Tibetans Struggle to Save Their Language – Foreign Policy
Posted By admin on September 21, 2022
Language rights, an expression of national and ethnic identity, have long been a focus for Tibetan human rights advocates. That focus has sharpened in recent years as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ratcheted up its efforts in restricting Tibetans under its control from exercising their language rights. This language restriction is part of a longer trend of ethnic cleansing and minority suppressionseeking to strike at Tibetans ability to access their heritage and identity through their language.
In 2018, a Chinese court sentenced a Tibetan man, Tashi Wangchuk, to five years of prison because he advocated for Tibetans right to their own language, a right by Chinese law. In 2019, another Tibetan man, Tsering Dorje, was detained for a month in a so-called reeducation facility for discussing the importance of the Tibetan language with his brother over the phonethe Chinese authorities framed this as a political crime.
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lamahimself living in exilehas emphasized the issue. He has implored Tibetans to study their own language, despite conceding it was not a hugely useful one professionally. While there are many learned non-Tibetan scholars studying the language, the Dalai Lama stated, Since Tibetan is our mother tongue, we are the ones who should preserve it.
Language rights, an expression of national and ethnic identity, have long been a focus for Tibetan human rights advocates. That focus has sharpened in recent years as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has ratcheted up its efforts in restricting Tibetans under its control from exercising their language rights. This language restriction is part of a longer trend of ethnic cleansing and minority suppressionseeking to strike at Tibetans ability to access their heritage and identity through their language.
In 2018, a Chinese court sentenced a Tibetan man, Tashi Wangchuk, to five years of prison because he advocated for Tibetans right to their own language, a right by Chinese law. In 2019, another Tibetan man, Tsering Dorje, was detained for a month in a so-called reeducation facility for discussing the importance of the Tibetan language with his brother over the phonethe Chinese authorities framed this as a political crime.
The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lamahimself living in exilehas emphasized the issue. He has implored Tibetans to study their own language, despite conceding it was not a hugely useful one professionally. While there are many learned non-Tibetan scholars studying the language, the Dalai Lama stated, Since Tibetan is our mother tongue, we are the ones who should preserve it.
Today in Lhasa, Tibetan teachers are almost wholly prevented from teaching in Tibetan to students; Tibetan students are taught almost all of their subjects (except for their Tibetan language courses) in Chinese. The CCPs ideology is also forced into curriculums. Instead of education that appreciates and preserves their heritage, Tibetans face psychic attacks against their very existence in an educational curriculum that is imposed upon them.
The diaspora has thus been charged with carrying the flame of the languagebut the pressures on minority communities can be intense. The literacy rate of Tibetan refugees is higher than of Tibetans residing in occupied Tibet, and Tibetan schools in India educate thousands of Tibetan youths every year. With the highest population of Tibetan refugees residing in India at approximately 100,000, Tibetan children there have access to Tibetan education that far surpasses the education available to them in other diaspora communities.
Tibetan associations provide a home away from home. Some Tibetan associations boast robust community centers that serve as a nexus for community engagement. In North America, over 30 Tibetan associations exist, and about 24 of them dually function as Tibetan weekend schools. These associations also serve as a common venue for birthday parties, graduations, and charity concerts. Through weekend schools, volunteer educators teach Tibetan youths the Tibetan language, culture, and performing arts. Much of the curriculum taught at language schools is formulated by the Central Tibetan Administrations Department of Education, and the Central Tibetan Administrations holds several annual events to try to enhance Tibetan associations and general Tibetan outreach. A lack of institutional direction is not the main hindrance for language preservation in diaspora Tibetan communities.
However, a lack of permanent spaces severely inhibits the chance to teach in a genuine classroom and students ability to learn. About 14 Tibetan associations are dependent on renting classrooms, as those associations do not own a community center, and, in some instances, relatively small and poor communities cannot afford a physical space. This is the case for the Tibetan Association of Philadelphia (TAP), in a city with about 160 Tibetans. TAP used to rent space through the Kalmyk Brotherhood Societys community center, but that center was sold during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the TAP community can rent spaces, it can now only afford to do so occasionally.
Without a physical space, the children dont get to communicate with each other in Tibetan, said Phuntsok Lhagyal, the secretary of TAP. It is harder to teach them traditional Tibetan dances, and without a physical space, there is no engagement within the students.
According to Lhagyal, Tibetans in Philadelphia are largely working-class people in the construction, housekeeping, and nursing sectors, and only about 10 percent of the adult population has a U.S. college degree. In the past few years, TAP set itself the daunting task of raising money for a permanent community center. Without a physical space, TAP has relied on Zoom video calls for weekend schools, which pales in comparison to physical education, to the detriment of the Tibetan children who rely on these schools to receive a cultural education.
