It is interesting that the author has used China as example to support his argument and a lot of commentators here are against him because those commentators think that China is not a multi-language country and therefore he can not compare India to China. I would like to give some supports to the author - i.e. China was/is a multi-language country. Firstly China has 51 minorities plus Han as majority. The so called Mandarin is actually Han language. China has been governed by Meng (Mongolia up to year 1300) , and Man (Manchurian up to year 1900) before but the governments at that time could not replace their languages to Han language (Curently called Mandarin) even though the Meng language and Man language (real mandarin) are still used in isolated areas within Meng and Man people in China. Some other Chinese minorities also have their own languages but no one can be as popular as Han language. Therefore eventually, Han language is a dominate language in China now. You can see that even though both Meng and Man have governed China several hundreds year each, they were enable to change implement their own languages in China. However, minorities like Mongols and Man, Tibetan and natural Xinjiang people still have their own languages (even are taught at schools). What I am saying here is that, as a nation, you needs to have your own language. British has its own language, France and German have their own language. US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand have English as their (cont..)
Re: China was a multi - lauguage country
by David Dak on Jun 27, 2014 09:44 AM
(..Cont) national language because they are immigrant countries and majority of the immigrant are from English background. India and China are countries with very long history, culture and civilizations. They should have their own languages, not only for economic gain but for dignity of their people and country. Chinese have done this and I am sure that Indian can do the same.
Re: China was a multi - lauguage country
by David Dak on Jun 27, 2014 09:48 AM
Correction: It should be "not unable to implement their own language", not "enable to change implement their own language".
Re: Re: China was a multi - lauguage country
by ROFLatyou on Jun 27, 2014 02:04 PM
Can I come in ! You have pointed out that every nation has its own language . in this case you gave an example of China where inspire having many languages like meng and man , mandarin has become dominant. So you now see how eradicating English sh will trample all languages giving advantage to one language maybe a Hindi .
Whereas author is advocating for European style dominion where every language is made to be learnt and used for communication !
We in Maha know how we are suffering due to Hindi. Thanks to the acceptance of Hindi, we lowered the barrier to entry of zillions of so called 'migrants' from gobar belt. The result-not a day passes without some assault or the other by these people on women in our state. We salute the south for holding on to their anti-hindi stand.
Re: Maha is suffering due to Hindi
by Mind Clear on Jun 27, 2014 08:34 AM
Recolonisation is the only solution for Third World countries. India should learn from Singapore and Hong Kong, about how colonization made them civilized and developed from a Third World to a First World country.
Re: Re: Maha is suffering due to Hindi
by Sankrant Sanu on Jun 27, 2014 09:11 AM
Singapore and Honk Kong are cities. Comparison with India which is about a 5th of the world's population is absurd.
Actually the problem is not merely the dominance or stranglehold of English. As an example, consider the fact that in Kerala's Kasargode District, there are a large number of Kannada speaking farmers who the State's Agriculture Dept is unable to communicate with because they only use Malayalam! English is not the solution here.
Re: ENGLISH IS THE ONLY REASON WHY INDIANS CAME OUT OF POVERTY!!!
by Sankrant Sanu on Jun 27, 2014 09:23 AM
The state's English obsession is the reason a large number of Indians remain poor.
All 20 of the richest countries in the world have higher education in their own languages (only 4 are English-medium).
18 of the 20 poorest don't have higher education in their own languages. (6 of the poorest are English-medium only).
Look for my article "English Class system" with my name.
Author claims he is not advocating Hindi but asserts "Hindi is one of the largest languages in the world. Yet we hold a billion people back in our English-medium obsession." Will you please come clean on what exactly one should understand from your assertion above?
Re: Author claims he is not advocating Hindi
by Sankrant Sanu on Jun 27, 2014 09:06 AM
My point is that Indian language populations are large. I also give the example of Tamil being larger than South Korean. Hindi is one of the largest in the world. So is Bengali. It is a monumental tragedy that we exclude so many of our people from access to professional education.
Re: Author claims he is not advocating Hindi
by Shankar D on Jun 27, 2014 09:20 AM
Four Indian languages can be considered International languages -- Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Punjabi. You might add Urdu and Nepali to it, but then the other nation that speaks Urdu is a curse on this world. Neplai is small. The author is doing a good job on demolishing some myths about English (like China is abandoning Mandarin for English), but his practical suggestions are not practical enough. English has been entrenched for nearly 200 years and people do not want it to be demonized.
The spread of english in India is primarily due to the fact there is no other language in India which all understand. north may have hindi, but hindi is not applicable in South or East. Here english is the only language that provides the communication.
Re: There is no common language in India
by Mind Clear on Jun 27, 2014 07:36 AM
World needs an International Language to survive and thrive. And that is English more because of Technology and Internet. And India is like the World in a microcosm. 2-Language system of English and Mother Tongue with some low level Hindi enforced by Bollywood and TV serials is the best.
Re: There is no common language in India
by R Chakravarti on Jun 27, 2014 07:37 AM
Yes, unlike Europe we are a single country with so much diversity. English medium schools are suitable for those whose parents get transferred all over the country. But the mother tongue is better as the medium of instruction; English should be taught as a second language and it should be taught well. Maybe we should study what China is doing.
Most countries including China envy India for the large number of English speaking people and the advantages it brings to the economy and country. Let us not go retro in this aspect and strengthen English along with mother tongue.
Re: English is a major USP of India... Lets not lose it
by Mind Clear on Jun 27, 2014 07:26 AM
Technology (specially Internet), English Language and Allopathic Medicine -- are the greatest Unifiers of India and Humanity.
Re: English is a major USP of India... Lets not lose it
by Mind Clear on Jun 27, 2014 07:27 AM
Technology, English and Western Medicine -- are the greatest civilizational unifiers.
Re: Re: English is a major USP of India... Lets not lose it
by Sankrant Sanu on Jun 27, 2014 09:02 AM
English is not India's USP. It is the language of India's continued economic backwardness. Of the top 20 countries in GDP/capita, only 4 are English-medium.
More of the poorest countries in the world (6 out of 20) use English-medium than the richest.
Please read my article "English Class System" to come out of ignorance.
This article has been read throughout India and in the Discussion Board messages are coming around from all parts of India. Had there been 24 languages the Article would not reached to all first of all. And just imagine readers speaking deferent languages sending their messages in deferent languages! And just remember that Telagu, Tamil, Kannad and Maliyali are not one language and you could not put then in same bracket for this purpose.
Re: India's English obsession !
by Indian on Jun 27, 2014 07:19 AM
It is possible in todays world to have 24 different languages or more and still have a single translator installed to convert it in the desired language to read its content. So please dont be so obsessed with English. Nothing wrong in learning foreign languages, be it English or Mandarin or Arabic. But Mother-tongue must be supreme for every Indian. And all Indian born languages be given top most priority. Also i can speak Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi which you could not even type properly. Sad.
Re: Re: India's English obsession !
by Mind Clear on Jun 27, 2014 07:30 AM
Indian languages should be restricted to religious functions, music, movies and literature with English sub-titles and translations. Science, Technology, Research, Development, Sports, Medicine, Accounting, Economics should all happen in English.
Re: Re: Re: India's English obsession !
by Sankrant Sanu on Jun 27, 2014 09:07 AM
This is exactly what Macaulay said in his minute in 1837. Looks like you have been trained well.
