Two children cannot communicate with their grandparents in the village because they cannot manage even rudimentary Dzongkha. They are raised in a western-educated family that speaks only English at home. A senior public official speaks sophisticated English but can hardly pull off a neat Dzongkha sentence without heavy reliance on English words or phrases.
The above children and public official come from the same family in Thimphu. The official rise through the ranks even without basic Dzongkha, but for her children, Dzongkha is a constant battle in school. This family is a microcosm of Dzongkha’s declining appeal in urban Bhutan.
Since the Dzongkha was adopted as Bhutan’s national language in the 1960s, it has been plagued by multiple challenges. One of them is our partiality for and fascination with English. Many Bhutanese tend to think that being able to use English well is the only mark of sophistication and education, which is a naïve perception.
Therefore, English has become the lingua franca among the educated at the cost of promoting Dzongkha. Over the decades, the government has given particular importance to promoting and developing Dzongkha. His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo issued multiple kashos underlining the importance and promotion of Dzongkha.
Yet, despite all the investment in public institutions, policies, development initiatives, and standardisation, Dzongkha remains a secondary language in Bhutan because of its lack of popular use. No amount of in.
