These Uyghur children cannot speak Uyghur

A product of China's forced assimilation policies

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May 23, 2025

A Uyghur mother is trying to get her son to say “I brush my teeth,” but he fails to do so.

More and more Uyghur mothers are recording painful moments of truth — their young children stumbling or falling silent when asked to speak Uyghur.

Videos posted on Douyin — China’s state-controlled version of TikTok — offer a raw glimpse into the cost of repression. The Chinese government has gone to lengths to erase Uyghur in favor of Mandarin in the education system. Uyghur is banned in schools. Mandarin is mandated.

In September 2023, United Nations experts exposed a shocking Chinese campaign where Uyghurs are forcibly taken from their families—some as young as toddlers with parents detained or exiled—and placed in state-run boarding schools. These institutions almost completely ban education in Uyghur, enforcing Mandarin-only instruction. “Teachers can also be sanctioned for using the Uyghur language outside of specific language classes.” Schools no longer teach in Uyghur, cutting children from their cultural roots and family ties.

What happens when a language is pushed out of the classroom? Children struggle to speak their mother tongue — a language slipping from their lips, and their lives. These struggles with pronunciation, intonation, and even basic words are becoming the norm for Uyghur children.

Videos of Uyghur children unable to speak Uyghur

This online video captures a revealing interaction between a Chinese teacher and Uyghur preschool children. Below is the translation.

Chinese Teacher:
“Let’s see if children in Xinjiang can speak Uyghur or Chinese. I want to find out as well.”
Chinese Teacher:
“Saniye, did you leave your homework [on my table]?”
Uyghur Child 1:
“Yes, I have done my homework.”
Uyghur Child 2:
“I have also done my homework.”
Chinese Teacher:
“You also did your homework?”
Uyghur Child 2:
“Yes.”
Chinese Teacher:
“Can you say it in Uyghur that you did your homework? How do you say it in Uyghur?”
Uyghur Child 1:
“I can’t say it.”
Chinese Teacher:
“You can’t say it?”
Uyghur Child 1:
“I can [only] say it in Chinese.”
Chinese Teacher:
“You can only say it in Chinese? Can’t you say it in Uyghur?”

Another video shows a Uyghur mother trying to teach her son common words and phrases. Below is the translated conversation between the mother and her son from the video:

Mother says “My son, say ‘jacket.’”
Son tries to say ‘jacket’ but doesn’t say it correctly.
Mother says “I wore my jacket.”
Son says “I wore my jacket” but pronounces it incorrectly.
Mother says “Yes, correct. Now, say ‘eggs.’”
Son tries to say ‘eggs in the morning’ but struggles.
Mother says “Not ‘in the morning’ like that.” She mimics his incorrect pronunciation, then says it properly: “It’s ‘in the morning.’”
Mother continues “I ate eggs in the morning.”
Son says “I ate eggs in the morning” but still struggles with pronunciation.

Another mother documents a similar daily reality with her son Riyal. Below is the translated conversation.

Uyghur mother: “Riyal, Riyal.”
Riyal: “Yes.”
Uyghur mother: “Let’s learn to speak Uyghur, ok?”
Riyal: “Ok.”
Uyghur mother: “What’s the Uyghur language?”
Riyal: “The language my mother is speaking.” [He says this in Chinese.]
Uyghur mother: “Which words can you say?”
Riyal: “How are you?” [He says this in Uyghur, but with poor pronunciation.]
Uyghur mother: “‘How are you?’ Good, go on.”
Riyal: [Inaudible]
Uyghur mother: “Say, ‘What should we eat?’”
Riyal: [Attempts to say “What should we eat?”, but struggles and fails.]
Uyghur mother: “I…”
Riyal: “I.”
Uyghur mother: “‘I brush my teeth.’”
Riyal: [Attempts to say “I brush my teeth,” but fails.]
Uyghur mother: “Say it loudly.”
Riyal: [Attempts again, but still fails.]
Uyghur mother: “Not I peck my teeth — I brush my teeth.”
Riyal: [Attempts again, still unable to say it correctly.]

The Fading of Identity

The official Chinese narratives often highlight the presence of Uyghur street signs and the use of Uyghur script on currency. But the real story is far darker. Uyghur families and children face enforced assimilation and brutal cultural erasure.

Losing their language means losing much more than words. It means losing identity, heritage, and history itself. The Uyghur language carries centuries of literature, poetry, music, and faith. When children can no longer speak it, entire generations risk losing their roots.

As the global community watches, it is imperative to recognize these losses as a crisis not just of language but of human rights. The future of the Uyghur language—and with it, the Uyghur people’s cultural soul—depends on the world’s awareness and action against these coercive policies.

The intimate moments captured on video—mothers encouraging their children to speak Uyghur and children struggling to respond—signal that this disconnection is no longer hypothetical but a rapidly advancing reality.

This isn’t a distant threat. It’s happening now. Each word spoken by these children, however halting, is a reminder that preserving the Uyghur language is not just a matter of communication—it is a fight for identity itself.

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