Mother tongue matters: 'Learning my parents' language was key to understanding my identity'

While it can be easy for a young kid to neglect his mother tongue, Joshua's parents were relentless in encouraging him to remain true to his roots.

Born of Filipino parents whose first language is Filipino, Joshua had been used to hearing his parents speak the language at home. Source: Joshua Francisco

Despite being born and raised in Australia, 20-year old Joshua Francisco is no stranger to his native language. 

The Politics and Philosophy student from the University of Melbourne speaks more fluent Filipino than all the other Filipino kids he grew up with and says learning the language was the key to understanding his identity.

Learning to speak my parents' language made me feel that I am not an outsider in the family and it was the key to understanding my identity.

Born of Filipino parents whose first language is Filipino, Joshua had been used to hearing his parents speak the language at home. It was only at pre-school when he learnt to speak English.

"When I was a kid, Tagalog was the only language we used at home, we did not use any other language. When I was in pre-school, that’s when I learnt English so maybe I can say it’s a bilingual acquisition.”

Born of Filipino parents whose first language at home was Filipino, it was only at pre-school when Joshua learnt English. Source: Joshua Francisco

Growing up on the Gold Coast, Joshua was always in the company of Australians. While it can be easy for a young kid to neglect his mother tongue, Joshua's parents were relentless in encouraging him to remain true to his roots.

“When I was in primary school, almost all of my friends were white. Some people would mistake me to be either Chinese or Japanese and it makes me question who I am but I thank my parents because they’ve always reminded me that I am Filipino by heart and encouraged me to learn about my culture because that’s who I really am.”

Although Joshua Francisco was surrounded by Australian friends, his parents have always encouraged him to stay true to his roots. Source: Joshua Francisco

Learning my mother tongue

Even though Joshua’s parents were his greatest influence in speaking the language, he says that watching TV shows helped him improve his Filipino vocabulary.

While all the other kids are watching English cartoon shows, Joshua says he would be flicking through the Filipino channel.

When I was young we had TFC (The Filipino Channel) and instead of watching cartoons, I would watch Going Bulilit, Pangako sayo, MYX PH, Cinema One or the movies of Dolphy.

With wide access to technology, Joshua says it is not hard for people to learn a language nowadays.

He adds with a simple tap of a button, media apps allow a person to learn a language and just simply listening to the radio or television will assure that a person can learn a language.

“There are tons of resources to learn a language. An example would be through our smartphones like the Duolingo app. We can also learn a language from TV shows or the movies we watch. If you listen to it every day, I can guarantee you can pick up the language."

With a simple tap of a button media apps like duolingo allow you to learn a language. Source: Duolingo

The benefits of learning a language

Besides the fact that learning to speak a language can be an advantage to one's professional career, he also believes that it can greatly benefit a person's self-development.

“For me, it does not only benefit a career, but it's also for our character. If you are learning a language you are also improving yourself and being bilingual is not a bad thing. It’s something you can be proud of.”

Learning to speak the language also helped him to better understand his culture and connect with his family.

Speaking the language was a way for me to connect with my family since I am the only child and it gave me a better understanding of my culture.

He adds that the drive and energy to learn a language will only come from a better understanding of one's identity and culture.

"Who are you? Where are you from? What's the culture you have at home? You will only have the energy to learn your language when you can answer these questions."