Recently I realised I am not just bilingual but multilingual.<\/a> I grew up speaking Pahari, then I learnt Urdu. Later, upon arriving in the UK as a teenager, I learnt English. I still speak the first and the third, read the second and third but write only in the third. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having experienced the British education, first as a student and then as an educationalist, I can say it is a monolingual system, with a sole focus on English. Moreover, it is a monolingualising<\/a> system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It talks about valuing bilingualism, but its approach is not additive but subtractive<\/a>. So, children enter school speaking their mother tongue. By the time they leave they usually only speak English. Their teachers, explicitly or implicitly, will have told them \u2018only English matters\u2019. The wider society also sends a clear message to people, especially if they are from migrant communities, that their mother tongue is worthless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately,\nI continued to read and speak my mother tongues and have managed to keep them\nalive. They are a central part of my identity. Whenever I have the opportunity,\nI encourage people to become or at least stay bilingual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So,\nit was very interesting and encouraging to see a discussion amongst the members\nof the Pashtun Community, on the Facebook page of the Pashtun Trust (5.7.20). So,\nmy thanks to everyone who has contributed to the discussion. I hope it will\nencourage others to have similar discussion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ndiscussion began with the key question: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it important to teach your children to read and write\nPashto? Why?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nresponse there were several extremely helpful contributions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the language will die out <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s important, but unfortunately even speaking it is dying\nout<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s deliberately being wiped; the national language (of\nPakistan) takes precedence <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People\nsaid the language was dying out: \u201chalf of us brits can\u2019t speak the language\nnever mind read and write it\u201d. We should be teaching our kids Pashto! The\nlanguage (of lions) will die out if we don’t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People\nthought speaking the language was \u201cmore important than to read and write it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One\nsaid when their family went to Pakistan they realised what a mistake it had\nbeen not teaching Pashto to the children when they were young. Another said:\n\u201cStur sari shu…they don\u2019t want to learn it now\u201d. Another said he has tried\nbut the children find the language funny and don\u2019t take it seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One\ncontributor commented that it was beneficial to speak the language even if one\ncould not read or write it. \u201cI suppose if you’re Welsh it would still be\nbeneficial to learn Welsh even if it’s just to keep the language going. It’s\npart of who you are, who your parents are.\u201d Another contributor pointed out\nthat speaking in different languages was an asset, a message that should come\nfrom the education system but sadly does not. This has the support from\nacademic research:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bilingualism is a cognitive, social, and economic asset<\/a> for all people, and schools can play a significant role in helping students develop full academic bilingualism. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Others have also argued that bilingualism is indeed an asset<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One\ncomment reminded us that learning about Pashtun history, heritage, values, principles,\nand religion took precedent over the language. Also, that, within a European\ncontext, other languages were dominant and were replacing Pashto. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ethnic Retention<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nis a term coined by academics to refer to immigrants or people of colour\n\u201cembracing the characteristics of their original culture, such as language,\nvalue priorities, daily routines, social networks and ethnic identity\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nwas discussion about how one\u2019s language was interlinked with one\u2019s overall\nidentity: <\/p>\n\n\n\n it is who you are… losing your language is the first stage\nof losing your culture.. lose your culture; well then you are lost… <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In all reality l don’t think the next generation will be as\nmuch Pashtun as they will be British.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nrole of parents and grandparents was crucial: <\/p>\n\n\n\n My parents and grandparents would insist on us speaking Pashto\nat home and that’s how we learned and preserved it. With this next generation,\nyou have to make the effort to speak it with them and encourage it and if they\nmake mistakes, help them but don’t take the mick otherwise that will make them\ngo back into their shell. I do it with my own, I have half Irish nieces and\nnephew who are learning it, so it just requires effort and consistency.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People raised the importance of teaching, which in their view was essential to keeping a language alive. One person suggested how to keep the language alive: by practising it i.e. writing, reading, and socialising and speaking with others. Internet resources such as Youtube<\/a> were recommended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n