They not only want them to have a functional facility in speaking but also to know the grammar of their language and make the great literature of their country accessible to them.
Along with the care to preserving the mother tongue is sharing the culture of their homeland.
We discussed the importance of culture not only as an ethnic phenomenon but as a way to enrich the life of our children and the family and Church life. We either live out the richness of our own culture or end up fighting against pop culture or submitting to it.
Some of us who are born in America, second generation or more, removed from the cultural treasuries that were left behind, have spent great effort to discover and develop the songs we can sing together, the dances and games and activities that bind us together.
The energy needed to keep alive the mother tongue, and to preserve or develop a family or Church community culture is analogous to the energy needed to preserve our soul for Christ. We have to exercise ourselves in the culture of the Kingdom through practicing the commandments of Christ everywhere and at all times. In participating in the Church services, reading and working on our souls we are developing and restoring the natural piety of our Life in Christ with our family.
