In a few recent articles, I have focused on the importance of local languages being used. That also means big languages, such as Urdu, and it means smaller languages and vernaculars, including dialects. It is important that people get a chance to use local languages, indeed their mother tongue, in as many situations as possible, and that the written languages are maintained. It is said that there are some 10,000 languages in the world, perhaps more or maybe less, depending on definition. At the same time, some languages disappear and die out every year, according to UNESCO, which is the UN organisation keeping an eye on such issues.
In our time, English has become the most important a lingua franca, but also other big languages are essential for local, regional and international communication. The United Nations has five official languages, but we could easily double or triple that number to honour major languages in the world. Modern technology will ease translation of foreign languages. Yet, still it will be useful to learn foreign languages the old fashioned way, since language learning also has to do with cultural, political, historical and other aspects about the people in the foreign land.
As a social scientist, having spent a lot of time in comparative education and international development studies, I would underline the importance of more aspects than foreign languages, and I would even put less emphasis on language than the other issues. But it would always be important to learn about the language or languages in a new land, and indeed show respect and interest for the language aspects. When I was young I studied education issues in East Africa, and I worked there, too, learning quite a bit of Swahili. I must admit I am very poor in Urdu, but then I came to Pakistan, dealing with education for Afghan refugees, at a more mature age.
When the Brazilian educationist and philosopher Paulo Freire (1921-1997) in the 1960s and 1970s developed his theory and practice about literacy, functionality and empowerment were the key concepts; words and concepts were collected about people’s own livelihood and work, not about something abstract, but something that could have a direct meaning and impact. His book ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, first published in 1968 became a worldwide bestseller. The famous American linguist Noam Chomsky (b. 1928), who has visited Pakistan several times, is more a social and political scientist than a language specialist in a limited sense. Hence, I feel in good company when I also draw attention to the wider issues when I write about Norway and its language history, interesting and useful as it is in so many ways, also outside that country’s borders.
In Norway, a small country with 5.5 million people, there are two official versions of the national language, Standard Norwegian, which is similar two Danish. In addition, there is Sâmi, the mother tongue by the indigenous Norwegians, who are only some 65,000 people, early mostly semi-nomadic reindeer herdsmen in North Norway; they also learn Norwegian, due to stern ‘Norwegianization’ assimilation policies. The other Nordic countries, too, have Sâmi minorities; in Greenland, which is part of Denmark, the indigenous people are Inuit or Eskimos, as the earlier term was.
The two countries of Denmark and Norway were ruled as one country, with Denmark in the powerful seat, beginning after the Black Death in 1349-1350 when about two-thirds of Norway’s population was wiped out, until 1814 when Denmark lost in the Napoleonic Wars and Norway was ceded to Sweden, which was on the winning side. That union, with Norway in a lower position, lasted until 1905, when it was dissolved peacefully on Norway’s demand much because it had become an advanced shipping nation and it was not satisfied with the foreign embassies and trade offices all being Swedish, and the head of state, a constitutional king, resided in Sweden. However, Norway did have its own national assembly and ministers in most fields.
And then a bit more specifically about the language issues: New Norwegian language was created in the 1840s and 1850s, based on dialects in areas with less Danish influence; today, less than a million use New Norwegian, but it is there to stay, and it is a rule that all secondary school students must have knowledge in both versions of the Norwegian language, and a civil servant must be able to answer letters and correspond in both versions of the language.
In Pakistan, we would say that people should do the same, even use their local language or vernacular in the location where it is understood, and write in Urdu, well, possibly even in the local language. If this logic was to be followed, children should also be taught in the local language, their mother tongue, at primary school, with Urdu, and English being subjects but not mediums of instruction. At middle and secondary school, and tertiary level, Urdu should be used more than today when English is often preferred, or even mandatory for written papers and dissertations, and also for lectures and classroom discussions; alas, students – and teachers – are often not fluent in English and that may hamper the students’ learning and thinking. Therefore one can argue that there should be refresher courses in English so that students can upgrade their command of the language, and perhaps there should also be courses in Urdu. One could even argue for local languages to be used more even at university, and then there would be a need for courses in those languages related to scientific work. This is probably unrealistic and many would say, not the right way to progress in a time when English has become so important. In a way, Pakistan should be grateful to the Brits in this field, and English is widely use, albeit at the expense of Urdu and local languages.
And then, Dear Reader, since we have all become so influenced by the Anglo-American culture, not only language, let me wish you a Happy Thanksgiving now at the last Thursday and weekend in November. It isn’t Pakistan or Norwegian, but is one of the foreign influences we can live well with, thanking God good harvests of the land, love of people around – in spite of the current worldwide inflation and price increases.