Speaking My Husband’s Indigenous Language for 24 Hours - Learning & Preserving the Mentawai Language

In this video, Marjolein takes on the challenge of speaking her husband’s native Mentawai language for a full 24 hours! The Mentawai language is a beautiful but endangered indigenous language spoken by the Mentawai people on the Mentawai Islands, off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. While Marjolein can understand a lot of it, she rarely speaks it.
Along the way, we'll share more about the Mentawai language, its rich cultural significance, and the efforts being made to preserve it. The Mentawai language is at risk of disappearing, with younger generations increasingly speaking Indonesian. We hope this video sheds light on the importance of preserving indigenous languages like Mentawai and encourages others to learn more about these unique cultures.
🔗 Want to help preserve the Mentawai language and other indigenous languages? Visit iefprograms.org/ to learn how you can support efforts to keep these languages alive.
More ways to SUPPORT Our Island Life:
Become a member of our Patreon family and enjoy even more island life content:
🔗 / ourislandlife
☕️Buy us a coffee (we all know how much Marjo likes her morning coffee):
🔗 www.buymeacoff...
🎶 All music in this video is from Epidemic Sound: share.epidemic...
Follow along on Instagram for casual updates:
/ marjos_stories
📍 About Us
We live off-grid on a tropical island in the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, sharing our adventures of island life, surfing, fishing, and exploring the natural beauty of the region. Follow along for more about life in the Mentawai Islands!

[@polliebain7450]

I'm English - 80 years old - lived in France 13 years - fluent French, good ltalian, ok Spanish. I've spent a lot of time in Bali - l plan to move there permanently next year - so l'm getting on with lndonesian.😏 Maybe your next big project could be a book about the Mentawei lslands - the life, traditions - and a teach yourself Mentawei language.?! You speak impressive English - you are very articulate and have such special knowledge and experience. Also - most importantly - your attitude towards your home and the people is very loving, sensitive and positive. I think many people would be interested - your youtube family for a start! 😁

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh how nice! Thank you for sharing Pollie! And yes, been thinking for years about writing a book. Hopefully some day ☺️

[@polliebain7450]

@@OurIslandLife er no....'hopefully...some day'. At my age l venture to suggest those words so often lead to nothing. Maybe just buy an exercise book and note down any thoughts that occur. What have you to lose? And you may surprise yourself! ❤

[@OurIslandLife]

@@polliebain7450 yes so true! Thanks for the gentle kick in the but 🤪

[@polliebain7450]

@@OurIslandLife 😁❤

[@pppantz]

LOVE you two. Thank you for sharing this language with us. I was today years old (70) when I learned what cloves look like when they are not in the bottle!

[@polliebain7450]

I'm 80 - l didn't know either...what a lot of work!

[@OurIslandLife]

Hahaaa yes! 🤪

[@OurIslandLife]

Crazy right?! Next time you’ll think of us when using them 😉

[@debbiegoss5513]

I am from the Caribbean Island of Jamaica🇯🇲. I speak Potois. This is a dialect spoken amongst the Jamaican people. Other Caribbean Islands speak the same dialect. However, there are subtle differences such as accents, placement of pronouns........ It was a pleasure listening to you speak in your inlaws and hubby's native tongue. There is so much wisdom in one's native tongue. I hope the natives will find a way to keep the language alive. Our ancestors lives on as long as we maintain the old ways. They are forgotten when we throw away what they have passed do to us❤❤❤.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes absolutely! And your language sounds so interesting too! Didn’t know about it before. Thanks for sharing 🫶🏼

[@jessicaholguin5876]

This was wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing more of the island and the language. I really hope the language can be preserved!

[@racheljacobs8887]

I am from the US and speak English. This is a wonderful video and a great effort to showcase and preserve the mentawai language. You are so correct that preserving culture and the way you do things is of great importance and I cannot thank you enough for sharing it with the world. I am just totally absorbed with each video and the way you work together to accomplish so much. The best to you all!!!!

[@Kara_2505]

Dutch and English. Learned English, French, German and Spanish in high school and/or college. Really like reading these comments. 😊 I'm all for diversity, in every aspect. It provides the enrichment of life.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes same! Been loving reading all tjese comments too ☺️🥰

[@markmorenousa]

love your shows.. In 1994 I spent a month roaming around the islands, surfing and meeting the locals.. It was a trip of a lifetime. Way before the surf camps and only two charter boats.. watching these bring back great memories!!

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh wooww! Have you been back since? I bet a lot has changed since ce then but glad we’re bringing back some good memories ☺️

[@markmorenousa]

@@OurIslandLife no.. its shameful hahaa. Only to Bali. Soon! Keep up the great vids!!

