Mother tongues are more strategic than you think

Professor XN Iraki. [File, Standard]

The images of war are punctuated by destruction, explosions or city ruins. Add tanks, missiles and other weapons. What of drones?

It’s amazing what starts as science fiction becomes technological reality. Who thought drones would one day become weapons or you would hang your TV on the wall? 

Beyond drones, communication is the secret weapon in war. How do the soldiers, the generals and political leaders communicate securely in war without the enemies eavesdropping? During World War II, cryptography was the in-thing. In cryptography, information is encrypted in a way that any unintended recipient would find it useless.

 In a way, the code breakers could still crack the encryption. One reason Britain was so successful in resisting the German invasion was breaking their communication codes. They knew what the Germans were planning, a huge strategic advantage. 

Cracking the codes probably inspired Americans to use a simpler but very effective tool, native American languages. 461 Navajo served as code talkers.

It needed no encryption or advanced technology. Think of it, how many people can understand El Molo?

If that language is used in military communication, the message will remain secure. Noted some of the most secure passwords are in your mother tongue? Don’t we love WhatsApp because of encryption?

World war

The men who helped the US win the war were simple people, talking in their mother tongue. Their code was never cracked in war.

A few of the code talkers are still alive. Yet we think mother tongues are not useful, and talking about them is backward. I have seen parents punish their children for speaking their mother tongue, yet, such a mother tongue helped win a world war!

And  there is no evidence that your child will perform better in school by speaking only English and hating Swahili. 

One could quickly and lazily argue that there is no war. But an extra language is an asset. You have more windows to the world and your emotions.

Think of how cucu (grandmother) will rejoice talking and laughing with grandchildren in her mother tongue! Think of the proverbs and jokes that can’t be translated. 

Mother tongues give us versatility in communicating with each other and across generations.

They are the custodians of traditional wisdom that often remain invariant to modern changes.

Think of bringing up children or marriage; traditional wisdom will always be an asset in that. 

It’s almost Christmas and the village will host lots of visitors. The visits will be richer if you can talk to relatives and hosts in the language they understand.

You will talk to them from your heart not mouth. Can you speak your mother tongue? Don’t tell me you are a Kenyan or in a mixed marriage.