# Mother tongue / language



## Ploupinet

Hi!
I'd like to know what I should write in a CV for my "mother language": is it better to say "mother tongue" or "mother language"? (Or is there another better way?)
Thank you!


----------



## mapping

je dirais plutôt "mother tongue" as opposed to "native language"
mais attends d'autres avis ...


----------



## mariposa11

Hello,

I agree with mapping...Mother tongue would be the equivalent of "langue maternelle".

=)


----------



## Erin_R

Personally, I don't like the expression "mother tongue" so I normally say "first language".


----------



## jetman

I agree with therese_sligo.  "First language" or "native language" sounds better to me than "mother tongue."


----------



## Ploupinet

Thanks a lot everybody!


----------



## alisonp

Whether or not you like it, "mother tongue" is the standard phrase


----------



## Ploupinet

Is there a difference between AE and BE? Or OE...? - Other English  -


----------



## Nicomon

Je n'écrirais pas non plus mother tongue (pas plus que je n'écrirais langue maternelle en français)

Suggestion:

Written and spoken languages:
French (native) English (fluent)


----------



## pyan

"First language" and "Additional languages" is what I would expect to see on an application form but I think either "first language" or "mother tongue" would be fine on a CV.

I would use "mother tongue" quite naturally when describing someone's social situation.  (I speak UK English.)


----------



## jetman

alisonp said:


> Whether or not you like it, "mother tongue" is the standard phrase



Just for shits and giggles I googled the following:

"My mother tongue is English" 533 hits
"My first language is English" 949 hits
"My native language is English" 10,600 hits

"first language" 1,220,000 hits
"mother tongue" 1,380,000 hits
"native language" 1,420,000 hits


----------



## geostan

alisonp said:


> Whether or not you like it, "mother tongue" is the standard phrase



I agree! Native language is fine, but I never use "first language."


----------



## Erin_R

alisonp said:


> Whether or not you like it, "mother tongue" is the standard phrase



I think saying it's the "standard phrase" is exagerating a bit, but maybe "mother tongue" is the most common expression in CVs. I never said it wasn't, just that personally it's not what I would say.

In fact, Nicoman's suggestion is exactly what I would put on my CV.


----------



## Ploupinet

Nicomon said:


> (pas plus que je n'écrirais langue maternelle en français)


Pourtant, là j'en suis sûr, c'est ce qui se fait ! (En France en tout cas )


----------



## alisonp

therese_sligo said:


> I think saying it's the "standard phrase" is exagerating a bit, but maybe "mother tongue" is the most common expression in CVs. I never said it wasn't, just that personally it's not what I would say.


I was answering the original query, which was really whether "mother language" or "mother tongue" was correct , and "mother language" certainly isn't.  As to whether I would put "mother tongue" on my CV, well, I don't know.  I've never bothered specifying it - I just put in my foreign language qualifications - but I suppose if I did I'd be more likely to go along the "fluent/rusty/reading-knowledge"-type route.  You could of course say "native speaker of ...".


----------



## Q-cumber

*alisonp*

I also think that "mother tongue" is the standard phrase. Yet I am curious whether or not it is applicable in a situation, when one has parents from different counties, and his natvie language is actually "father tongue"?


----------



## Nicomon

Ploupinet said:


> Pourtant, là j'en suis sûr, c'est ce qui se fait ! (En France en tout cas )


 
C'est que vois-tu, ici il est interdit de demander à un candidat de préciser quelle est sa langue maternelle (sur un formulaire de demande d'emploi, par exemple). 
Donc en principe, tu n'as même pas à le préciser sur ton CV

*Langues*
Questions légales 
Questions sur les langues que le candidat parle, lit ou écrit.
Questions illégales
a) Langue maternelle.
b) de quelle façon et où ces langues ont été apprises.

Source C'est la même chose au Québec et en Ontario

J'ai suggéré _native_ et _fluent,_ plus haut, mais en fait dans mon cas personnel j'aurais écrit 

French (fluent) English (excellent)


----------



## wildan1

mother tongue is uncommon in AE; I think it's more a European term
I agree with Nicomon that it is discriminatory to collect this information in any case. A person's home language is irrelevant to job requirements. Whether you learned it as a child (which sometimes can make your accent perfect but in-depth knowledge simplistic at best) or you learned it in school is not the point. It is how competent your communications are in comparison with the job requirements.


