Overcoming Mother Tongue Influence: What Are Your Best Strategies?

Dear HR folks,

Nowadays, almost everyone is influenced by their mother tongue. How can one overcome this influence? Are there any solutions available?

Regards,
Genga

It will take time to get rid of the MTI factor during communication. Just listen to English news daily and note down the words that you are not able to pronounce correctly. Practice uttering these words/sentences loudly in front of the mirror. This will not only improve your pronunciation but also enhance your confidence in speaking without the MTI effect.

Cheers,
Mayuri

Hi Gengaraj, 1) Read an English newspaper every day for 1 hour. 2) Stand before a mirror and speak in English for 15-20 minutes. 3) Speak aloud English tongue twisters for 15-20 minutes. 4) Watch English news channels like NDTV, CNN, etc. If you do these things regularly for a few months, I can assure you that there will be a change in your MTI.

Hi all, here the thread started with avoiding MTI, and there was nothing asked about the English language. However, the answers are mainly focusing on the English language. I wonder why Indians alone have this affection towards English. What's the harm in communicating in our own mother tongue? In France, people speak French; in Belgium, they speak Dutch; in Sri Lanka, they speak Sinhala; in Russia, they speak Russian, and so on.

These are my personal views, and I may be wrong. Others can comment.

Follow the steps as mentioned above. I would not like to copy from other professionals, so follow them.

How I Overcame My Mother Tongue Influence

I read English newspapers aloud for almost a month, studied a few homonyms, and understood tongue twisters (that's the first one you should do). Listen to others who speak fluently and engage in regular conversations with them. Practice, practice, and practice - that's all I can say. However, the efficiency will depend on you and how much effort you put into avoiding your mother tongue influence.

Regards

To my knowledge, the mother tongue is like a mother; we cannot easily escape from its influence, even though it is not a mistake at all. We must respect our mother tongue while also learning different languages, especially English. As you know, English plays a major role in securing jobs and advancing one's career. Therefore, when speaking English or any other language, try to temporarily set aside your mother tongue and think in the language you are using. I am confident that you can overcome this challenge easily.

I wish you all the best.

Dear Shabana,

Mother Tongue Influence in Language Proficiency

What is your mother tongue? The influence of one's mother tongue is a challenge when speaking English in India. Based on my experience, it's not a significant issue when speaking Indian languages.

As for your claim regarding people in France and other countries using their own mother tongue, they were not subjected to foreign rule for hundreds of years by the English. Hasn't the Persian language, which was foreign to India before the Mughals, influenced the Hindi language? For someone whose ancestors migrated from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka, what is their mother tongue? Is it Tamil, spoken at home (which they might not know how to read or write), Kannada (studied until the age of 11), Hindi (the national language, studied as a compulsory language), or English, in which they have studied all subjects from the age of 11?

The countries you mentioned developed scientifically and industrially without the help of English; they also do not have as many "mother tongues" in their countries.

Have a nice day.

Regards,
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK

My earlier days were marked by a similar problem as my mother tongue is Telugu. One of my seniors suggested the following: "Think in English, then only you will be able to answer in English. Normally, people hear the conversation in English and want to reply in English, but they tend to think in Telugu and frame the words in English before speaking out. This process takes a few seconds. The gap for replying can lead to embarrassment and become a hurdle every time. To avoid this, always think in English so that you can respond immediately." It helped me a lot. I hope this is a practical solution. Best wishes

Neutralizing Mother Tongue Influence (MTI) in English Speaking

USSN Rao's solution is to improve speaking in English. However, it does not help neutralize the mother tongue influence (MTI). For example, Scottish people, whose mother tongue is English, have their own accent. Similarly, in the USA, the accents differ from state to state; even in England, it varies from county to county.

The way to neutralize MTI when speaking any other language is to listen to people whose mother tongue is that language and which is taken as a 'standard' and then try and imitate.

Have a nice day.

Regards,
Simhan

Hi Genga,

This is Abi from Tirupur. What I do to eliminate mother tongue influence is to read one or two pages of a language article aloud every morning, consistently.

Regards,
Abirami

I agree 110% with Simhan. Besides, when someone seeks help, we need to lend a hand. How would you feel when someone speaks your mother tongue incorrectly (pronounced)? Moreover, it's essential to get over MTI to make one's communication effective.

If I say "I am going to eat my lunch" or "She's going to Bangalore by boss," what would be your reaction?

I assume you are Bengali or from close by Bengal. That reminds me of two incidents to support your view.

We had a draughtsman from Bengal who came late one day. I asked him, "Mr. D, why are you late today?" His response was, "My 'boss' came late." So, I asked him why he should be late if his boss came late. Then someone said, "He meant that his bus came late."

The second instance was in an interview. An officer from Bengal asked an interviewee, "Could you please define a 'Bolt'?" The interviewee said that bolts come in many forms: hexagonal head, Philips head, slotted head, and also with different types of threads... Then another member of the panel intervened and told the interviewee that the other member wanted him to define a Volt as in voltage.

I have had students from China who could not pronounce the letter 'R'. They always used the sound of 'L': Red lorry became 'Led lorry'.

Similarly, some from the South pronounce words like College, Only, etc., differently to the standard BBC broadcast.

Hence, you are perfectly right; we need to neutralize the influence of our MT.

Have a nice weekend.

Simhan

PS: Reading aloud to oneself or speaking in front of a mirror or reading a lot will not help neutralize the MTI. It's listening to news where presenters use neutralized language, record it, and practice to pronounce the same way that will help.

I agree 110% with Simhan. Besides, when someone seeks help, we need to lend a hand. How would you feel when someone speaks your mother tongue wrongly (pronounced)? Moreover, it's essential to get over MTI to make one's communication effective.

If I say "I am going to eat my lunch" or "She's going to Bangalore by bus" what would be your reaction?

Overcoming the Influence of Mother Tongue

Weaning away the influence of one's mother tongue is always difficult. However, practice by reading aloud and noting words affected by the mother tongue effect. Then, make an effort to conquer this challenge. How we speak, behave, and live is always molded by our culture, background, company, and genetic factors. So, make an effort to correct and change where necessary.

I look at it this way: if there is a mother tongue effect and it causes no hurdle, then there is no point in getting worked up over it. The purpose of speaking is to communicate, and if our communication is understood clearly by others, then where is the problem? I do not see any reason to speak English like an Englishman. I will speak understandable English as an Indian.

Some links: http://www.slideshare.net/UCsanatadh...arning-english

Two Effective Ways to Remove Mother Tongue Influence

1. Listen to those who speak the language you want to master. Listen more and more intensively. For example, use audio and video content in that language. The audio-visual impact is much faster as it happens unconsciously.

2. For at least a month or two, think in that language (have all your internal dialogue in the desired language instead of your mother tongue) and give it the sound of a person whom you think speaks well in the other language. You have to do this with your eyes closed.