On a bus back to New York, I felt a lump of emptiness in my chest. So, like many people who get homesick, I called my grandmother -- also known as mama ku-ku.

Something relevant you should know about my grandmother, and some immigrants can relate, is that that she only knows one language, which is her native language, Igbo. This is not to say that my sweet grandmother, and many other grandmothers around the globe, are illiterate. Although she was not given the opportunity to obtain even the most basic primary school education of that time, thanks to a sexist, patriarchal educational system, she is one of the wisest people I know.

We exchanged one of the regular greetings in Igbo:

Her: "Kedu ka i di? I na-agu akwukwo gi? Kee maka nwanne gi? Ana m ekpe ekpere maka unu."

Me: "Adi m mma. O di mma, mana o siri ike. Ha di mma."

Translation

Her: "How are you? How are your studies? What of your sister, and brothers? I am praying for you all."

Me: "I’m fine. Good, challenging but good. They are fine."

From the dialogue, as you can see, she is very protective (I don’t know which reasonable grandma could not be). But from our little chit chat, I noticed that I could understand more Igbo phrases in relative to replying to her consistent igbotic questions. Language is a huge factor in a culture and there should no other way to stress that. With language, a person can feel more connected using MTN or Verizon in places other carriers are not as efficient.

For some reason, it seems that my Igbo community and many other lingual communities in the diaspora are not as rigorous when it comes to speaking the language. So here’s a list of advice to still hang on to the little mother tongue you have.

1. Listen to more songs in your language.

Have a playlist of some songs and listen to their pronunciations, even if it sounds too lyrically stretched out. See if there are karaoke versions of songs on Youtube and try to physically become invested and engaged in the language. My Spanish teacher, Señor Collins, explained to me that in a paraphrased statement, the worst mistake students can make is translating word to word and they never fully grasp the nature of thinking in the language.

2. Hold more conversations without English.

This is very important. Try to see this as a game. Play it with your dad, your mum, or your friends. Try to last a minute of speaking only your native language and try not to utter English. When you pass the stage and are more confident with your language competency, increase the time to a minute and thirty seconds, and so on. Keep hustling.

3. Have your community hold language classes.

This refers to the many cultural churches and schools in your neighborhood. Advocate that language is significant and lobby the idea of creating language lessons. This, in turn, will result in jobs for the community. Just as many people have music lessons where people learn how to plays musical instruments and I strongly advise that language lessons should occur in the same consistency.

4. For the parents, do NOT speak English in your home.

For the parents who understand and speak their language fluently, I see no reason why English should spoken at home when it will inevitably be taught in schools.

5. Watch more movies in your language.

Start watching non-English movies without subtitles. Yes, this can be painful when you do not understand expressions and phrases. However, it is better because translated subtitles can try to represent English meanings but it never ends up being perfect. A clear example is the word "coño," which is often translated to "f*ck" or "dammit" and I have been told that the severity of the Spanish curse word is not the same.

6. Make use of Google Translate.

It isn't perfect, but it is a resource to cross check some words. Never lean on it for common phrases because it is not a perfect translator, and definitely not a very good expressive one either.

7. Recite phrases over and over again.

Make this a habit. Pronouncing it repeatedly is useful. Of course, expect early failures because this is something new, but remember that late successes will always be remembered the most.