[@susanvila6787]

So beautiful how you continue to speak your native language and continue doing things that have been done for years. I totally believe that customs should continue to be taught to our children to continue the heritage.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes 💯💯 it makes us a bit sad sometimes to see so many skills here rapidly disappearing.

[@Emii-t5d]

Hi I’m New Zealand Māori we speak Te Reo and English our indigenous language was nearly lost,due to it being banned at school not allowed to speak the language so schools were set up to teach the language to our young so they would not lose it and this helped the revival of the Maori language.So l can see how very important the Mentawai language is to all those who speak it and those to come.Great video

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes, exactly! There are some initiatives from a local foundation to integrate a Mentawai language and culture part into the standard curriculum here, which is indeed great! But still a lot to be done.

[@samuelmusyoka973]

I am a Kenyan ....I speak an ethnic language called Kamba....I also speak Swahili,the national language....I am also fluent in English.... You are amazing

[@Deeferdoo]

I’m half English and half Chinese and lived in Bali and Jakarta for many years. I will always be grateful that I can speak my mother tongue, Cantonese, English, Bahasa Indonesian. I wish I have the ability to learn more languages or be more proficient in Cantonese or BI. I agree with An, we must not forget our culture, it defines who we are. Thank you for another lovely video. ❤

[@valarmorghulis8139]

I also speak a language from austronesian like mentawai,there was a writing system called Baybayin from 10th century to 16th century but it was wiped out during colonization by Spain then America and Japan. But the language Bisaya or Cebuano is not going extinct very soon because there are 18.5 millions of people speaking it. In my case same with An I spoke my mother tounge first Bisaya/Cebuano then learned Tagalog and English in school from grade one 'til I graduated university. 2:20 the wild flower is Melastoma malabathricum I ate it as a kid they grow in the wild in Negros Island as well.

[@OurIslandLife]

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing that 🫶🏼 so younger generations keep on speaking Bisaya/Cebuano? Also thanks for the flower name! 🥰

[@jimpeleambau6995]

I am Malaysian from East Malaysia. I speak various languages, Iban as my tribe mother tongues (similar with Suku Dayak in Indonesia). Then I speak Sarawak language, afterwords I learn to speak Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin (from primary to secondary), and English and my tertiary language. Learning new languages wasn't stop there... When I married to My Indonesian wife, I learn to speak Bahasa Indonesia... At the same time trying to mingle with her family and community... I start to learn Bahasa Batak Toba... So far.... I am still learning...

[@Fran_why]

Is Bahasa Batak Toba spoken near Lake Toba on Sumatra?

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow amazing! What a journey!

[@friedadewerker1899]

Hallo jullie samen! Ik kom uit Nederland in de buurt van Zeeland en een uurtje van de Belgische grens! Ik ben het eens met jou man…oude talen mogen niet verdwijnen. Leuk om jullie zo te zien met familie en vrienden! Ik vind het heel knap van jou dat je de taal al zo goed begrijpt en spreekt! Denk aan jullie ❤

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh leuk! Wij zijn al een keertje samen in Zeelàd geweest :) en vroeger ging ik (Marjolein) altijd daar surfen ☺️🫶🏼

[@sherw6456]

"Boring" American for me (haha); only know very tiny snippets of French, German, and Spanish picked up over time (I joke "just enough to get me in trouble!") I live primarily in Hawaii now, but was a "mainlander" for well over 50 years. 'Olelo Hawai'i, the native Hawaiian language, is also in danger of becoming extinct. There has recently been a resurgence in the teaching of it and great effort put into preserving it. While there are many, many words in Hawaiian used in everyday here, like towns, street names, etc., the actual grammatical language is not spoken by many. Like Mentawai, hopefully it will not disappear! Love your videos!

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes very similar situation indeed! Let’s do our best to preserve these unique languages!

[@Nuggetsjourney44]

Your channel just keeps getting better, anything you guys do is captivating and I’m so happy your on KZbin, thanks 🙏🏽

[@OurIslandLife]

Aww thank you so much 🥹🫶🏼

[@fatimahayu8135]

The smell of the cloves has reaches the Riau Islands 😁 Born as a Javanese (Central), language is character and social status. Javanese is my first language, which there are several different levels which is totally different in vocab. In my family environment, I speak 3 different levels of Javanese. 1. Kromo inggil, used among nobles when talking to people who are respected 2. Kromo, when talking to the primarly family or other people who are older 3. ngoko, to communicate with your level/friends/younger than you. Even though I don't live in Java anymore, I'm still speak well in level 2 & 3 with my husband who also from Java (east) and with Javanese people which are spread throughout Indonesia. That's only for Javanesse language I've already got 3 different languages. Then, of course I learnt Bahasa Indonesia when I started school, start to learnt English in 7th grade and fluent in English during my job in various multinational company. But then I took a job in gov't here in the capital of Riau Island Province in Tanjungpinang. So, my languages lesson still continue because here in Tanjungpinang mostly spoke Malay which is similiar with Bahasa Indonesia but different in dialect. Thanks to you both for the educative video ❤💙

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow that's so interesting! I knew that there are different levels used depending on who you're speaking to but had no idea each one even had a name. Thank you so much for sharing! Learning a lot through these comments

[@peterfledervis7025]

Love watching you guys, thanks for posting. Greetings from a Hungarian living in Germany.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yay! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!

