Learning the mother tongue can contribute to professional success, says a Punjabi teacher

Punjabi language teacher Daljit Kaur Bansal says learning and nurturing the mother tongue can help your child become a successful employee in this era of globalisation, where they may have to interact with people and businesses who speak a language other than English.

Daljit Kaur Bansal with her students Credit: Supplied

The Sydney-based teacher says there are myriads of benefits of being multilingual in a multicultural country like Australia.

"Many companies prefer to hire multilingual employees so they can interact with international clients who speak the language that you may know other than English," she says.

Ms Bansal has been teaching Punjabi to school students since 2016. Buoyed by the recent Higher School Certificate (HSC) results for the Punjabi language, she says the 'amazing outcomes' should encourage other children in the community to take Punjabi as a secondary language.

"Of late, the number of students opting to learn Punjabi has dipped slightly. Therefore, parents should encourage their children to take Punjabi as a secondary language. I wouldn't be surprised if they are unaware that Punjabi is taught free at schools in New South Wales," she adds.

The NSW Department of Education runs language classes at the Secondary College of Languages, which has several branches across Sydney.

Ms Bansal says the community needs to make a consolidated effort to inspire the younger generation to understand the significance of learning and nurturing their mother tongue.

"We all must work together to encourage the next generation to learn Punjabi".

Click on the audio icon to listen to this interview in Punjabi.