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Monday, February 22, 2010
I feel better today
After months of struggling with the inadequate English skills and critical thinking abilities taught by our Indian schools, I feel much better after listening to this Verizon customer service audio clip from the US.
I agree with your point of critical thinking, but totally disagree with English skills. India is the only country where speaking in English is a matter of prestige. Why don't we worry our children have good diction of Hindi? I studied in a Hindi medium school and doing good. Why do we have to follow Americans where more and more are reading Sanskrit books translated for them in English, who follow yoga, and why yoga is not called Yog, Ashoka- Ashok, Ramyanaa - Ramaayan...list goes on? Sanskrit has been proved the most scientific language but still dying.Why we do not pursue kids for Sanskrit? I know many people from different countries who learnt English after middle school and doing as good.
For what it's worth, I got an e-mail from my 79 year old father, who suggested I forward this to my "Indian friends."
Got HP tech service earlier and a US connection. Worked for about an hour to no avail and shut down until we returned from dinner. Tech service India called me, took over the computer and solved the problem in less than 5 minutes. It was a port connection issue and he created a new connection. His English was fair and he to repeat some things but his skill level was superior.
I agree that speaking English is definitely not a direct measure of general ability, except to the extent that, say, having good manners is - the two just tend to go together and if you want to do well, you'd be well advised to pick it up.
BTW, I squirm whenever I hear the way even newscasters now speak Hindi - with an Indian accent. I have spent almost two thirds of my life in non-Hindi speaking places (within and outside India - Assam, Iraq, the US, Karnataka) but get the Dainik Jagaran newspaper now in order to improve my Hindi.
:) Been a long time I heard Hindi news on cabel, I used to watch Doordarshan. Old school :). But I totally agree with you and media has a big role in promoting use of English as a status symbol. I think this should change may be in a small way. I might not be in the position, but as you are running a company and a business school, nobody should be JUDGED about English but encouraged to improve both Hindi and English vocabulary and presentation skills to help communicate about themselves. Use of language should be dependent on the audience. I might be wrong, correct me if I am.
As good manners change from place to place, English style, American style and Indian style (say table manners: we eat with hands) so does language. So not only English but Hindi should also be given equal importance.
I have seen people born and brought up in north India who don't know (or perhaps don't want) how to write hindi. I have seen them giving speeches in hindi where the text was actually written in english! By the way, the hindi standard of our 'hindi' newspapers has dropped terribly in the last few years. The headlines are the worst sufferers. Kadambini used to be an awesome hindi magazine; I hope it still is, though I left reading it some 5-6 years ago...
- Learning English does not mean we stop learning Hindi. Kids can easily learn both. As a practical matter, English is required to be successful in the world today. The sooner you start learning it the better.
- Sanskrit is a very scientific language, but it was never the language of common people even in ancient India. There are good reasons for that. Its a difficult language to master.
- The fact that people are practicing yoga, etc. (I haven't really seen them reading Ramayana or Mahabahrata) points to the fact that they are open to good ideas from everywhere. Indians are doing the same.
- People in the USA value learning foreign languages as well. If India becomes an economic powerhouse, they will learn Hindi as well.
9 comments:
I agree with your point of critical thinking, but totally disagree with English skills. India is the only country where speaking in English is a matter of prestige. Why don't we worry our children have good diction of Hindi? I studied in a Hindi medium school and doing good. Why do we have to follow Americans where more and more are reading Sanskrit books translated for them in English, who follow yoga, and why yoga is not called Yog, Ashoka- Ashok, Ramyanaa - Ramaayan...list goes on? Sanskrit has been proved the most scientific language but still dying.Why we do not pursue kids for Sanskrit? I know many people from different countries who learnt English after middle school and doing as good.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/anupam_mishra_the_ancient_ingenuity_of_water_harvesting.html
This is what I meant, that English should be a medium of conveying what we are, not what we are.
For what it's worth, I got an e-mail from my 79 year old father, who suggested I forward this to my "Indian friends."
Got HP tech service earlier and a US connection. Worked for about an hour to no avail and shut down until we returned from dinner. Tech service India called me, took over the computer and solved the problem in less than 5 minutes. It was a port connection issue and he created a new connection. His English was fair and he to repeat some things but his skill level was superior.
I agree that speaking English is definitely not a direct measure of general ability, except to the extent that, say, having good manners is - the two just tend to go together and if you want to do well, you'd be well advised to pick it up.
BTW, I squirm whenever I hear the way even newscasters now speak Hindi - with an Indian accent. I have spent almost two thirds of my life in non-Hindi speaking places (within and outside India - Assam, Iraq, the US, Karnataka) but get the Dainik Jagaran newspaper now in order to improve my Hindi.
Bill, that's good to hear!
Correction: I meant "I squirm whenever I hear the way even newscasters now speak Hindi - with an AMERICAN accent."
:) Been a long time I heard Hindi news on cabel, I used to watch Doordarshan. Old school :). But I totally agree with you and media has a big role in promoting use of English as a status symbol. I think this should change may be in a small way. I might not be in the position, but as you are running a company and a business school, nobody should be JUDGED about English but encouraged to improve both Hindi and English vocabulary and presentation skills to help communicate about themselves. Use of language should be dependent on the audience. I might be wrong, correct me if I am.
As good manners change from place to place, English style, American style and Indian style (say table manners: we eat with hands) so does language. So not only English but Hindi should also be given equal importance.
I have seen people born and brought up in north India who don't know (or perhaps don't want) how to write hindi. I have seen them giving speeches in hindi where the text was actually written in english! By the way, the hindi standard of our 'hindi' newspapers has dropped terribly in the last few years. The headlines are the worst sufferers. Kadambini used to be an awesome hindi magazine; I hope it still is, though I left reading it some 5-6 years ago...
Comments on yvcrao's note :-
- Learning English does not mean we stop learning Hindi. Kids can easily learn both. As a practical matter, English is required to be successful in the world today. The sooner you start learning it the better.
- Sanskrit is a very scientific language, but it was never the language of common people even in ancient India. There are good reasons for that. Its a difficult language to master.
- The fact that people are practicing yoga, etc. (I haven't really seen them reading Ramayana or Mahabahrata) points to the fact that they are open to good ideas from everywhere. Indians are doing the same.
- People in the USA value learning foreign languages as well. If India becomes an economic powerhouse, they will learn Hindi as well.
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