Why Teach a Language Properly?

Why don`t we all think this way, Our dearest governments whether they are new or old did not want us to learn our national language properly because they themselve are not even qualified to do so. Urdu one of the greatest invention of sub continent is kept at a side not only by our government but also by our peoples. Almost every educated pakistani family living in or outside pakistan speakes english and not urdu because they believe by doing so they will be call fashionable and modern but instead some middle class pakistani who really cares about urdu like to call them burger family.

It is however not true that only pakistani education system generates only few successor, in fact the problem are job vacancies, not all pakistani could effort going abroad for a better jobs. On the contary, many pakistani outside pakistani( ike in US and UK) don`t even promote our language which sets a drawback to urdu.

Urdu is not even our official language and not even the President can speak it properly, every third word is English, he speaks Turkish better than he does Urdu.

Urdu is not given its due importance as a uniting language for the nation, English is important and should be taught from grade 1, but all schools (private and public) should impart decent education in Urdu. Afterall if our parents were taught in that language (and did/are doing pretty well) then why can`t our children be?

Urdu is the national language (not official) of Pakistan, and like everything else Pakistani, Pakistan`s ppl see it as inferior as compared to anything Western or foriegn, hence this increase in English use (and a very bad English at that).

There are many reasons for the Pakistani education system being bad, mainly however it is severly outdated, prejudiced, and full of propaganda.

There is no level playing field either for state and private students. In the UK all private school students still have to sit GCSE and A Level just as kids at state schools, and all end up in the same universities.

In Pakistan someone is doing Matriculation, someone is doing GSCE, someone is doing Bacalaureate, someone is doing some American exam, there is no one set standard for all students, which isn`t fair for the majority (poor) kids.

Although there are problems, i still wouldn`t be so pessimistic and lose all hope for Pakistani students.

I am not in a position to comment intelligently on the Pakistani education system (some chowkies perhaps would like to extend that statement as holding generally true for all topics), but would like to note that I consider Urdu an exceptionally fine language – a conclusion I have held fast to ever since in my childhood I read a couple of (Hindi translated) books of the inimitable Shaukat Thanvi, not to mention that great (in a very different kind of way) producer of paperbacks Ibne-Safie, B.A. (if you don’t already know the latter, I highly recommend that you DON’T even try to find out)! Also, I can not even begin to imagine how boring the Hindi movies would have been without the Urdu songs!

I do not agree that any government needs to actively promote a language – any language – the language needs to reflect the population and grow spontaneously – not artificially imposed! Also, I don’t buy the author’s argument that originality of thought can be stifled due to a real or perceived inadequacy in a language – there are many other crucial inputs to the equation of developing a “less than curious” mindset. Also, language fluency is just one aspect of the overall health of an educational system.

Language has dual roles – as a medium of communication as well as a vehicle of culture. A language continues to evolve over time – in both roles. Because of the shrinking world and exposure to newer ideas, Urdu, as well as many other languages in the developing world had to and continue to yield a certain amount of space (in the former role) to English – primarily to accommodate technical concepts. The latter role can not be so easily subdued.

[He wanted his daughter to acquire a foreign English accent.]
A very literal case of “desi murghee – vilayatee boal!”

Education seems to be evaporating from the face of the earth. Even in America, Japan, and to the lesser extent in Europe. Twenty year olds cannot write a sentence that has any intellectual merit. Perhaps the problem is not with inherent ability but with the value system. Whats the use of literature? Whats the use of philosophy? Whats the use of language?

To many, perhaps most, in todays world, none. There is no use of literature, philosophy, and language. Ofcourse there is no use of these things. But you don`t learn these things for a use. It is very difficult to make government policy encouraging useless things in a society. It is not economically feasible.

Once you have good education; you can read books, learn for yourself, create new ideas and share them with others.

re:#1 by kamath

(If the scientidic background is so bad, how come Pakistan could produce some finest weapons of war? like Nukes, aircreaft designs and latest cruise missiles in such a short time?)
Ever heard of a country called China? Let me give you two words to add to your vocabulary viz cladestine, proliferation. Add China and these 2 words and you get the picture.

The bigger question to ask is: how did Pak manage to produce these so called ``sophisticated`` weapons (sophisticated only for the passive buyer not for the producer!) when it produces less than 100 PhDs in a year and has few international publications to boast in any Scientific journal. The answer is obvious. Of course, Pakis (except this enlightened soul who wrote the article) do not see the obvious. They are in lala land.
Sridhar

Instructions should be imparted in one’s native language for it to have any meaning and impact. Both Urdu and English are foreign to indigenous Pakistanis. Stigma is attached to using local languages for education, such as Punjabi. It is not socially acceptable to refer to a Gynecologist and Obstetrician as “Phudi Da Hakeem”. Have pride in your culture.

This article reeks of serious compositional flaws and should have been edited by competent Chowk staff.

Excellent essay. I can only whole-heartedly agree with you. By denying one language in favour of another, you`re stuck with a thorough understanding of...no language. Punjabi, where spoken, is conversational and studying in Punjabi would be considered very low brow if it happened.

The Pakistani education system is, in a word, abhorrent. Those that succeed out of their own hard work are an exception, and the bar for the general population is extremely low. High school books in english in Pakistan, were riddled with errors and written for a child.

In response to #1, if there`re a few scientists capable of creating weapons of war, how does that reflect on the general population? Our benchmark should be how many of our people can be read (and then escalating towards, what level of education is the minimum, etc.), not how many state of the art weapons of mass destruction we`ve managed to create. A nation`s dominance is no longer how large an army it has, it is how educated it`s people are.

``..In 2002 statistics, out of 150 million people roughly 20 computer scientists were able to get tenure-track positions at some moderately good US university while there were only 5 mathematicians with Phd’s producing research oriented papers...``

Do you really believe in these stat. figures? If the scientidic background is so bad, how come Pakistan could produce some finest weapons of war? like Nukes, aircreaft designs and latest cruise missiles in such a short time?. These products after all need an array of hundreds of scientists , engineers, techniciams, metallurgists, ,mathematicians and technicial staff of the highest calibre?

Don`t worry. You are too pessimistic and towing the line of doom sayers!