[@gisellagowases9088]

Thank you for sharing. It is always a pleasure watching you.

[@OurIslandLife]

Thank you 🥹🫶🏼

[@always.wondering.wandering]

English is my mother language, I am from the US. My cousin however was raised with her grandmother who was part Creek(Native American)so she was able to learn the Creek language. Good to see you all keeping the native language in use, I do think those traditions are important.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes absolutely! ☺️

[@julietavarron7401]

😊 kudos to you and your husband for sharing the history and hope of preserving the Mentawai language through continuous speaking Mentawai . And who knew that cloves come from such a gorgeous tree! ( I didn’t) 😂😂 I love learning new things hence the reason I enjoy and, look forward to your channel topic/s. Oh- and your dogs are just as adorable as you and your partner. Cheers

[@OurIslandLife]

Aww thank you!! ☺️🫶🏼

[@Rainbowmom26]

I’m from the USA and I speak English. I’ve lived in China for a little while in the past and know some Mandarin, but very little Mandarin.

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh wow! Good on you!

[@ellen4094]

And another video to love! Makasi / Danke je wel for all this info and taking us along. Really hope to visit you guys at some point. Groetjes uit de swiss, Ellen

[@liberatedlioness6478]

So much cloves... Wow....what do you do with so much? Beautiful video as always. Thanks for sharing this unique language 🙏🏿

[@lightgreennn]

Dried them and sell them. For cookies and cooking. That's what we do with our cloves here in Java island 😊 it's an island next to Sumatra (the mother island of this channel)

[@OurIslandLife]

We dry the cloves and then sell them. When it’s clove season, it’s a big source of income for many people here :)

[@liberatedlioness6478]

@@OurIslandLife that's wonderful 😊

[@shannoncourtney2860]

You are so inspirational. Thank you

[@mj-ux2jd]

Love all your videos and love this one so we can hear the Mentawai language. Thank you for sharing your lives and culture with everyone around the world! Grew up in Hawaii and live in California now. English is my native language, but I know bits of Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian!

[@OurIslandLife]

So nice! Thanks for sharing 🫶🏼

[@debramenta7207]

I sincerely hope that the Mentawai language survives. Is there a way to phonetically write it down? Unfortunately, my only language is English and some Indonesian. I love your life! I am living vicariously through you two😃💕 Thank you for this lovely video❣

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes we hope so too! 🫶🏼

[@Luca_Swan]

“Mauran”. That’s like a Minasbate (Masbate) language in the Philippines where my parents from and one of the Philippine’s 7,641 Islands! I heard you say “oh-o” as yes and that’s how we say yes too! I think I heard An said “ini” pointing at something and in Minasbate it means “this”! It’s so cool to hear it from Indonesians! So many similar words! I am a Filipino living in the US but still know many indigenous languages fluently and also taught my kids (minasbate and bisaya) aside from TAGALOG- the national Filipino language. I love this episode! Keep up the good work guys!❤

[@OurIslandLife]

No way! Interesting! Someone else also commented about “uran” meaning rain in their language in the Philippines! I’m so pleasantly surprised how many people still speak traditional languages ☺️ and so nice that you’re teaching your kids too!

[@lesleylatham8414]

I'm from Canada, which is officially a bilingual country - English and French. Thank you for sharing your amazing life.

[@OurIslandLife]

Interesting! ☺️

[@hetalkataria1931]

I am from India which has like more than 200 native languages out of which I speak languages like Hindi Gurjati Marwadi Marathi .However I speak English as well! Good to see your vlogs pls do a home tour and keep ur vlogs long!! Much love😊

[@OurIslandLife]

Thank you for sharing! Always find it so interesting how so many languages are spoken within a country!

[@thaodinh8390]

I am Vietnamese living in the U.S. Thanks for sharing your beaufiful island living. I like the song toward the end!!

[@OurIslandLife]

Nice! Thank you for sharing 🫶🏼 And yes, the song at the end is a Mentawai song ☺️

[@melindataljaard2753]

Hi, I'm from South-Africa. We speak Africaans. A beautiful language. What a nice video. You're been blessed with an awesome, amazing iland. 👏🏻 Love your videos. 👋🏻✌🏻✌🏻

[@OurIslandLife]

Thank you!

