Febryani Suryaning Putri

Moving Towards The Future Without Forgetting The Origins: A Reminder of The
Importance of The Mother Tongue

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Mahatma
Gandhi's quotes stuck in my mind. We have the gift of being in a world that has an extraordinary
life. To survive, we need a source of information and knowledge. However, human life is limited in
age, so we have to take advantage of life by adding more knowledge as possible as if we will not be
able to see tomorrow.

In today's industrial revolution, knowledge is wide open to us. Everything about the world
and its content is easily accessible without being limited by space and time. However, are we able
to easily understand everything? No. To understand all informations, we require a tool known as
language that is very crucial in human life. We also acquire knowledge through language. Besides,
language allows us to easily access important information around us.

Each region has its own unique language. Bahasa Indonesia is the language of the unity of
the Indonesian. Indonesia is rich in regional languages, as a multicultural country. This is what will
be referred to as the mother tongue. However, the mother tongue is often overlooked because of the
presence of foreign languages as an influence of the time. Sadly, millennials prefer to communicate
in foreign languages that are considered much cooler these days. This may cause them to forget the
native language they had learned from birth.

UNESCO states that every two weeks there is a mother tongue disappears. The loss of the
mother tongue has decreased the richness of cultural diversity. Today, nearly 6,000 languages are
forgotten and face serious problems leading to extinction. It is regrettable that our mother tongue
provides us with an identity and uniqueness. It is also through our mother tongue that we know our
origin history. Every region must have an important history, therefore the mother tongue is very
useful for the study of our history. If we begin to abandon, we will lose the diversity of languages
that make us unique in terms of delivering ideas, accent, and a sense of the language itself.

Language is not as simple as a way of communicating, but as a way of transmitting feelings

and ideas. There is also language as an accompaniment to some rituals which make the series of
rituals solemn, channeling the human spiritual energy of nature. The mother tongue creates a
number of values and beliefs in daily life. As human belief to interpret life through ancient proverbs
and traditions which have been transmitted from generation to generation. Moreover, some mother
tongues do not have words in other languages. This shows how important the mother tongue is in
preserving the cultural diversity and uniqueness of each region.
 Febryani Suryaning Putri
What causes regional languages to be eroded by the times? One reason is the sense of
superiority in using a foreign language so that it takes pride in being fluent in the language of
others. Self-confidence also increases because the speaker is considered a modern person. In fact,
daily imported products use a foreign language in them, making people feel the need to know the
use of these products. However, the most influential thing is that a generation that is ignorant of the
mother tongue has had a very fatal impact on the preservation of multilingualism. The present
generation's language, personality, and attitude are starting to be abstract because they are
accustomed to foreign languages which dominate in daily interactions.

We as an intelligent generation must be able to preserve the diversity of languages while we

learn foreign languages. We can get knowledge from foreign-language media and we can share it
using our native languages. The mother tongue will give character to any information we get from
foreign media. Foreign languages do not always harm our own language if we are responsible for
the knowledge we have. We can educate ourselves and society from the knowledge we get. The
limitations of studying the outside world can be broken by understanding what is happening
nowadays. The source of scientific reference is also richer by the presence of foreign language
translators. Such textbooks and foreign scientific research articles that are referred to have more
advanced and modern knowledge. The local mass media have even adapted foreign media as a
source of information for the public. In conclusion, the ability to speak foreign languages can
benefit both ourself and societies. Therefore, keep in mind that life is like dying tomorrow and
studying like living forever requires a sense of responsibility and don't be "the peanuts forget their
shells".
 Febryani Suryaning Putri
References

Murti, S., 2015. Eksistensi Penggunaan Bahasa Indonesia di Era Globalisasi.

Assapari, M.M., 2014. Eksistensi bahasa Indonesia sebagai bahasa nasional dan perkembangannya
di era globalisasi. Prasi: Jurnal Bahasa, Seni, dan Pengajarannya, 9(18).

un.org. International Mother Language Day 21 February. Diakses pada 20 Februari 2021 dari:
https://www.un.org/en/observances/mother-language-day

Sugiharto, S. 2018. Essay : Saving the mother tongue by not cutting the foreign tongue. Diakses
pada : 22 Februari 2021 dari: http://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2018/03/05/essay-saving-the-
mother-tongue-by-not-cutting-the-foreign-tongue.html