“ I F Y O U T A L K T O A M A N I N A L A N G U A G E H E U N D E R S T A N D S , T H A T G O E S T O H I S H E A D . I F Y O U T A L K

T O A M A N I N H I S L A N G U A G E T H A T G O E S T O H I S H E A R T . ”

N E L S O N M A N D E L A

Let’s speak Srpski

Serbian restaurant

There is no doubt that the Englishlanguage is a very important medium of

education.But that is no reason why we should

forget the importance of our mothertongue and the traditions and culture ofwhich it is an integral and important part.

It is the SERBIAN language thatmakes SERBIAN a nation. It is thelanguage we communicate with peoplethroughout this tiny country of ours.

Once we stop paying due respect toour mother tongue, our history, cultureand traditions could also become the resultof such a development can only be bitterand painful.

Our workshops

The aim - to raise awareness of the importance of mother tongue

When in Serbia, speak Srpski

ExchAnge office

We don’t realize how lucky we are forhaving our own language. That makes usunique. Yes, English is important. But the factthat English has become more important thanour own language is terrifying. We should notforget something our ancestors fought for a longtime.

When you're in your country, speak yourlanguage! Don't kill it. Seriously, don't kill yourlanguage. If we were to kill the language, we'dhave to find an identity. We'd have to find anexistence. We'd go back to the beginning. Orwe'd disappear, become extinct..

Добродошли or Welcome!

How to promote mother tongue

Start using Serbian everywhere you can (on social media, at school, at restaurants, on the street...).

Start reading more in Serbian.

Try to influence mass media, important people in the country, teachers and everyone else not to use Anglicisms and pay attention to false friends.

Join the ‘Негујмо српски језик’ organization.

Anglicism and false friends

Anglicism - a word, idiom, or characteristic feature of the English language occurring in or borrowed by another language. (imidž, softver, hardver, kompjuter, startovati, vikend, parking, mendžer, marketing, meč, grupa, link, ček, film, tinejdžer, šoping, sport, tenk, traktor, tramvaj, džemper, kombajn, biftek, video rekorder, kompakt disk, evaluacija, tenzija, menadžment;)

False friends - a word or expression that has a similar form to one in a person's native language, but a different meaning.

Conclusion

There may be some who may argue that it would be better if everyone spoke the samelanguage so as to promote communication and closer ties between the differentpeoples of the world.

However although this is a desired ideal, it may be achieved in other waysthat do not involve abandoning the art of a language that may have taken centuries toevolve into its present day form that represents the identity of a people or acommunity. A mother tongue spoken helps to bind a people together and promote thepositive values of a culture. If we are well grounded and know where we come fromand what kinds of behavior are deemed and acceptable in our community we would beequipped to resist external negative influences that may otherwise sway us.

Dragana Mitrovic

Biljana Pipovic

Vlasotince, 2015