[@petra7322]

I am Dutch in my 70s have lived in the US for 50 years, still speak Dutch with my Dutch friend here, and when I go back to Holland. I love it when you go home and speak Flemish, the older we get the harder it gets to learn new languages, I love your channel, and admire your courage to live on the island and learn a new language💕

[@OurIslandLife]

Thank you for sharing Petra! I find it hard sometimes to speak Flemish/Dutch because i use it so little 🫣 Nice that you have a Dutch friend in the US to speak Dutch with ☺️

[@darlenecoleman7336]

Hi Marjolein. Great video! I live in Virginia, USA so I speak English. But my spouse is Deaf, so I use American Sign Language (ASL) which is a visual not spoken language (with a different gramatical structure) or Pidgin Signed English (which uses English sentence structure) to communicate. I recently retired from my job at a state school for the deaf where students and many staff were also deaf, and I learned ASL. My spouse grew up in the UK and can read and write several languages. English, French, Italian, and some Spanish and also does a fairly good job of pronouncing English but can't hear at all. In the UK they use British Sign Language which is entirely different from American Sign Language. Most countries have their own unique sign language. There is also International Sign (IS) that is a pidgin language with a limited vocabulary used as an international auxiliary language.

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow! So incredibly interesting! Thank you so much for sharing 🫶🏼 love what you’re doing!

[@susanparra3732]

My mother language is English. My husband’s is Maya. He learned Spanish when he went to school like An. The government in The Yucatan peninsula started teaching Maya in schools about 10 years ago. Thank you for your videos and your interest in helping save languages!

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh wow! Interesting! We hope one day they’ll teach Mentawai in the schools here too 🫶🏼

[@triniwoman3815]

I watch you from the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. I live on the bigger island Trinidad. Even though we are so close to Venezuela, the language we speak is English, with our twang of course. I’m 66 and spent 20 years of my life in the province of Ontario, Canada. I’ve also travelled to Europe, the US and visited many islands in the Caribbean. People think we are the all same in the Caribbean but our islands were colonized by different Europeans hence we are different culturally and also speak different languages. I really enjoy your channel as it takes me back to a time when I was little growing up in Trinidad. We are close to the Equator and our islands have rainforests like you. I’m amazed how you go into your forest and forge. I have a forest just a few steps from me and I never go into it. I enjoy looking at it and hearing the birds morning and evening. I get hummingbirds in my garden often. I’m afraid the majority of our citizens, like the people who live in cities around the world have grown away from the land. Keep up the wonderful updates. Living in a rainforest is a unique challenge and I identify with it. 🙏🇹🇹

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes! We really love living so close to nature ☺️ Thank you for such a nice comment and sharing a bit of your story!

[@Anton-tf9iw]

In South India cloves are grown only at ~ 600m height, probably because there it is cool and moist enough.

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh really? Here they also only grow on hills but the hills are more between 50m-200m.

[@miriamdodd5485]

Love your inspiring life and videos you share. I live in the States but originally from Palau 🇵🇼 Islands and speak Palauan language. 🙏🥰🙏

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow cool! 🤩🥰

[@effimiakitsaki861]

I am Greek, lived in Italy for 20 years and then I moved to Northern Ireland. I speak fluent Greek, Italian, French, Spanish and German.

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow amazing! 🤩

[@tenzinyangdon7918]

Wonderful! Living in the nature Very smart and intelligent I’m from Tibet “the roof of the world” My native language is Tibetan.

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh wow! Such a different world! Love it 😊 thanks for sharing 🫶🏼

[@melissasibindi7375]

I would love to see more of your cooking Mentawai dishes ❤

[@desireortiz4836]

I am Puerto Rican 🇵🇷 born in PR and living in New York City for 42yrs.i speak Spanish, English and I understand Italian,Portuguese and a little bit of Hindi and French.I love your channel thank you so much for taking us along with you to your beautiful island adventures and also thank you for your excellent content.God bless you both with lots of Health,love,abundance,peace and joy,🙏💝🙏💝🙏💝🐕🙏💝🐕Amen.

[@OurIslandLife]

Aww thank you 🥹🙏🏼

[@jasminedebeer]

Such a beautiful video! An sounds amazing in his voiceover in Mentawai! 💛👏🏼

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes right! Maybe he should become a voice actor 😂

[@kristined7767]

Hi :) Thanks for this video :) I am form Latvia, my native language is Latvian and I am so proud of it!

[@OurIslandLife]

Cool! 🤩🫶🏼

[@leanbellaskitchen]

I was born in the Philippines, now residing in the US. My mother language is “Tagalog”, and that is the spoken language in the Northern Luzon part of the Philippines 🇵🇭 Thank you for always sharing inspiring videos. Stay well and more blessings to you and your family 💕

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh nice! Thank you for sharing 🫶🏼

[@Ranponist]

Bonjour, Je ne savais pas que les clous de girofles poussaient sur des arbres 🤯. Dinga ya bakala ya ngue que kitoko (Language: Kikongo or Munu kutuba). Your Island is quite resources full and amazing (when the weather is sunny 😎). Bozali couple moko y a kitoto penza (Lingala). Não existe casal perfeito, a perfeição se encontra na felicidade e se você é feliz com alguém, isso já é o suficient (Portuguese). The above are the languages I understand and speak. The only one I cant write is my mother's, it's called Kivili.