When asked about the other challenges of Tibetan language preservation among the diaspora, Lhagyal said: [A]ll the younger generation grow up and go to school with all American student so they naturally neglect Tibetan culture and traditions. Another thing is most of the parents are working full time, so they dont have enough time to spend with their children and teach them Tibetan language.
Tibetans face the same problems other immigrant communities have in terms of affordable and accessible education. Tibetans today are growing up in the United States at a time when Tibetan-childrens books are still nascent and without standardized Tibetan American textbooks. And the Tibetan association fees can present a prohibitive barrier for some Tibetan Americans while simultaneously not being enough to cover the associations costs.
Tibetan American youth, in addition, face a unique struggle between practicality, feasibility, and intense dutyan intense duty cemented by the ongoing erosion of the Tibetan language by the CCP. Although that duty rests on many Tibetan youths consciences, Tibetan youths realistically still cant master the Tibetan language without strenuous effort.
In a small survey of Tibetans in their teens and in early 20s, all the participants said that they first began attending Tibetan schools out of familial obligationnot pure choice. This is a sentiment that is widely but quietly held among the Tibetan community. Many diaspora Tibetans, including elders and youth, strongly desire language preservation, but this desire is stiffly met with the realities of living in a country far from Tibet.
All the survey participants said that learning Tibetan is difficult in the United States. Growing up, there was certainly a lack of urgency in Tibetan cultural preservation among Tibetan American youth, said Kunsang Dorjee, a 21-year-old Tibetan. Looking at learning Tibetan as more of a chore than a cultural necessity made it difficult for teachers to motivate the students to learn and practice beyond the classroom.
Tibetan American youth split their time between English-based school and their once-a-week Tibetan school. Because of the scarcity of time, these youth must weigh the opportunity cost of studying one language over another: One language is the language of mainstream culture, politics, and business in the United States, while the other language is scarcely heard outside of the home. All of the survey participants primarily use their Tibetan language skills to speak to family members, especially to older Tibetan relatives who may not have a strong grasp of conversational English.
But for the vast majority of jobs in the United States, Tibetan proficiency is not applicable, and Tibetan youth feel more incentivized to prioritize English. In the survey, many participants expressed dissatisfaction with their weekend school educationwhich is often taught by old-school volunteers who have no prior teaching experience. While English speakers have the luxury of regimented public schooling and a society that demands English proficiency, Tibetan learners must seek out a Tibetan education and adjust to often not ideal conditions.
Language politics plays a tangible pressure in motivating and demotivating Tibetan students. Many of the survey participants poignantly noted that they felt an acute pressure to study the Tibetan language because of the language rights repression in Tibet, as expressed by 23-year-old Tibetan American Tenzin Rabga Chomphel: Some Tibetans among the diaspora may feel extra pressure/guilt to learn the mother tongue due to being aware of how repressed our language is in the mainland. Many Tibetan youths have grown up in households where elders mourn the loss of Tibet and Tibetan rights. Although Tibetan proficiency among Tibetan American youth is left to be desired, vibrant Tibetan communities exist in U.S. cities, such as New York and Minneapolis. Though Tibetan youth may struggle with speaking perfect Tibetan, Tibetan communities regularly interact with one another and engage in annual cultural and political actions.
Despite the preservation struggles of diaspora Tibetans, this is a story of community strength and gumption. Almost all of the survey participants said that they learned later in their lives to truly appreciate learning the Tibetan language. The Tibetan cultural preservation efforts are not perfect, but the Tibetan movement inspires other similarly situated groups; as noted by Hong Kong activist Jeffrey Ngo, Its far more cultural than political if our goal is to preserve a Hong Kong identity.
The volunteer teachers and Tibetan association leadership work for meager or no pay. For many of them, the effort is a labor of love: a love for their people and for Tibet. Many of the Tibetan youth who attend weekend Tibetan schools may never set foot in Tibet. These students will experience Tibet through stories and YouTube videos. Tibetan language schools allow these Tibetan youth the ability to learn Tibetan, and, in those moments, they enter a realm untouchable and precious.