----------



## Q-cumber

wildan1 said:


> I agree with Nicomon that it is discriminatory to collect this information in any case.



We take it easy in Europe.  In my opinion, native language is something more than just a tongue spoken fluently. It is a language a person naturally feels, so to speak. Scientists say that a man accumulates about 80% of his total information within the first six years of his life.


----------



## mariposa11

I've been living in Montreal my entire life and have always heard the term Mother tongue/langue maternelle used quite commonly. I've never seen or heard of it as being discriminatory in any way, whether it be on job applications or used in verbal speech.


----------



## Nicomon

Q-cumber said:


> We take it easy in Europe.  In my opinion, native language is something more than just a tongue spoken fluently. It is a language a person naturally feels, so to speak. Scientists say that a man accumulates about 80% of his total information within the first six years of his life.


 
I agree.  But still, it is not relevant for hiring purposes.  The only thing a potential employer needs to know is whether or not you are fluent in speaking, reading or writing a language... whether or not you've learned it from birth.


----------



## Ploupinet

Nicomon said:


> C'est que vois-tu, ici il est *interdit* de demander à un candidat de préciser quelle est sa langue maternelle (sur un formulaire de demande d'emploi, par exemple).


Woaw! Thanks for that precision, I didn't know that! (Une particularité d'un pays à deux langues officielles peut-être ?)


----------



## Nicomon

mariposa11 said:


> I've been living in Montreal my entire life and have always heard the term Mother tongue/langue maternelle used quite commonly. I've never seen or heard of it as being discriminatory in any way, whether it be on job applications or used in verbal speech.


 
I have too... and for much longer. I didn't just invent that it is discriminatory to ask on job applications. I happen to work in the field. So whether or not you write it on your CV is your decision to make, but a recruiter or employer cannot ask specifically.


----------



## Q-cumber

*Nicomon *
Well, you are right, but please note that the author of the topic *wasn't requested* to declare his native language.  He was just writing his CV. 
It is very common in Europe to mention native tongue *volitionally* in a "language list".  I think one of reasons for that is to ensure an employer that a potential employee is really fluent in speaking, reading and so on a language. A self-appraisal is always subjective. For example, I might imagine that I speak English fluently, yet a *native* English speaker, as employer, might think otherwise. Or someone might speak a language fluently, but with a terrible accent. 
PS Fortunately, I am an employer myself.


----------



## Nicomon

Q-cumber said:


> *Nicomon *
> Well, you are right, but please note that the author of the topic *wasn't requested* to declare his native language. He was just writing his CV.


 
Hence my writing above... whether or not you write it on your CV is your decision to make.  But he doesn't have to, since by Canadian law, an employer may not ask in advance. He's likely to find out by himself, during the applicant's interview.


----------



## wildan1

Nicomon said:


> Hence my writing above... whether or not you write it on your CV is your decision to make.
> But he doesn't have to, since by Canadian law, an employer may not ask in advance.


 
The same legal protection exists in the US, which is not de jure a bilingual country. But certainly a tower of babel in reality, and people are quite sensitive about having linguistic discrimination block them from a fair chance. Hence the preference/right to refer to "language competence" and not "mother tongue/native language"


----------



## Q-cumber

Nicomon said:


> Hence my writing above...



Yeah, we had been writing our messages simultaneously.  ...telepathy...


----------



## alisonp

I'd say, if you have native-speaker ability in any language, then you ought to be capable of expressing yourself on any subject you are sufficiently knowledgeable about in that language.  I remember a lecturer of mine telling me about some Welsh friends who, though entirely comfortable with English, would always revert to Welsh to discuss things such as politics.


----------



## Q-cumber

alisonp said:


> ... I remember a lecturer of mine telling me about some Welsh friends who, though entirely comfortable with English, would always revert to Welsh to discuss things such as politics.



Perhaps they just didn't want to exchange their political opinions with him.


----------

