Dear Floriano Your post was excellent, ending 2012 with a big BANG. Anyone speaking about our mother tongue like that calls for more than a few sparks.......our community should always take great pride we have our own language, culture and cuisine which is now particularly celebrated around the world on 18/19 August on World Goa Day, an ideal opportunity to remind us of home and introduce our culture to foreign lands.
Fully appreciate what you are saying, however my experience is quite the reverse of yours. Having been born in East Africa and then moving to the United Kingdom, everyone around me is amazed at how much I love Konkani and that includes my own 80+ year old mother who incidentally is still trying to figure this out. Talking with one of my classmates, also a Goan, this very topic came up, having said I love Konkani music and would love to talk in Konkani fluently, she passed some remark to which I asked her if she considered herself to be English? This does not come down to whether one can or one cannot speak our language, it is more the attitude of our community towards our own mother tongue that gets me, the impression they give you of having moved on to bigger and better things, perhaps they should ask themselves the question WHAT? Take France, none of our community can expect to live in France PERMANENTLY without learning to speak French......will any of us dispute this, NO, because it is a fact. The French are a classic example of patriotism to their language, food and culture. The policy of your party and your posting is the best I have seen on goanet on amchi bas. Rose Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 17 December 2012