Today, February 22nd, 2025 will be the 25th celebration of Mother Language Day, an International celebration first established by UNESCO and later adopted by the UN General Assembly. This celebration elevates linguistic diversity and the importance of preserving one’s mother tongue, especially in spaces where the dominant language is one other than the speaker’s mother language. But, before we think about how to celebrate, I should clarify what qualifies as a “mother language”.

Traditional Categorizations of Mother Language

Traditionally, a mother language was the first language one learned, in many cultures/historically this is the language taught to you by your mother (hence the title). With that said, four ways to determine your mother language are 1) origin, 2) identification, 3) competence, and 4) function.

1. Origin: The language one first learned
2. Identification: The language one identifies with/as a native speaker
3. Competence The language one knows best
4. Function: The language one uses most(Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000, p.106)

Diasporic View of Mother Language

The conversation of mother language is a complicated topic and even more so when considering colonized and global communities that may feel that their first or dominant language is not the language of their home culture. With the popularity of Bad Bunny’s new record “Debí tirar más fotos”, there has been an increase in dialogue on social media around dominant English speakers who identify as Latine and desire to learn Spanish. This example is certainly not the only community working to understand how their first language does or does not relate to the language of their home culture.

Therefore, on this Mother Language Day, I suggest we consider our dominant language and our home language to celebrate the opportunity to maintain and/or learn the languages that better connect us to our identities.

Photo: (Left to right) Me, My Mom, and My Sister. Three very different language journeys supporting one another daily.

I identify Spanish as my mother language because it was the first language I learned and because it is the dominant language spoken in Puerto Rico. However, as a Navy brat growing up primarily in the U.S., my Spanish language abilities are not as dominant as my English language abilities. With that being said, I am very intentional of practicing my Spanish language because it allows me to connect to my homeland, my family, and my culture.

Ways to Celebrate Mother Language Day

Whether you are someone who feels connected to your mother language, wants to re-establish your connection to your mother language, or wants to establish a connection for the first time. Here are 5 ways to connect to the language you identify as your mother language.

1. Connect with your family to ask questions about your home language.
   1. Ask questions about the language that your family has spoken and how it may vary geographically.
2. Understand more about your language journey to empower yourself to speak about language.
   1. Join our upcoming workshop, My Language, My Voice (SIGN UP HERE), to understand more about how language is learned and shared so you can describe and use language more thoughtfully.
3. Establish language goals.
   1. Determine how and with who you want to practice your language. This will help you decide how to work towards your language goals.
4. Find a community to practice your language with.
   1. Find a group that understands your language goals and background to support your maintenance or learning of language.
5. Advocate for others to have new language opportunities.
   1. Consider supporting initiatives like the Joint National Committee for Languages-National Council for Languages and International Studies working to provide students with an opportunity to maintain or learn their mother language and additional languages.

Your language journey is your own, so whatever you determine your mother language to be, may you use this upcoming Mother Language Day to practice your language confidently and joyfully.

Let’s start looking at everyday experiences through the lens of language.

🤟🏼Dr. Xiomara Rivera Pagán

Citation

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic Genocide in Education–or Worldwide Diversity and Human Rights? (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410605191