Interviews
Interviews provide an in-depth and personal perspective to understanding the impact of bilingualism on Indian children. There are similar and contrasting views, but everyone has their own journey in regards to language. Interviews were conducted over the phone or in person. The same set of questions were asked to 3 multilingual people, and the same set of questions were asked to 2 monolingual people. The interviewees will only be referred to by their first name. The multilingual people interviewed were Sreehita, Aarya, and Sanath. Sreehita speaks Telugu, Aarya speaks Gujarati, and Sanath speaks Kannada. The monolingual people interviewed were Trisha and Haila. Both of Trisha’s parents speak Hindi, and her mom also speaks Malayalam. Haila’s father identifies as Indian, but her mom does not. Her father is fluent in Hindi and Gujarati.
Multilingual
Do you consider your parents’ language to be your second language or one of your first languages?
Sreehita, Aarya, and Sanath learned these languages through family members. Both Sreehita and Aarya consider these languages to be one of their first languages. Sreehita says that she “grew up speaking it along with English." Aarya says that she learned Gujarati due to growing up with her grandparents: “I was like learning it simultaneously with English. Also, my grandparents like raised me because my parents were always at work...they would always like babysit me after school and stuff and like pick me up. So, like they were obviously speaking Gujarati all the time.” However, Sanath does not consider Kannada to be one of his first languages: “I would consider it to be one of my second languages because I was born in the US and English is a majority of my conversations.”
How important has knowing the language been to you?
All three describe using the language they learned in order to talk with family members and strengthen relationships. Sanath says that “Kannada has been really important to me just because it’s a huge part of my culture. It’s how I communicate with my relatives and family. It’s a bonding language.”
What have you learned about your culture or identity based on conversations in the language?
Though Sreehita and Sanath feel language is an important part to being connected to their culture, Aarya disagrees due to her experiences with her younger sister who cannot speak Gujarati: “I feel like knowing your language really has nothing to do with knowing your culture. Because my sister, she’s very cultured and she doesn’t know Gujarati. She like understands it, but she can’t speak it. But I don’t think that could stop you from learning anything about your culture.”
Sreehita describes how language does not just teach a person about new words but also about “mannerisms.” She says that “It’s like the way you approach situations can change based on the way you speak. I, it’s kind of hard to explain, but like say...you speak English, you’re more likely to like approach that situation like you would when you’re with your friends who speak that language.”
How important do you believe it is to continue teaching the next generations the language, specifically in your own family?
Sreehita, Sanath, and Aarya all believe that continuing to teach the next generations the language they learned is important. Sreehita believes it’s important to “stay in touch with them [roots].” Aarya says that knowing the language is “unique from everyone else” and “if you have family, it makes it a lot easier,” but she reaffirms that it is not the most important aspect to understanding one’s culture.
Additional Information
Sreehita learned how to read and write in Telugu. When asked if she believes literacy is important, she said that she is “more connected to like my roots” and it has helped her in reading “scriptures” (Hindu religious writings) and being able to read “the signs” in India.
Sanath discusses the lack of importance of Kannada in relationships outside of his family: “I feel that Kannada is…not very popular here in the States. Like there’s not many people who speak it, so I feel like it’s really even more of a...individualistic thing because it keeps our family united.”
Monolingual
Is there a reason why you haven’t learned the language?
There was no specific reason as to why Trisha and Haila never learned their parents' or parent's languages, respectively. Haila says that “My dad wanted us to do it a lot when we were younger, but he never like spoke to us and we never ended up taking it.” Trisha says that “there wasn’t a reason that they [parents] specifically didn’t though” and "they never really either had the time to or they didn’t think it was like that important.”
How has not knowing the language impacted your life?
Both Trisha and Haila express the difficulty in communication with family members. Haila discusses how “there’s definitely that language barrier.” Trisha expresses that when she is “with other Indian families and…the children can like talk to the parents,” “I just feel kind of left out of the conversation.”
How has not learning the language impacted your relationships?
For Trisha, not learning the language impacted her relationship with grandparents: “I do feel like a bit of a disconnect for my grandparents, mostly because they do know English, but it’s…not their primary language.” However, not learning the language “really hasn’t impacted me a lot” in regards to her relationship with her parents. For Haila, she recognizes the “even larger language barrier” with her family in India, but she is “not that close with…the part of my family that’s in India” and closer to her cousins who “grew up here.”
Do you think learning another language is important and why?
Both Haila and Trisha express an importance in learning another language. Haila says that “I think it’s really important...especially if you have family that speaks a different language just so you can communicate with them better.” Trisha says that “Even if it’s not the language your parents speak, like at least learning another language, it’s just a great way to get introduced to like, not only other cultures, but…it’s a really useful skill to have later in life.”