The team at Preply released a poignant study just in time for International Mother Language Day. Their researchers demonstrated the powerful role of mother language in immigrants’ lives through a survey of over 3,000 respondents across six countries. Respondents live in the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Spain, Germany, and the U.S. Their country of residence affected some survey results. For example, around 80% of people living in the U.K. and Japan reported speaking their mother language with their children. They felt that sharing the mother language with their children would give them a stronger sense of identity and family tradition. Many studies have shown that maintaining the mother tongue can help children reach developmental milestones more quickly. People are least likely to speak their mother language with their children in the U.S.
The team also examined generational differences in mother language. They found that Millennials feel most comforted by their mother tongue, but Gen X feels a stronger sense of cultural identity, pride, and belonging tied to it. It seems that emotions surrounding native language strengthen with age, rather than fade away.
The team paid special attention to the emotions associated with the mother tongue. The highest number of respondents reported feeling comfortable when they heard or used their native language, followed by cultural identity and pride. Indifference and negative emotions were the least common feelings reported.
This thorough survey didn’t miss the chance to consider people who have more than one mother language. 75% of these respondents felt equally connected to all their mother languages, while only 25% had a stronger connection to one than to the others.
We can also see that over half of respondents felt more themselves when using their native language and also used it while thinking or talking to themselves. When we consider all these results together, we see a very clear message. People feel strongly positive about using their native language, and no matter where in the world they live, they feel that their mother language is a part of who they are.
