Indians kill English?

Britis destraayed avar kantry faar 150 ears. Lat us destraay theare laanguvedge farever. Pleej pharward dhis tu aal Indians. Jai Hind!

I got this SMS from my friend. I had to read it twice before i got the meaning.

In case you still cant, here it is: British destroyed our country for 150 years. Let us destroy their language forever. Please pass this to all Indians. Jai Hind.

It was amusing at first. And then a throught struck. Do we actually kill the english language?

The tamilians have a strong accent. The Kanadigas are known to drag each word. The south Indians generally add the word 'know' which sounds like 'no' behind most words in their sentance. And then there is the traditional 'na' behind words.

When asking some of my friends if it can be difficult to communicate with Indians, they told me it is, especially if they just came from India. My friends in India confirmed that the standard of English (both written and spoken) is quite bad. For example, what i learned in my 4th grade, they learn in their 9th standard.

English being an important language isnt being focused on in India. Why not and should it?
What can be done to help Indians not 'kill' english?

No offence to anyone.

-sneha
Edited by sneha3105 - 17 years ago

Originally posted by: sneha3105

Britis destraayed avar kantry faar 150 ears. Lat us destraay theare laanguvedge farever. Pleej pharward dhis tu aal Indians. Jai Hind!

OMG,that surely was uproarious😆😆.....

I got this SMS from my friend. I had to read it twice before i got the meaning.

In case you still cant, here it is: British destroyed our country for 150 years. Let us destroy their language forever. Please pass this to all Indians. Jai Hind.

It was amusing at first. And then a throught struck. Do we actually kill the english language?

The tamilians have a strong accent. The Kanadigas are known to drag each word. The south Indians generally add the word 'know' which sounds like 'no' behind most words in their sentance. And then there is the traditional 'na' behind words.

These are stereotypes....Not every South Indian adds a no,not every Kannadiga drags words..... and Not every Indian ruins English....

English originated in Britain,but has been adopted by every country...Now the Spanish have a strong accent,the Germans have a distinct accent,the Latin Americans have their peculiar accent....So why blame only Indians😕.....English is indespensible,but how a person speaks English shouldnt matter....

When asking some of my friends if it can be difficult to communicate with Indians, they told me it is, especially if they just came from India. My friends in India confirmed that the standard of English (both written and spoken) is quite bad. For example, what i learned in my 4th grade, they learn in their 9th standard.

This is news to me.....What I've heard from students who have joined Indian schools after speaning quite a few years at singapore is that what Is taught in India in the 5th grade,is taught there in the 8th..and this is straight from the horse's mouth,thus there's no margin for doubt😛

English being an important language isnt being focused on in India. Why not and should it?
What can be done to help Indians not 'kill' english?

yes,now coming to your questionnairre...English is NOT the only language in India....India is so vast,and hugely populated,and to top it all,where the illiteracy rate is on the upswing,why concenterate on a language that isnt the widely used language....,and that too on the twang and on the diction😕

The Spanish have their peculiar enunciation,Why no one blames them for ruining English😕....When indians and POI's themselves concur to the fact that One's English should be unimpeachable,why blame the other foreigners who tease us for the accent....

Seriously,I'm tired hearing the words" FOB" and "Fobish" accent🤢....I think its the sheer arrogance and inconsiderateness of the fortunate😡....I have been fortunate to have been sent to one of the best schools in my city,and my english doesnt sound like the stereotypical Indian's or the stereotypical South Indian's...But that doesnt mean I scorn upon and ostracize the less fortunate,who havent had the privilege to go to convent or a hi-fi school.....

Not all Indians have the accent of their region...We have Mr.Bachchan and SRK speak impeccable English....and we have certain actors like the new kid on the block Kangana Ranaut,who is one hell of an actress and had paraded her histrionic skills so brilliantly in Gangster and Woh Lamhe....This girl cant speak the so called "good" english,but I dont care,as Her acting superceds everything,she's good at her job,and I dont think her not knowing the irreproachable English would encumber her success.Period!

