Watch above: A Saskatoon radio show celebrates International Mother Language Day on Sunday. Amber Rockliffe reports.
SASKATOON – It’s not often you find representatives from Saskatchewan’s Japanese, Jamaican, Cree, Hindi and Bengali communities sitting around a table, discussing their languages and cultures. However, CFCR’s Jebunnessa Chapola made it happen.
The radio host invited the representatives on to her show to celebrate International Mother Language Day and said she was fascinated with all they had to share.
“It’s a very, very precious and deep-rooted reason why we are continuing this show every year,” she explained.
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The show aims to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity.
“When you learn about other people, you break down your own stereotypes that you have of them, and it builds that relationship,” said Randy Morin, one of Chapola’s guests and a proud speaker of the Cree language.
READ MORE: Growing diversity in Saskatoon fuels need for more interpreters
From songs, to poetry, to their favourite sayings, they shared their mother tongues.
“In doing that I’m better able to understand where an individual comes from,” said one of Chapola’s guests, Dr. Yolanda Palmer.
Palmer grew up in Jamaica and was proud to participate in Patois.
“I’m better able to see the individual for who they really are, based on their culture and who they really are,” Palmer explained.
Mother language day is held in remembrance of students who lost their lives demonstrating for recognition of their Bengali language in 1952. They were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
“As a Bengali person, I’m very proud of my history – that we are the first nation in the world who fought to save the mother tongue,” Chapola explained.
Now, Chapola is proud to speak her language into a microphone and encourages others to do the same.
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