[@OurIslandLife]

So cool! Thank you!

[@Ranponist]

@@OurIslandLife namasté

[@kimreddy3434]

Half (India) Indian & Mauritan from the island of Mauritius. However I was born & live in South Africa. I do know a few languages. However we mostly speak English or Afrikaans. Btw cloves is my favourite spice. Much Love & Blessings to you guys 🌍🇿🇦💌🙏👍

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow amazing! What an interesting background. Thanks for sharing 🫶🏼

[@gitajohnson3474]

Australian and English is the only language I know. I’m always impressed and intrigued by peoples ability to know multiple languages! I love that you are keeping the traditional language alive.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes, being from an English speaking country it’s definitely much harder to learn other languages as so many people already speak yours right 🤪🫣

[@kellypruitt2362]

I always learn so much from your videos. I never knew that’s what cloves looked like when harvested. Thanks for sharing your epic journey. Sending love from Virginia, United States ❤❤

[@OurIslandLife]

You are so welcome! Thank you for watching! :)

[@lynneho4573]

Im australian,my husband is chinese from singapore.I learned to speak teocheŵ Chinese from his family .moving to australia, we speak only english,people in sinapore now only speak Mandarin chinese so the next generation have lost most of their family language.well done on your multicultural marriage.we are together 45years and people said we wouldnt last.best wishes

[@Itsmemaiteg]

I’m from Manila in the Philippines and my language is Tagalog but I have also spoken English my whole life. There are so many other dialects in the Philippines. If you drive an hour away from Manila, they speak another dialect. There are more than 175 dialects in the Philippines. Btw, why so much cloves? What do you do with them? I have a tiny jar that I’ve had for years. I hardly ever use them.

[@OurIslandLife]

So cool! So do you speak a mix of English and Tagalog with friends and family or is it English with certain people and Tagalog with others? Ps: the cloves get dried and then sold 😉

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh amazing! Thank for sharing 🫶🏼

[@Itsmemaiteg]

@@OurIslandLife I live in Australia now so I speak mostly English. My mom lives with us and we tend to speak Taglish, which is a mixture of Tagalog and English. I think most Filipinos speak Taglish now a days.

[@miguelveiga188]

I been followed you guys for so long and as a island guy, I really love the content and the life style! I’m from Cape Verde island 🇨🇻, west coast of Africa, we speak Portuguese as a official language but our mother language is Cape Verdean Creole.

[@OurIslandLife]

Nice! I think you’re the first Cape Verdian we’ve come accross in these comments 🤩

[@popovaalexandra7526]

My mother language is Russian. Thank you vety much for your videos, for this especially! I love learn about indigenous languages and unique cultures! Thank you!

[@OurIslandLife]

You’re welcome! Thank you for watching! 🫶🏼

[@rebeccasenoglu2072]

I'm English-speaking American living in Chico, California (NorCal). I've been married over 30 years to a Turk and have experienced some of your bi-cultural couple stuff since he is also from a village. I commend you on your language learning! Since my husband spoke no English when we met, and since we have always lived in the US, the goal was to improve his English. My Turkish has remained very simple. I speak enough to be able to work with my mother-in-law in the kitchen!

[@OurIslandLife]

Hahaa love that you just speak enough Turkish to cook with your mother in law 🥰🤪 Thank you for watching and sharing a bit of your story 🫶🏼

[@lisadonald67]

Loved this video! Marjolein, how many languages do you speak? And I'm curious, what the plan is with all of those cloves?

[@OurIslandLife]

We dry the cloves and then sell them. When it’s clove season, selling the dried cloves (for export) is a big source of income for many local families :) And about the languages I speak fluently Dutch (Flemish), English, French, Spanish and Indonesian and a bit of German and Mentawai 🤪

[@sinebheag4685]

That was really interesting. It was lovely to hear so much Mentawai spoken. It looks like An and his brother are much happier speaking their own language to the camera 😊 I'm from Scotland. My mother tongue is English (because the native Scottish languages were oppressed over the years) but I speak a little Scots language and Scottish Gaelic too

[@OurIslandLife]

Interesting! Thank you for sharing! Reading all these stories about all these different languages and what’s happened over the years gets me so curious!

[@alanbaldwin7277]

Another lovely video.

