Otako: 1:13

We were raised speaking English. It was the official language necessary for opportunities, schools enforced English and we were punished for speaking our mother tongue. Now, in Germany, I have to learn German. Learning German wasn't easy. I needed it for jobs and education. Easy. I needed it for jobs and education. This is your favorite time of the week with your number one podcast Hear my true story. Ja. My dear listeners, welcome to Hear my True Story podcast. I'm your host, otako, and today I want to share a deeply personal story about being lost in languages. Imagine being fluent in your mother tongue and then, as you come into contact with languages from around the world, getting lost in a river of languages. This is my story. I grew up in Uganda, a country with many languages. I speak over 10 languages from my home country and, in addition, I speak English, a bit of Swahili and now German. Getting lost is very easy, but here is how I got lost in languages. When I moved to Germany, I had to learn German or leave. Germany makes you adapt quickly. The system forces you to either learn the language or find yourself isolated. As I focused on mastering German, I started losing my fluence in both my mother tongue and English. It was a difficult transition and it came with significant sacrifices. Imagine going for months without speaking your mother tongue. There are many things I struggle to express myself, especially those that were not part of my upbringing in Uganda. For example, I did not grow up with strawberries, so I have no idea how to name them in Lusoga, Luganda or Swahili, literally, I don't know. It gets even more complicated because I have a child. It is crucial for the child to know my mother tongue. It is crucial for the child to know my mother tongue. Yet I find myself struggling to find the right words for certain fruits, foods or items that we encounter in our daily lives. This disconnect makes me feel like a stranger to my own language and culture. I consider myself a human lost in languages. Anyone multilingual in a non-colonial language might understand what I mean. You know colonial languages still influence our lives. I mean, if you visit any country in the global south, like in Africa, you will find kids fluently in colonial languages but not in their native languages. It is really heartbreaking. It is really annoying. When I became a father, I promised myself that my child would speak my mother tongue. But being lost in languages means I end up speaking English with my child, even though I am not an English person. I am a Ugandan lost in languages. Growing up in a country colonized by Britain, we were raised speaking English. It was the official language necessary for opportunities, schools enforced English and we were punished for speaking our mother tongue. Now, in Germany, I have to learn German. Learning German wasn't easy. I needed it for jobs and education. Do I speak my mother tongue every day? I would love to, especially with my child, but it is a challenging story.

Otako: 6:10

After learning English and German, I still find myself lost in languages, unable to express myself perfectly in any of them. Colonialism might seem long gone this is what I can say but its effects linger. In a country with over 50 languages, only the colonial ones are widely known. Raising a child in Germany, a former colonial power, complicates things further. I want to speak my mother tongue, but I struggle with the right grammar for certain objects, foods and fruits unfamiliar to me from Europe. Maintaining fluence in over 10 languages is a challenge. I wonder how to keep it up. For parents from formerly colonized countries, ensuring their children speak their mother tongue is tough. Living in a colonial power country like Germany makes it harder. How do I maintain my mother tongue Grammar? Many objects and foods in Europe weren‘t in Africa, so I lack the vocabulary. People might think I am taking an easier path, but it is tough.

Otako: 7:27

If you speak colonial languages like English, spanish, german or French, you won't get lost. But imagine speaking those languages and others like Luganda, lusoga, ronyoro and Swahili. Speaking them all the time is impossible and they get lost. In Africa, children often speak more colonial languages than their mother tongues. Don't blame them. Blame the colonial powers. You see colonizers undermined native languages, making them seem inferior. Schools in Uganda, my home country, push colonial languages. In Germany there is no school teaching Lusoga, my mother tongue, or Swahili. You learn it from someone or within a community. But without a big community you lose your mother tongue.

Otako: 8:36

Reflecting on this journey, I realized that languages are more than just a means of communication. They are the essence of our identity, culture and heritage. Losing fluence in my mother tongue feels like losing a part of myself. It is a constant struggle to maintain the delicate balance between embracing a new culture and preserving my own. What do I do as Otako who's lost in languages? I just keep trying. Sometimes I just keep playing music that is in my native languages. Maybe with the music I am able to maintain some of my language fluency. So before I say my dear listeners, before I stop sharing this talk with you, I just realized that it is quite interesting how colonialism had a deeper and lasting impact on the languages of the countries that were colonized.

Otako: 9:46

When European colonial powers like Britain, france, germany, portugal and Spain took over countries in Africa, asia and America, they imposed their own languages on the people. This was done for several reasons To make administration easier, to spread their culture and values and establish control. In many countries in Africa, including Uganda, colonial powers set up schools that taught only in their language. In Uganda, english became the medium of instruction. Children were punished for speaking their native languages in schools Up to date.. This made English the language of opportunity and success If you did not speak English well, you would not get a good job or a good education. Over time, native languages were seen as less valuable. They were associated with being uneducated or backward. This attitude still exists up to date. As a result, many people from formerly colonized countries speak the colonial language more fluent than their language.

Otako: 11:13

Even after gaining independence, the influence of colonial languages remained strong. Governments often keep the colonial language as the official language. This was partly because it was a mutual choice in countries with many different ethnic groups and languages. However, this has created a situation where people feel disconnected from their cultural heritage. They speak the colonial language at work, in schools and often at home, while their native languages slowly fade away.

Otako: 12:02

Today, in countries like Germany, there are few opportunities to learn or maintain native languages from Africa. There are no schools teaching languages like Lusoga, luganda, swahili. People learn them from family or community members, but if your community is small, the language can easily be lost. This is a common experience for many immigrants from formerly colonized countries living in Europe or America. So when we see children in African countries speaking English, french, portuguese more fluent than their native languages, it is a direct result of colonial policies that favored the colonial language over local languages. These children are part of a system that was designed to erase their linguistic and cultural heritage. It is a system designed to maintain the colonial languages powerful up to date. It pains, but it is the reality.

Otako: 13:20

So, my dear listeners, thank you for listening to this wonderful episode of Hear my True Story. If you have a feedback, a message or a story to share, please check the description of this episode. Your support keeps us going. I hope you enjoyed this episode. See you next time and, by the way, keep listening to Hear my True Story podcast. It has been me, your host Otako. Thank you for always supporting us and I would like to say bye for now. We not only have voices for a podcast, but also faces for YouTube. Don't miss your next episode, hear my true story.