Learning local dialect

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As a child growing up in the western part of the country, to be very specific Thimphu Dechencholing, my parents never felt the need to teach us local dialect. Both inside the home and outside, the only language we used for conversation was Dzongkhag, our national language.  However, in the school emphasis was given more in speaking in English and there was a time when we were threatened to impose with penalty if we talk in Dzongkha.  We would of course try to speak in English but use to land up giggling or laughing when we converse in English.  Of course, the scenario has completely changed after two and half decades since I left high school.

After high school I went to undertake my undergraduate course at the College of Science and Technology in Rinchending. There I met lots of friends who studied and lived their entire life in the eastern part of the country. Most of these students communicate in a local dialect known as Sharchop. And that is when I felt the importance of learning local dialect. When those people communicated using their local dialect, I felt as if they were more connected, as if there was some kind of deeper unity. For first time in life I thought about why my parents didn’t teach me local dialect even though they were also from Eastern part of the country. I remember questioning my mother as well when I was back home during vacation.

And then I did my Civil Servant examination, and I got placement in Pemagatshel ( Blissful land of Lotus) . To my surprise about 98% of people in the office communicated in Sharchop, even those from the southern part of the country who usually speak Lhotsham dialect. I knew that I was going to have field day in PG. But I was determined to learn the language. Whenever I tried to communicate in Sharchop with the village contractors or local people, they would often laugh out loud. But that didn’t discourage me from learning. After spending 3 years in Pemagatshel, I learned the language so well that now when people talk with me, they would ask if I was from Pemagatshel. I then have to narrate the whole story and say I am from Lhuntse.  Of course people would say “Really”

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