[@LeoR2222]

I'm from Sweden and speak Swedish, I know English as well as we learn this in school, but mostly through all the culture around us. I love this video and how you embrace and lift up Mentawai. We have a few minority langauges in Sweden, several versions of samiska and meänkieli.

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh interesting! Didn’t know about those minority languages in Sweden. Thanks for sharing! 🫶🏼

[@amyalvarado3762]

Thank you🌺✨

[@katyoakum7643]

Hou zoveel van jullie video’s! ❤

[@OurIslandLife]

Dankjewel Kat! 🙏🏼

[@alsometalhead1650]

Gülümseyerek izliyorum :) gülmek bulaşıcı sanırım , kucak dolusu sevgiler .

[@OurIslandLife]

🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

[@DYoung-vt8pq]

It's sad to think of a language disappearing. I hope it can be saved. Be well. ❤

[@renddecena]

I'm from Palawan island in the Philippines and grow up with the Pala'wan tribe who speak similar language as yours. They also harvest sago occasionally and we also eat that flower.❤

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh no way! So cool! Thanks for sharing 🫶🏼

[@vickokoszka6836]

IT MUST SMELL AMAZING AS YOU ARE HARVESTING THE CLOVES...? THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL RESPECTFUL AND JOYFUL VIDEO TO SEE.....AND THAT YOU REALLY ARE SO INTENT ON LEARNING ANS LANGUAGE. THIS MUST BE SO SPECIAL AND HONOURING FOR HIM ALSO. DO THE CLOVES GO BLACK AS THEY ARE DRYED? LOVE YOUR ISLAND LIFE.....😁 THANK YOU 🙏💚🙏 IT IS VIDEOS LIKE THIS THAT SPARK A GREATER OPTIMISM IN THE LOVE AND CARE WE TAKE OF THE EARTH AND EACH OTHER.... 🕊🐘✨️🙌🙏💙🐋💙🙏🙌✨️🦋🐝

[@apongkonyak4645]

Mei nang ke .mean..good to c you2...fr India Nagaland Kohima

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh cool! Thanks for sharing 🫶🏼

[@elizabethcontratista9935]

I am a Filipino based in Sydney, Australia. One word I’ve heard which is similar to Filipino is uran which is rain. In Tagalog it’s ulan or in the dialect ( still in the Philippines), it’s ulan.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes so interesting right?! We had no idea until a bunch of people commented that ☺️🫶🏼

[@greencare9702]

Mentawai language sounds beautiful and you should be proud of yourself because you seem to make nice progress. I have a passion for languages, my native language is romanian, but I also speak italian, spanish, english and some german. I appreciate more and more other cultures and diversity and hope to travel a lot more. 💚 Greetings from Romania!

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes exactly! And same, I love learning new languages and cultures!

[@AnnaJoubert-it9dd]

Hi Marjolein, loved your video! The language is so beatiful☺️We speak Afrikaans in South Africa

[@OurIslandLife]

Thank you 🫶🏼 and thanks for sharing where you’re from, we’re loving all these comments! 🥰

[@heleneGelle]

I am from Ireland 🇮🇪 and my mother tongue is Gaeltacht but I also speak french fluently, Japanese, russian, German and Spanish

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow! So cool! 🤩

[@cinnamon8884]

austrian here - we speak german with a dialect.

[@claudiatribeofmanycolours]

Ja Servus Du 😁 Liebe Grüsse von einer geborenen Niederösterreicherin! Pfiat Di 😉 Mochs guat!

[@OurIslandLife]

Ahh yes! I always compare my mother language (Flemish) to Dutch as you do Austrian to German ☺️

[@maur1571]

I live in the US, but original from Port -of-Spain, Trinidad. English is spoken in Trinidad. Trinidad was British ruled, therefore, our spelling was like the UK rather than the US. For example, Colour (UK) vs Color (US) when I was a young child in Trinidad in the late 60s, we said Nought rather than Zero. Today nought is not used. ..I learned a good bit of Spanish in school.

[@OurIslandLife]

Amazing! Thank you 🙏🏼🫶🏼

[@idkreatif8701]

Indonesia have more than 700 mother language include Mentawai, Indonesia is national language

[@idkreatif8701]

My mother language is Padangnese and Mentawai different language even part of west Sumatra

[@OurIslandLife]

Yess! So you speak Minang right?

