The Linguist

CIOL AWARDS The feedback was clear: evolve or lose their interest. The traditional methods failed to resonate Rahul Bhagvat explains how an innovative Gujarati programme is instilling linguistic pride in children of Indian heritage T here are thousands of languages in the world but rarely do people appreciate that one language dies every 14 days. This is the staggering reality facing our global population. In National Geographic's special 2012 issue on 'Languages of the World', Russ Rymer shared this sobering revelation: "Saving a language is not something that linguists can accomplish, because salvation must come from within… The one thing that's necessary for the revival of a language is pride." Families from the western Indian state of Gujarat have travelled to various continents of the world, bringing their culture and language to the countries where they have settled. The renowned Indian poet Ardeshar Faramji Khabardar once wrote a poem titled 'Jyā jyā vase ek Gujarāti, tyā tyā sadākāl Gujarāt' ('Wherever a Gujarati resides, there forever is Gujarat'). Depicting ethnic pride, it is very popular in Gujarat. His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, often emphasised: "If you lose your language, you will lose your culture and values." His blessings have inspired volunteers from BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) in Europe, headquartered at the Hindu temple in Neasden, north London, to invest their time and energy in sustaining, preserving and sharing the rich Hindu culture and heritage of the Gujarati language. Britain is home to the third-largest overseas diaspora of Gujaratis. Almost half of the 1.2 million members of the UK's Indian community are Gujaratis, and Gujarati is the sixth most commonly spoken language in the country. Gujarati children in the UK are a temple of learning mainly third-generation descendants whose grandparents settled in the UK after arriving predominantly from Africa and India. Dedicated volunteers of the Supplementary School organised by the BAPS children's forum have worked tirelessly for more than 20 years to sustain and bequeath the Gujarati language to future generations. Children across the ethnic demographic spectrum have faced challenges in engaging with and learning their mother language. One of the most common causes is that they find the traditional methods of teaching uninteresting and unstimulating. In an age of innovation 14 The Linguist Vol/60 No/1 2021 and creativity, BAPS in the UK determined that Gujarati should be taught in a dynamic and innovative way. This led to a comprehensive research and development programme involving a cohort of teachers, volunteers, children and parents. A primary aim of this initiative was to understand the bottleneck in the learning journey and develop new products and solutions to meet the learning needs of children today. The feedback was clear: evolve or lose their interest. The traditional method of a textbook, notepad and blackboard failed to resonate effectively in the 21st century. New resources were therefore required to engage this audience. Equally, it was essential to upskill the teaching workforce so that they could become accustomed to the advancements in technology and harness the teaching resources being developed by volunteers in the field. BAPS UK has organised and conducted various activities, and developed an exciting and promising suite of new teaching resources over the last 20 years. These activities, which continue to provide an engaging educational experience, include: • Organising and delivering multiple 15-week courses for adults • Conducting seminars and workshops for over 2,300 people • Delivering conferences for teachers, senior management and community leaders to share successes, strategies and solutions • Creating interactive games such as Gujarati Whiz, Gujarati Spinner, Gujarati Strips, Flash Cards and Gujarati Cubes

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