The Mon community in Akron, Ohio launched a Mon language course at the beginning of this month in an attempt to preserve their unique language and culture. According to one of the organizers, Nai Myint Soe, over 30 Mon students attended the first class. The community has been struggling for years to find a good location for the class – Mon students have not had an opportunity to study Mon since 2005.

The Mon people, who are Buddhist, lost their kingdom in 1757. Taing Taw, a teacher who resettled in the United States earlier this year, noted that preserving the Mon language (one of the last distinct languages in the world) is a chief concern of the Mon community. Taw was previously an editor for a monthly Mon language newspaper, and is currently a reporter for Kaowao Newsgroup, based in Thailand.

According to Taw, Mon spread from what is now India to Mon State several hundred years ago. The old Mon kingdom or lower Burma was under British colonial rule from 1826 to 1948.  Since independence, Burma’s government, one of the most notorious regimes in the world, has not permitted the teaching of Mon and other ethnic languages in school. The regime’s policy of Burmanization, or assimilation, has created a myriad of problems for the ethnic people.

“I am so glad my children have a chance to learn the Mon language, and I want to pray that this Mon language course operates for a long, long time,” the mother of a college student who is attending the course said. She wants her children and other Mon children to learn their own ethnic language in addition to being educated at colleges and universities in the US.

As young students cannot speak Mon, teachers sometimes have to explain things to them in English, Taw said. “The trend is changing so quickly, I still don’t know how to follow. Eventually, I want to focus on politics in my country, but I know what I can do now is be a Mon teacher. I want my students to study Burmese one day, but it’s not so easy.” People in Burma communicate in Burmese even though some of them don’t want to study it. “I want my students to work for change in our country one day,” Taw added.

Nai Parla, another organizer of the course, said he worries about Mon children who do not want to study Mon or even speak it in their own homes. The parents of these students worry as well.

The Mon community in Akron has been trying to acquire a community center to ensure that their language and culture are preserved. Mon Buddhist monks who lead the community have been working hard to find a good venue, as they want Mon children to speak and study Mon. Until now, the children have had no opportunity to study their language because of poor community organization, Taw said. Most Mon community leaders look for an ideal location, such as a church or Buddhist temple, to serve the entire Mon community.

Many Mon people have bought houses this year in cash. The US economic crisis paved the way for the Mon community in Akron to own property because of the cheap price. There are over a thousand Mon people in the US, mostly living in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Akron, Ohio.

The first wave of Mon refugees resettled in the United States and other host countries after a major democratic uprising led by university students left thousands of demonstrators dead in 1988. Most of the surviving student leaders and demonstrators fled to the neighboring country of Thailand, where refugees must stay temporarily before resettling to a third country.