[@idkreatif8701]

@@OurIslandLife yes i speak Minang language i am from Padang panjang but i born and live In jakarta, my parents both from Padang, i plan to go to Padang next year with my father maybe visit Mentawai

[@lightgreennn]

Sekarang katanya ada 800 lebih bahasa ka, banyak bgt

[@lightgreennn]

​​@@OurIslandLifeand i speak Javanese, central Javanese to be exact, Java is the island next to Bali island. Remember me? Your subscriber who always ask for an old hut video! 😁

[@fightingmink]

I’m picking up some Spanish when he was talking. Seguro and escuela. I grew up speaking Tagalog and my mother and wife is visayan. She is also picking up some visayan. Austronesians are truly connected by language.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes how crazy! The escuela you heard is sekolah in Indonesian, a loanword in Mentawai :) but I do think the sekolah comes from the Spanish escuela ☺️

[@Mamicastwi]

I am from a beautiful Caribbean island name 🇱🇨St. Lucia we speak Creole some call it Patios.It’s a language I cannot do without now I live in the 🇺🇸my children were born here yet I teach them to speak their mother tongue likewise my Husband.Each and every one of us have a story to tell.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes exactly! Love that you are still teaching your children your mother tongue even though you guys live in the US ☺️

[@debbiegoss5513]

Thank you🙏

[@OurIslandLife]

🙏🏼🫶🏼

[@kamyawinnie9224]

Am from Uganda and my mother language is called LUGANDA

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh interesting! We didn't know your language! Thanks for sharing :)

[@Fran_why]

I am German, living in the Netherlands. My partner is Dutch and we speak mainly Dutch at home. I also speak English, basic Spanish and I try not to forget Russian which I’ve learnt at school for 11 yrs. It’s a beautiful language but difficult to remember if not using regularly.

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh nice! Good job on learning Dutch! It’s not easy is it? Or maybe it is compared to German and Russian 🫣

[@joanneganon7157]

You aare doing very well with An's language🎉. I never knew how cloves were grown, thanks🌞. JO JO IN VT 💞 Massachusetts

[@OurIslandLife]

Thank you! I’m trying! In my head I’m already fluent it just doesn’t come out haha 🤪

[@dtangent]

I am Rwandan (but I live in US), and my mother language is ikinyarwanda! Hello, how are you translates to “Muraho, amakuru?” Great video as always!

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh cool! Thank you for sharing! Screenshotted that ☺️🫶🏼

[@OurIslandLife]

It sounds so beautiful!

[@fleur-de-lis_uk_usa]

We've been watching for some time now and it's very nice to also hear from both of you. We are in the northeast of the US in New England. English and a little Spanish is about it for us. Love your videos keep up the great work!

[@OurIslandLife]

Lovely! Thank you for sharing 🫶🏼 we’re loving reading where everyone is from 🥰

[@auleaf1210]

Aw this was a nice idea! I grew up in another island in a remote location with a different community that use another local languages, Sundanese and Lampung, and even though both my parents are Javanese they have their own very different dialects so naturally bahasa Indonesia almost become the safest one for me. I can understand when people use those languages but to comfortably using it in a conversation is another story. Maybe someday sooner I'll have the courage to use one of those for a full day like you

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes try it! :))

[@claudiatribeofmanycolours]

Amazing video 🥰 My mother tongue is german, I am from Austria. Beside that fluent English. Actually I´m learning Spanish slowly but surely 😅 LOVE to you and keep up the good vibes 💚💜

[@OurIslandLife]

Epic! Good job on the Spanish! ☺️

[@anna_m59]

Here a Swiss. We have German / Swiss German, French , Italian and the oldest language is Romancha that spoken by older Swiss mountain people. Also English is thought from second grade to the children.

[@OurIslandLife]

Interesting! And is it like in Belgium that the language is tied to a specific region? Or does everyone speak all the languages in all regions?

[@anna_m59]

@@OurIslandLife usually everyone speak 3-4 languages like Italian French and Swiss German and English is mandatory from second grade

[@explorelondon3695]

Kenyan, First language, Gikūyū (tribal language), then Swahili (National Language), English (adopted language after three decades in England😂) and finally, the Money language (Universal language). Thanks for sharing your World with us. God bless ❤ 🇰🇪

[@OurIslandLife]

Ooh so cool!

[@HakunaMatata009]

Ine = mother. Ama = father. And the way they count numbers. That's one simple way to know that a language has Austronesian root.

[@ZecoFarias]

Wow wonderful ❤

[@OurIslandLife]

🫶🏼🫶🏼

[@skyekennett243]

Great video! I speak Australian :))

[@nualafaolin7129]

Fascinating! I’m originally from the Netherlands, but I’m half Irish & spent half my childhood in Ireland, so English and Dutch for me! I’ve lived around the world & know some German & Japanese as well. I didn’t have to learn Irish in school, as I was exempt (after the age of 11, guess you’re then deemed too old!) 😅

[@OurIslandLife]

Amazing! So cool that you speak so many languages!

[@jonr473]

I am amazed by anyone that can learn another language , Australian 🇦🇺 born and bred 😬🙏🏼

[@OurIslandLife]

Hahaa yes that’s definitely one of the advantages coming from a non English speaking country 🤪

[@wlb2468]

I'm from USA and grew up speaking Pennsylvania German language and learned English in school.

