This document discusses the importance of preserving one's mother tongue language. It notes that while English is an important language, forgetting one's native language threatens a people's identity, history, culture and traditions. The document advocates using Serbian in Serbia to keep the language alive. It provides tips on how to promote the mother tongue like using it more often in daily life and media. Overall, it argues that a shared mother tongue helps bind a community together and pass on its positive cultural values.

1. “ 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

2. Serbian restaurant
There is no doubt that the English
language is a very important medium of
education.
But that is no reason why we should
forget the importance of our mother
tongue and the traditions and culture of
which it is an integral and important part.
It is the SERBIAN language that
makes SERBIAN a nation. It is the
language we communicate with people
throughout this tiny country of ours.
Once we stop paying due respect to
our mother tongue, our history, culture
and traditions could also become the result
of such a development can only be bitter
and painful.

3. Our workshops
The aim - to raise awareness of the importance of mother tongue

5. When in Serbia, speak Srpski
ExchAnge office
We don’t realize how lucky we are for
having our own language. That makes us
unique. Yes, English is important. But the fact
that English has become more important than
our own language is terrifying. We should not
forget something our ancestors fought for a long
time.
When you're in your country, speak your
language! Don't kill it. Seriously, don't kill your
language. If we were to kill the language, we'd
have to find an identity. We'd have to find an
existence. We'd go back to the beginning. Or
we'd disappear, become extinct..

6. Добродошли or Welcome!

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. Conclusion
 There may be some who may argue that it would be better if everyone spoke the same
language so as to promote communication and closer ties between the different
peoples of the world.
However although this is a desired ideal, it may be achieved in other ways
that do not involve abandoning the art of a language that may have taken centuries to
evolve into its present day form that represents the identity of a people or a
community. A mother tongue spoken helps to bind a people together and promote the
positive values of a culture. If we are well grounded and know where we come from
and what kinds of behavior are deemed and acceptable in our community we would be
equipped to resist external negative influences that may otherwise sway us.
Dragana Mitrovic
Biljana Pipovic
Vlasotince, 2015