Read more:
Tibetans Struggle to Save Their Language - Foreign Policy
- Diaspora | social science | Britannica - January 27th, 2023
- Wheres the outrage? The silence of New Jerseys Peruvian diaspora to recent state violence is palpable. | Op - NJ.com - January 21st, 2023
- Rise of the Western Armenian Diaspora in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire by Dr. Henry Shapiro - Armenian News by MassisPost - January 12th, 2023
- EXCLUSIVE! Anoushka Shankar: Representation from the Indian diaspora in music has been increasing over the years abroad - Entertainment News ,... - December 23rd, 2022
- In Order to Ensure Safety and Security of the Indian Diaspora in Mongolia, Embassy of ... - Latest Tweet by - LatestLY - December 23rd, 2022
- Hakeem Jeffries likely to succeed Pelosi, will be a leader for Indian American diaspora: says Congressman Krishnamoorthi - ThePrint - November 19th, 2022
- For Iranians in the Diaspora, This Is the Most Important Moment of Our Lives - Jewish Journal - October 15th, 2022
- Georgia: Ukrainian diaspora to rally in Tbilisi Oct. 14 to denounce Russian invasion of Ukraine - Crisis24 - October 15th, 2022
- The chairman of the State Committee on Work with Diaspora is on a visit to Australia Aze.Media - Aze Media - October 15th, 2022
- More Nigerians In The Diaspora Should Be Awarded- Dabiri-Erewa - Heritage Times - The Heritage Times - October 15th, 2022
- When will the Diaspora and the Homeland embrace interdependency? - Armenian Weekly - October 12th, 2022
- 6 members of Kerala diaspora to be honored in NY | India Post News Paper - IndiaPost.com - October 12th, 2022
- Scottish Connections (diaspora) work: qualitative research - gov.scot - The Scottish Government - October 12th, 2022
- avuolu Urges His Compatriots In France For "coordinated Actions Against The Armenian Diaspora" - GreekCityTimes.com - October 12th, 2022
- Yvonne Orji Discusses the Importance of Supporting the Diaspora and Her New Special 'A Whole Me' - Ebony - EBONY - October 12th, 2022
- Taking Nigeria from Third to First World through its diaspora (3), By Sunday Adelaja - Premium Times - October 12th, 2022
- Hindu diaspora under attack: The rising trends of global Hinduphobia, attacks by Islamists and propaganda - OpIndia - October 12th, 2022
- A voice from the Diaspora: A culture of entitlement - Jamaica Observer - October 12th, 2022
- Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes: From Leicester to New Jersey, the diaspora is reflecting the divisions of Indian politics - The Indian Express - September 21st, 2022
- Hispanic Heritage Month: The importance of Afro-Latinx identity in the diaspora. | Opinion - NJ.com - September 21st, 2022
- NUP protests in diaspora threaten IPOD existence Todwong - KFM - September 21st, 2022
- Members of diaspora have always been admirable Indian ambassadors: PM Modi - The Tribune India - September 21st, 2022
- World loved her: Indian diaspora in UK mourns the Queen - The Tribune India - September 21st, 2022
- 'The Woman King' Cast Dismantle the Strong Black Woman Trope, Stress Community Across the Black Diaspora - Shondaland.com - September 21st, 2022
- Daylight Africa celebrates 20th anniversary of African Union in Gambia - The Point - The Point - September 21st, 2022
- Actor-producer is on mission to tell real-life stories about the Latino diaspora without stereotypes - syracuse.com - September 8th, 2022
- Katherine Leung Talks About Her 'Canto Cutie' Zine, Which Celebrates the Cantonese Diaspora - Seven Days - September 8th, 2022
- Arts On Site Presents The Diaspora Fest: A Celebration Of Black Performing Artists - Broadway World - September 8th, 2022
- Proxy Indians: Diaspora success stories should give rise not to rejoicing but to regret for talent lost to us - Times of India - September 8th, 2022
- People of Indian Diaspora including J&K have become most prosperous group in the world: LG - Greater Kashmir - September 8th, 2022
- UN Honours the Contributions of the African Diaspora - IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters - September 8th, 2022
- The Race for the Votes from BiH and the Diaspora begins - Sarajevo Times - September 8th, 2022
- The African Diaspora: We are family - The Voice Online - September 6th, 2022
- There is no institutional Connection between the State of BiH and the Diaspora - Sarajevo Times - September 6th, 2022
- Om Birla interacts with Indian diaspora in Paris, hails their contribution in India's growth journey - Devdiscourse - September 6th, 2022
- Nagar: For most of the Indian diaspora in Calgary, Churchill is not worthy of a statue - Calgary Herald - September 6th, 2022
- Indian envoy asks diaspora youth to connect to their roots,... - The American Bazaar - July 31st, 2022
