Does language help someone access their heritage culture? Definitely. Does it help someone do so at a "deeper" or "better" level than food or family values or ritual? eh.
I'm a second gen Indian who doesn't speak Gujarati (partly because my parents, though both Gujarati, usually spoke English to each other; long story.) And I've always felt bad for not being able to speak it or any other Indian language with any fluency. I definitely tend to think that language = culture, so it's really interesting to see this perspective!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-01-10 03:31 pm (UTC)I'm a second gen Indian who doesn't speak Gujarati (partly because my parents, though both Gujarati, usually spoke English to each other; long story.) And I've always felt bad for not being able to speak it or any other Indian language with any fluency. I definitely tend to think that language = culture, so it's really interesting to see this perspective!