Kerala back in the 70s. They were part of a vibrant &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/21\/heritage-languages-to-keep-or-not-to-keep-anita-k-shares-her-language-story\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Heritage Languages: To Keep or Not to Keep? &#8211; Anita K shares her language story<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[475,473,474,476],"class_list":["post-6956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-post","tag-bhashakids","tag-heritagelanguage","tag-internationalmotherlangageday","tag-languagestory"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA.png",1080,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA-300x300.png",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA-768x768.png",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA-1024x1024.png",1024,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA.png",1080,1080,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/46D7DDAB-4F83-4C7A-97D9-D9D7C2D982FA.png",1080,1080,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Deepika","author_link":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/author\/deepika-suresh-kumar\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Every year on February 21st, the world celebrates \u201cInternational Mother Tongue Day\u201d. For those of us in the South Asian diaspora, raising kids outside of India, what does this mean?\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ll start by telling you my story. My parents came to NY from Kerala back in the 70s. They were part of a vibrant&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6956"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7348,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6956\/revisions\/7348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalsofmomma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}