Growing number of young people begin thinking in foreign languages, institute warns
Institute director urges parents and adults to stimulate speaking and writing in Macedonian during Open Days that include a French Language Day and an international conference.
Officials at the Institute for Macedonian Language “Krste Misirkov” warned during the Institute’s Open Days that an increasing number of young people do not only speak but begin to think in foreign languages, a trend they described as worrying for the future of the Macedonian tongue.
Prof. Dr. Elena Jovanova‑Grujovska, director of the Institute, urged parents and other adults who take part in youngsters’ everyday lives to encourage use of Macedonian at home and in school.
“They should stimulate speaking and writing in the Macedonian language. We have situations when young children of around ten years say that they can state, pronounce the problem in a foreign language, but cannot in their mother tongue Macedonian. They cannot remember how to say it in Macedonian. If the number of such children, such pupils increases, in that case we are cutting the branch on which we are sitting ourselves,” said Prof. Dr. Elena Jovanova‑Grujovska, director of the Institute for Macedonian Language “Krste Misirkov”.
Open Days: language promotion and a French Language Day
Afrim Gashi, President of the Assembly, said the Institute has a special duty because it studies the language in its native setting. “To speak about the Macedonian language in its cradle, where it is studied, is not only an honor and a privilege, but also a great responsibility,” he said during the Open Days.
The Institute declared the day a French Language Day as part of the programme, and Christophe Le Rigoler, the French ambassador to North Macedonia, stressed the personal value of a solid knowledge of one’s language: “I am personally convinced that if a person knows their language well it is a special richness for that individual,” he said.
The Open Days also include a two‑day international academic conference titled The Macedonian Language — a Source of Scientific Research, with participation from domestic and foreign scholars.
Photo: John Crane from Prague, Czech Republic / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
