We were talking last evening about how your mother tongue influences how you speak English, when we came upon another interesting question: What is your mother tongue and how would you determine it? Is it:

1) The language your mother speaks

2) The language you speak with your mother (and what if you speak two languages?)

3) The language you speak most with your family

4) The language you think in (Which might not be your technical mother tongue. For example, Assamese is technically my mother tongue, but I don’t think in the language)

5) The language you’re most comfortable speaking (and this may or may not be the same as the one you use to communicate with your family).

Also, what happens if you have parents who speak different languages and use Hindi or English as a common language? Does Hindi/English become your mother tongue, or it is still your mother’s language that is your mother tongue?

Hmm… A little complicated I think. I’d be interested in hearing your views especially if you come from a background where your family speaks two languages.