‘Refuses to speak Tamil or Kannada': Bengaluru man calls out neighbour's English-only parenting

Hindustan Times

19 hours ago

A Bengaluru man's post has reignited a familiar debate, the slow but steady erosion of native language use among urban Indian children.
Sharing his experience, the man wrote, 'Neighbour's kid converses only in English, not in Kannada or even his mother tongue Tamil, because status it seems. And he had an accent already.'
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The comment resonated with many on the platform, sparking a flood of replies, especially from parents concerned about the diminishing presence of regional languages in Indian homes.
One user from Melbourne, Australia, shared a contrasting perspective. 'I think it's a thing in India. My daughter and a few families here actively ensure they speak Kannada. Also, there's a Kannada school here funded by the government. Crazy what's happening there,' they wrote, pointing to how diaspora communities often preserve linguistic roots more consciously than urban families back home.
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Another user reflected on their own parenting approach: 'As parents we must take the lead in speaking our native language at home. Kids may switch to English, but gently bring them back. Personal experience.'
Among the responses, one detailed post stood out for mapping out the underlying reasons behind this linguistic drift. The user pointed to three key developments over the past two decades that have contributed to the decline. First, the lack of emphasis on Kannada in schools, where managements often discourage, or even punish, students for speaking in the local language, has weakened its presence among children. Second, the longstanding dubbing ban in Kannada meant that a generation of children grew up watching cartoons in Hindi, English, or other regional languages, leaving little space for Kannada content during their formative years. Without this early exposure, children are less likely to form an emotional connection with the language.
And finally, a deep-seated inferiority complex among parents, who associate English fluency with social status.
Though the original post was a simple remark about a neighbour's child, it opened a window into a much larger conversation, one where language is closely tied to culture, class, aspiration, and identity.
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