- Nigerians in diaspora will soon be able to vote, says Orji Kalu - Guardian Nigeria - July 31st, 2022
- What my family's photographs and their fashions revealed to me about the Caribbean-Canadian diaspora - CBC.ca - July 31st, 2022
- Mayor of Island of Maio in Cabo Verde visits New Bedford - SouthCoastToday.com - July 31st, 2022
- Clever ways Kenyans in the diaspora are investing back home - The Standard - July 31st, 2022
- Turning Passion into Reality - St. Lucia News From The Voice - The Voice St. Lucia - July 31st, 2022
- Saving women from the men they leave - The Statesman - July 31st, 2022
- Dance, diversity and diaspora - The New Indian Express - July 23rd, 2022
- Second Karabakh war witnessed lots of false information paid for by Armenian diaspora Center for Strategic Studies of Iraq - AzerNews.Az - July 23rd, 2022
- Bringing the Sounds of the Diaspora Home - Armenian Weekly - July 21st, 2022
- Southern Baptist organizations come together to reach diaspora - Baptist Press - July 21st, 2022
- Getty Images Tells Stories of Black Diaspora With 30,000 Rare Images - My Modern Met - July 21st, 2022
- Minister Theodorikakos: Extending Greek Passport Validity To 10 Years Will Lessen Bureaucracy For Diaspora - GreekCityTimes.com - July 21st, 2022
- The life of the Church and the Diaspora in Adelaide - Orthodox Times - Orthodoxtimes.com - July 21st, 2022
- Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art to showcase contemporary artists of the African diaspora - Daily Independent - July 21st, 2022
- Herald Artday to host charity auction to help Korean youth diaspora project - The Korea Herald - July 21st, 2022
- Youth from Diaspora tipped on business opportunities in Rwanda - The New Times - July 21st, 2022
- Pacific Engagement Visa quotas need to be set strategically and selectively - devpolicy.org - July 21st, 2022
- How to Resist China's Campaign of Transnational Repression - The Diplomat - July 21st, 2022
- Carrying on the legacy of the Cordero siblings | Business | theweeklyjournal.com - The Weekly Journal - July 21st, 2022
- Silverlens Gallery, a Heavyweight in the Southeast Asian Art Scene, Is Flipping the Script by Expanding Westward With a New York Outpost - artnet News - July 21st, 2022
- Tourism Minister Bah meets Gambians in the UK - The Point - The Point - July 21st, 2022
- A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, Published by Armenian Series at Fresno State - The Armenian Mirror-Spectator - July 21st, 2022
- What is a Diaspora? (with picture) - Cultural World - July 18th, 2022
- Seven mistakes the African diaspora make when starting a business in Africa - How we made it in Africa - July 18th, 2022
- Report: Getty Images Opens Access to 30000 Images of Black Diaspora in UK and US - LJ INFOdocket - July 18th, 2022
- Culture Talk: Curator Kanitra Fletcher on the Exhibition Afro-Atlantic Histories: It's About 'How the African Diaspora Comprises All These Voices and... - July 18th, 2022
- Rwandan youth in Diaspora urged to replicate 'Walk to Remember' - The New Times - July 18th, 2022
- Diaspora claims that Registration System for Elections on the BiHCEC is not working - Sarajevo Times - July 18th, 2022
- Voluntary slavery rampant in the Diaspora - The Herald - July 18th, 2022
- Kenyans in the diaspora embrace new tech solution, KimboCare - GhettoRadio 89.5 FM - July 18th, 2022
- The Middle Eastern Party Scene Thriving in Brooklyn - The New York Times - July 18th, 2022
- Redefining Sonic and Safety Standards in the Music Industry: The New Diaspora Music Experience - BrownGirlMag - July 14th, 2022
- HIAS: An important step for the networking of the Greek scientific diaspora with Greece - Hellenic News of America - July 14th, 2022
- Vic Mensa's 'SKIN + MASKS' Exhibit Puts a Spotlight on the Diaspora's Most Talented Artists - OkayAfrica - July 14th, 2022
- SendSprint launches in the UK with a $5 flat fee for international transfers - TechCabal - July 14th, 2022
- Jamaicas Opposition Tour of the Diaspora begins this Wednesday (July 13) - South Florida Caribbean News - July 14th, 2022
- Most Ugandans in Diaspora are ignorant of the investment incentives - New Vision - July 14th, 2022
- Elegies' investigates the presenceand absenceof the Black body - Document Journal - July 14th, 2022
- THI Celebrates 10th Anniversary, Spotlights the Future - The National Herald - July 14th, 2022
- Texas Governor names Indian-American to Economic Development Corporation's Board of Directors - The Tribune India - July 14th, 2022
- Review | Burna Boys Love, Damini and the new musical direction of the diaspora - News24 - July 14th, 2022
- Bank of Kigali tips young foreign-based Rwandans on its services - The New Times - July 14th, 2022
- A second wave of Russians is fleeing Putin's regime - CNBC - July 14th, 2022
Comments