Credit: Prince Ntontolo
In this era of glomarking, each country wants to promote its culture and establish its identity. The developed countries want to maintain their position, and the underdeveloped countries are on the march towards development. Between international and national languages, the question of identity arises. Who are we today? Who were we yesterday and what will we be tomorrow? In Congo, during this week of the Francophonie, the themes debated around young people raise another question: how to promote the French language while remaining proud of our national and mother tongues?
Amadou Hampâté Bâ on French and our mother tongues
Credit : Bii.999 / Wikicommons
Six years before his death in 1991, Amadou Hampâte – The Best Of Amadou Hampâtein his letter to youth, evokes this notion of identity.
Be, young people, that good gardener who knows that, to grow in height and extend its branches in all directions of space, a tree needs deep and powerful roots. Thus, well-rooted within yourselves, you will be able to open yourself outwards without fear and damage, both to give and to receive.
For this vast work, two tools are essential to you: first of all, the deepening and preservation of your mother tongues, irreplaceable vehicles of our specific cultures; then, the perfect knowledge of the language inherited from colonization (for us the French language), just as irreplaceable, not only to allow the different African ethnic groups to communicate with each other and to know each other better, but also to open us up to the exterior and allow us to dialogue with cultures from around the world.
Amadou Hampâté Bâ: Letter to youth.
The French-speaking world with its advantages
Here, we are therefore called to firstly value our languages. And then, because our destiny and that of France have been linked, we must at least know and master the French language. It not only facilitates our exchanges, but also allows us to open up to the outside world.
I attended an exchange between professors, doctors and students, organized on the occasion of Francophonie week in Brazzaville, within the Agence Universitaires de la Francophonie. This moment of sharing, which was based on the theme: “Francophonie in partnership with Congolese languages”, led the participants to ask themselves the real questions related to the valorization of mother tongues, and the promotion of national languages. .
Credit: Prince Ntontolo /ON Congo
This enriching exchange personally demonstrated to me how much the French language has been of service to us throughout our social journey. Thanks to the language, we can read and understand this article without difficulty regardless of our ethnicity. Likewise, by having a good knowledge of this language, we can easily write memoirs, business creation projects, and write books that a multitude of people can read.
Open up to the world while remaining faithful to your culture
Let us remember that we must not put barriers in our way. We must have the opportunity to go wherever our heart tells us to go. Our desire to develop and open up to the rest of the world should not keep us away from certain opportunities. If we want to learn foreign languages, let’s start by delving into those that we have had since the dawn of time. Maybe one day Lingala will be spoken at the United Nations, who knows?
Read also: Letter to my son
Credit: Prince Ntontolo, exchange – Francophonie /AUF Congo
Today we celebrate the Francophonie. Tomorrow we will perhaps celebrate our national languages. We will learn about other cultures and share ours with the rest of the world. Hopefully these discussions will lead to something concrete.
See the website of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie
Tell us in the comments what you think about the Francophonie, and how we must use it to promote our native and national languages.