Talk English, Walk English

vengatramanan,



I’m glad you recognize that notions of liberty and freedom are not held hostage to a particular language although economic development might have a huge part to play in their development.

I have been living in Finland for last year or so, and here most of the youth can speak/understand English, but they don't do it very often. All the signboards, official documents, bills/invoices, course books are in Finnish language. (Sometimes, I feel that it was of no use to learn English). And yet this is the country which gave the world Nokia. So if India & Pakistan really want to progress, then they surely need their masses to be taught in native languages! Similarly in while travelling in Italy, it would be really hard to ask someone the directions as most of the people cannot converse correctly in English. Also learning English also makes you handicapped because then we think that all European languages are same or similar. In my personal experience, the non-English educated people who moved to Finland or non-English speaking countries learnt the local languages far more quickly than the most of the students from South Asia with very good English proficiency!!

Hindi, in it's current avatar, is more of aardoo/Urdooo than Sanskrit and it does not connect with any other language of India...Furthermore, Hindi is not the descendent of Sanskrit, as it lacks treasures (literature) like that of Bengali, Oriya, Marathi, Malaylum, Tamil and Kannada...
People don't respect it...just the cowbeltians are more in number and it will be easier for them to adopt it, it was imposed on us...
English is also a burden to Indian growth story...Higher education should be available in local language...that was Russia and Japan progressed....

Periyar had no pretensions about the life after independence...he was against the Britishers moving out...you know why unpickled?

i mean English pushed the fast forward button on us...and the result would have been the same if any of the Europeans rules us...

it happened to be English and fortunately it has gained over other European languages...

Shoaibji,

leave out the French and the developed westerners...im talking about the rest of the world...or the 3 world...

now do we have had many who talked about liberty and freedom...

Of Course Nehru had not met Modi Joshi Madhok the Indian Taleban

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (India's Prime Minsiter 1947-64) in ‘The Discovery of India,’ 1946, p. 218, 225.


“The impact of the invaders from the north-west and of Islam on India had been considerable. It had pointed out and shone up the abuses that had crept into Hindu society - the petrification of caste, untouchability, exclusiveness carried to fantastic lengths. The idea of the brotherhood of Islam and the theoretical equality of its adherents made a powerful appeal especially to those in the Hindu fold who were denied any semblance of equal treatment.�


“...his (Babar’s) account tells us of the cultural poverty that had descended on North India. Partly this was due to Timur's destruction, partly due to the exodus of many learned men and artists and noted craftsmen to the South. But this was due also to the drying up of the creative genius of the Indian people.�

“The coming of Islam and of a considerable number of people from outside with different ways of living and thought affected these beliefs and structure. A foreign conquest, with all its evils, has one advantage: it widens the mental horizon of the people and compels them to look out of their shells. They realize that the world is a much bigger and a more variegated place than they had imagined. So the Afghan conquest had affected India and many changes had taken place. Even more so the Moghals, who were far more cultured and advanced in the ways of living than the Afghans, brought changes to India. In particular, they introduced the refinements for which Iran was famous.�



http://view.break.com/578969 - Watch more free videos

Pablo, Indira Gandhi and later Rajiv Gandhi scuttled the importance of regional languages by promoting Kendriya Vidyalayas where the language of importance is Hindi. They had this weird idea that one day Hindi's be spoken as a mother tongue by all Indians.

English of course got to be learnt to proficiency but the problem is that it becomes a state of mind after certain stage. They just dont see it as a vehicle of communication but as a status symbol.

Ek, Yeah I know they look at us from that Pakistani angle.

Khams, India is a subcontinent even now (without Pak and Desh). It's a mini world of races, cultures, languages and religions.

Dammit khammy, you would do anything to get your cry for urdu in, even though you are a punju. :)

Drop it. We don't want it. :)

vrv...
i was speaking in a kaalesque manner...;)
vaise, i am surprised to see the indians insistance on proving india as a monolith with one language, one people, one dharma...etc...makes me feel a lot better about the sad state of pakistan...

Yes, point taken Eklavya. In an ideal world they would do that in all schools, but India is different. But as a general rule, around that age is something to aim for.

"Mother tongue in each region should be the primary language. And then start teaching English from the age of six onwards."

Age of six or just a couple of years after that. Sometimes, schools in India don't have the resources to teach more than one language to six year olds.

"English taking prominence is not the issue but 'replacing' the mother tongues is. As of now we speak 3-4 languages"

+++++

Mother tongue in each region should be the primary language. And then start teaching English from the age of six onwards.

Sorry but I think this is all wrong.

Indians don't have a hangup about English as a colonial language because they've taken ownership of it because it is not an exclusivist language. It is spoken all over the world, it is the global lingua franca, the Irish and Americans already have dispossessed the British of it, and it does enrich you because of the wealth of literature relating to art, science, technology, culture, that it possesses. So you want to throw all of that out of the window just because of some colonial hotch potch of resentments? That's ridiculous.

Also, it has become the link language of India because in the context of fears of various linguistic hegemonies inside India, an Indian from every corner of the land can converse in a neutral tongue that will only become more and more indigenised as time goes by.

Also, English does help those from lower income backgrounds to rise up, cut off that accessory to social mobility (whilst the elite continue to have their children taught in English medium because as we all know what is sauce of the poor goose is not sauce for the rich gander in India) all in the name of cultural authenticity?

No way, Jose. English is here to stay, and rightfully so.

vrv, khammy probably had a very specific issue that Muslims generally have with Hindi and Sanskrit. For some reason, they express an anathema, independent of all other factors.

Probably they feel these languages connect them too much with India?

20, Kham,

There're many languages in India who're on decline thanks to English and Hindi. I think u r not aware of the language issues/politics in India.

Shoaib,

English taking prominence is not the issue but 'replacing' the mother tongues is. As of now we speak 3-4 languages (at least South Indians do) or at least comfortable with.

It's the solution to Indian situation where we switch languages according to the context.