Sometimes they say 'Ma, stop speak Bahasa'.
With the hope that her children can continue to communicate with their extended family in Indonesia, Vita Fitrianingsih always makes it a habit to speak in Indonesian at home.
"Since [they were] born I always speak Indonesian to them," says the mother of Keyaan, 8 and Nesa, 5.
However, the career woman who lives in Sydney says that communicating in mother tongue is easier when her children were not at school age yet.
"When they go to school every day, they understand that I speak in Indonesian but don't want to answer it in Indonesian... the answer is still English," she admits.
But what is the importance of still using the mother tongue in this era of globalisation? And are children not ashamed when they have to speak their native language while in a foreign country? Listen the full conversation.
