Are you the
same person in "English"?
Don't we get transmitted to a
different "being" when we speak in English, a second language? It is
not about mother-tongue v/s the other tongue but yes there is a shift, call it
by any name!
Gandhiji exclaimed in his
autobiography that he was becoming stranger and stranger in his own family
because of English education (in English). What is "it" that comes
with superficial structures of English words, syntax, pronunciations etc?
We often hear expressions like
"IT IS MY PERSONAL LIFE", "I DON’'T CARE","TO HELL
WITH IT" to name a few. Where does such a carefree and assertive attitude
come from? English as a second language has potential to affect and influence our thinking which is
nourished by our mother-tongue-culture.
English comes from a different
culture-a culture that believes in 'extreme individualism' and 'exclusiveness' (I)
whereas Indian languages are products of an extremely plural and inclusive (We)
culture. English language-culture makes one conscious of ‘rights’ whereas
Indian language-culture makes one conscious of ‘duty’.
Superiority, arrogance and
assertion come with English; very few people can identify these diseases and
sieve them out while/after learning English.
Does our syllabus of English language, from KG to PG, across the disciplines take into account these aspects of English Language and thinking?
-Vishal Bhadani
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