Well to improve the standard of english in india one thing that can be done is speak in english. I think parents should start this while their children are at thier school level. 😉

I disagree with you. Accents are omnipresent and there is nothing wrong in it. Even in US there is Texan accent, Californian accent and people identify them. A child learns to roll the tongue according to the vowel, diphthong, or syllabic consonant present in the mothertongue. As long as the accent is due to your language and not lampooning its fine. India encompasses so many languages and thereby accents that we are well equipped to understand what a person from different accent is saying. 👍🏼 Something which no other country can boast of! 😳

But would like to state that pronouncing incorrectly is wrong. But that does not mean we are debasing the language.

Regd UK well their own English standard is falling badly and now the British Govt has started this online program wherein INDIAN teachers are teaching the British Students nuances of their language! Shouldn't We be proud of Ourselves?

Originally posted by: realitybites

I disagree with you. Accents are omnipresent and there is nothing wrong in it. Even in US there is Texan accent, Californian accent and people identify them. A child learns to roll the tongue according to the vowel, diphthong, or syllabic consonant present in the mothertongue. As long as the accent is due to your language and not lampooning its fine. India encompasses so many languages and thereby accents that we are well equipped to understand what a person from different accent is saying. 👍🏼 Something which no other country can boast of! 😳

But would like to state that pronouncing incorrectly is wrong. But that does not mean we are debasing the language.

Regd UK well their own English standard is falling badly and now the British Govt has started this online program wherein INDIAN teachers are teaching the British Students nuances of their language! Shouldn't We be proud of Ourselves?

👏..Agreed

and besides,isnt every language influenced by the region/province et al...Even in Hindi,there is the bhojpuri hindi,the typical shuddhh hindi,and the colloquial slang(a ka the munnabhai hindi),and the normal hindi....and because many of us do not speak the quintessential shuddhh hindi,it doesnt mean that we're disparaging the venerability of the language😊.....

My chemistry teacher is a bihari,and he pronounces "air" as "year"....It does become difficult to take down notes when he's dictating,but nevertheless,he's a good teacher...Purposely denigrating the language with malevolent intent is wrong!..But not all who do not speak the "perfect" english are doing so out of malicious intent😊

But what gets my goat is then amalgamation of English with Hindi....thus making it "Hinglish"....Either speak in hindi,or in english..Resorting to hindi,just because someone doesnt know an english word is not acceptable...If one doesnt know proper english(and not diction..a person,who might be a master in english may have a certain twang),one could use hindi......😊

Edited by Buffie - 17 years ago

If the Indians dont want to use English, that's cool. What i object to is the positive bas***dising of the language or the acceptance of so-called Hinglish. I wouldnt even mind that if it was done properly!

The example that comes to mind is an ad I saw on ZTV or some bank or money sending institution,. It talked of " Some rishtas, "

The plural of rishta is rishte! Not bloody rishtas!!!! 😡

There is nothing worse!!

😡 Madds 😡

Originally posted by: Madmadgirl

If the Indians dont want to use English, that's cool. What i object to is the positive bas***dising of the language or the acceptance of so-called Hinglish. I wouldnt even mind that if it was done properly!

The example that comes to mind is an ad I saw on ZTV or some bank or money sending institution,. It talked of " Some rishtas, "

The plural of rishta is rishte! Not bloody rishtas!!!! 😡

There is nothing worse!!

😡 Madds 😡

Oh my...Hinglish piques me to no end🤢..especially the abundant usage of the word "Yaar and na"...Yaar (and that too not just yaar...its YAAAAAARRRRRR)...Now I nothing against Hindi per se,but why amalgamate hindi and english,and come out with this abysmal cacophony!😕...I heard someone recently say" you have to nibhaoo your rishtas".....Either speak fully in hindi,or english...and as again as you said,its not rishtas....🤢

 

Sneha, good topic. I want to say a lot...will come back later. We have discussed lot of debates about english and india ...if you just search with word "english" on DM you will find some topics.

Originally posted by: Madmadgirl

If the Indians dont want to use English, that's cool. What i object to is the positive bas***dising of the language or the acceptance of so-called Hinglish. I wouldnt even mind that if it was done properly!

The example that comes to mind is an ad I saw on ZTV or some bank or money sending institution,. It talked of " Some rishtas, "

The plural of rishta is rishte! Not bloody rishtas!!!! 😡

There is nothing worse!!

😡 Madds 😡

😆😆😆

Abhijit, pata nahin aapki baat par khush hona chahiye yaa... 😉

BTW, India is Literacy Rate is 65.38% according to Census 2001, ab to aur increase ho chuki hogi.