The Aga Khan Nursery and Primary School,
Dar es Salaam

International Mother Language Day is annually observed on 21 February to honour linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as multilingualism. At AKNPS, Dar es Salaam, the students explored their mother language by understanding its background, cultural connotations and learning various words and/or phrases in the language, which they shared in their classes with their peers. The students also interviewed their classmates to learn more about the langauges they speak.  

“I liked the Marangu language, and I learned that it comes from Kilimanjaro,” said KG3 student Amelia Shehzada Walli.  

To wrap up the week, teachers, parents and support staff dressed in their traditional attire and led stalls representing different languages: Kisambaa, Kibondei and Kidigo from Tanga; Hindi, Gujarati and Kutchi from India; Hehe from Iringa; Marangu from Kilimanjaro; Mzaramu from Dar es Salaam; Matengo from Ruvuma; Arabic from Saudia Arabia; and Mandarin from China. The students were tasked with visiting each stall and immersing themselves in the historical background, musical instruments, poetry, dance, traditional food and other cultural acts of that country. 

"I spent quality time with lots of students from different origins and shared with them about my mother language, Gujarati," said one parent who participated in the celebrations. “The students really enjoyed putting chandlas, or bindis, on their foreheads, applying Holi colours to their faces, playing dandia, or a dance, learning Gujarati alphabets and numbers, and not forgetting the yummy Gujarati food! Thank you for this opportunity, AKNPS, Dar es Salaam; I look forward to more.”