Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
You probably missed my comment. It really depends on the mood and what language I was using a while ago. If somebody gave me the directions in Urdu, I'd probably be wondering in Urdu. If the directions were given in English, it'd probably be English. It varies.
For me I think in english all the time and then to speak any other language whether its urdu or french, I have to translate in my head in english first.
If you haven't spoken to anyone and you're just thinking to yourself, what language do you think in?
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
It's important to me; I want my children to be able to speak Urdu fluently and take pride in it. Though I'm out of practice, I'm grateful to my mom for having taught me how to read and write Urdu and I hope I can manage to do that with my own. Out of all the elements that form a culture such as clothing, celebrations etc...I feel that language is perhaps the most potent or concentrated; it preserves a culture.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
For me I think in english all the time and then to speak any other language whether its urdu or french, I have to translate in my head in english first.
If you haven't spoken to anyone and you're just thinking to yourself, what language do you think in?
It's not like that for me. I don't have to translate when I talk to people in English. I can't even imagine doing that, words just come out and go in. Isn't that how it should be for true bilinguals?
Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question. I don't remember what language I think in at random moments. It's a tough question, it really is (for me). I can't give you an honest answer.