Fijivillage
9 February, 2026, 10:18 pm
Central - 24°C Rain
9 February, 2026, 10:18 pm Central - 24°C Rain

Speak your mother tongue or it will die out- Geraghty

Speak your mother tongue or it will die out- Geraghty

By Iliana Biutu
26/02/2023
University of the South Pacific Associate Professor of Linguistics Professor Paul Geraghty

University of the South Pacific Associate Professor of Linguistics Professor Paul Geraghty is reminding Fijians of the need to speak their mother tongue daily, so they can keep their dialects alive.

Professor Geraghty highlighted this during the celebrations of World Indigenous Language Day.

He says we should not be ashamed of speaking in our mother tongue because it defines who we are.

He also acknowledged the move by the Ministry of Education for introducing the conversational Hindi-Fijian program in the teaching of iTaukei and Indo-Fijian on how to speak and understand these two languages.

He says if we want unity in Fiji, we need to learn and speak the language of other ethnicities and not speak English because this will only bring separation among us.

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