Do you know that as a child I was told I’d only ever speak basic English… and nothing more?!
Here’s my story for International Mother Language Day (21 February).
Strictly speaking, my mother language is Macedonian. It was the first language I spoke – even though I was born in English-dominant Australia. When almost all of the adults around me spoke little (if any) English, plus spending part of my early childhood in Yugoslavia, there was not much choice in the matter.
But before I started primary school in Australia, not speaking English was considered a major problem.
My mother was instructed to take me to a speech therapist.
I still remember the session. I was asked to complete cognitive exercises that I thought were stupid. When told to pick up a pencil and place it at the end of the table, I reacted in the most natural way possible – I chucked the pencil away in disgust.
The speech therapist concluded that my parents were "confusing" me by speaking in "their language" in front of me. Doing so was making me "intellectually behind". They were instructed to switch to speaking in English only so as to "reverse the damage".
My Australian-born mother (of Macedonian origin) could comply. My Macedonian-born father, with barely any English, struggled.
They were made to feel ashamed of their mother language.
But it gets crazier:
The therapist told my mother that academically I'm a lost cause, that I’d likely only ever gain a basic level of English and will definitely not be able to learn any other language.
Needless to say, my parents were devastated.
But not to worry... it didn't take me long to prove them all wrong. Within one week of starting school, the "burst" came – out of nowhere I began speaking fluent Australian English just like my classmates.
And as for other languages, well, just check out my website About page and you can be the judge on how that turned out.
I've always dreamed of seeing that speech therapist again to give her a piece of my mind!
However, more than four decades later, families around the world are still being told not to speak their mother language at home – because of myths about "confusion" or pressure to prioritise prestige languages.
Yet research consistently shows that strong foundations in a first language support cognitive development, identity and even additional language acquisition.
That’s why International Mother Language Day matters.
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