[@OurIslandLife]

So interesting! Just did some googling on Pennsylvania German, love learning about different languages ☺️

[@anita19621]

I am a Dutch woman, as you know, and I am married to a man from Surinam. His mother is from India, and was speaking Hindu, and his father has a lot of countries insight. About 4 years we immigrate to Panama so we have to learn Spanish.

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh amazing! Thanks for sharing Anita!

[@nevkirkham7657]

Australian here. Whilst we are now a multi-cultural country the official langue is English and that is all I really know. So impressed with you guys knowing at least Mentawai, Indonesian, English, Dutch (I think) and maybe more. Just goes to show how lazy a lot of use are 😕

[@OurIslandLife]

Hahahaa yes i guess being from a non English speaking country we’re forced to learn other languages, and I feel like once your brain is used to learning a new language, it gets easier to learn even more ☺️🤪

[@AbboyTopan]

I'm Indonesian, and I remember my grandmother could speak Dutch, English, a bit of German, a bit of French, and of course Indonesian and Javanese. She went to the old colonial school, and as for my mother, her mother tongue is mix of Javanese and Dutch. As for me, my mother tongue is Indonesian with a bit of Javanese and a tiny bit of Dutch.

[@OurIslandLife]

Wow so interesting! 🫶🏼

[@ibengrossmeyer41]

hello from Denmark i love your videos 🥰

[@OurIslandLife]

Epic! Thank you for watching 🫶🏼

[@carolewarner101]

Sadly, I only speak English, but my husband is Brasilian. His native language is Portuguese and he's fluent in English as well. He also can read other romance languages (Spanish, Italian, French) and understand what he's reading/listening to. When we traveled to Mexico he was able to communicate easily. I studied Spanish in school and also could understand and communicate, but not as easily as he! I DO feel strongly that maintaining your native language is so very important because I feel language is at the heart of one's culture. Since you are living right there in the middle of the place of the Mentawai and living lives using their ways from generations of experience and knowledge, it makes even more sense. It makes me sad that people of your generation aren't speaking Mentawai to their children. It's such an easy thing to do when children are young so that they are fluent and so much harder to learn later as a "second language," especially when English is covering the earth these days. My husband's fluency combined with living here in the US has made it optional to learn Portuguese and I haven't overcome the inertia to make it a priority. Also, my Spanish makes it both easier to understand Portuguese and harder to commit to learning it in some ways, especially when there's no pressing need to do so. So many of the words are the same or similar, so you would think I would just commit and make myself learn it. But other priorities have just taken up my time. This is one of the reasons it's so very important to teach it to children from infancy. By the time they grow up it's part of them.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes absolutely! Couldn’t agree more 🫶🏼

[@ishwarballie3471]

Brilliant !!

[@OurIslandLife]

☺️🙏🏼

[@sylviacarino3449]

I heard your husband said "uran" which is rain..the same with our ibaloi dialect we call rain as uran😀..am from northern part of the Phil..and Philippines also has many dialects..

[@OurIslandLife]

Oh no way! So interesting!

[@riogrand3783]

The clove harvesting, the languages. Fantastic. Im English. My mother language is… English😂. I speak a little Bahasa but haven’t been back to Indonesia for 20 years after spending year after year visiting Lombok, Sumbawa. Have you heard the Sasak language from Lombok? Unfortunately destined to the same fate as the Mentawai language I fear.

[@ajohnson6890]

In response to a comment in this feed. No disrespect intended. Just my opinion. English - which isn't my native language but was imposed upon me through centuries of forbidding my ancestors from speaking theirs - is confusing in and of itself. It gets worse. Now stir in a Louisianan (the state of many tongues) moved to Texas. One word in our language - English - has so many different meanings. I love the fact that Earth still offers varieties. Take the sound of birds for example. How boring they would be if they all made the same sound.

[@OurIslandLife]

Yes totally! Could not agree more. Love the bird analogy. And even though it is nice that so many people all over the world can connect and communicate in English, it would be so boring if everyone spoke the same language. So much would be lost.

[@manuelacarraro7764]

Grazie!😍🙏 La mia lingua materna é l'italiano.

[@OurIslandLife]

Epic! Thank you for watching 🫶🏼

[@MarleneLui]

Hello , nice to see u both again ..

[@OurIslandLife]

Hi Marlene! Yes! Hope you enjoy the video! ☺️

[@MarleneLui]

@@OurIslandLife yes marjolein Enjoy much , im always watching everytime you post, its good hope you continue doing, by the way im from cagayan de oro Philippines and our national language Is Filipino but our local dialect is Cebuano like Good morning in cebuano Maayong buntag, if nightime maayong gabie.. God bless your day !

[@MarleneLui]

@@OurIslandLife yes i always love to watch your videos hope you continue doing it, wish and pray all the best in life stay healthy u both God bless