Can Language be the Enemy?

I am a 90's kid. The curriculum of schools has changed a lot since I left school. Or should I say it is changing? I don't know how much effect these changes are having on kids because of the kind of children I've dealt with, I saw no difference. And that's exactly why I felt like writing this piece.

Now there are people in my family only who are very keen on promoting Punjabi as a language, which is a good thing. Because the more languages a kid knows the better. However, some people go to the extent of saying that any other language should be banned in Punjab. I couldn't disagree more. And here's why:

1. English has become a universal language and unless you wish to stay like a frog in the pond, sneering at the ocean, you need to learn it.

2. English is not only needed if you wish to go abroad but is a requirement for every other job in India as well. Unless things change on the central level, it's stupid to keep children bereft of learning a language they will have to use majorly at their workplace.

3. It's not like kids these days are ignoring Punjabi. They're equally disregarding any other language. And that's what a part of the actual problem is. By focusing on the wrong issues, we are not leading anywhere and it is high time we admit that.

Now forget about everything else and let me explain my point of view as I talk about the most favorite topic of Punjabis, that is, going abroad.

Since all of us know of someone or the other who lives abroad, and most of us secretly wish to go there as well, learning English is a must. Now you can either ban English from your lives or stop having foreign dreams. You simply can't have it both ways.

I have seen people struggling to write a sentence in English, some breaking down at IELTS coaching centers, just because they had underestimated the test and now that the stakes are high, they fall short. There is one thing lacking ideas, which almost everyone I taught did. There's an entirely different thing not being able to write the few ideas that they have. The only thing left for them then is cramming their way out of India.

Because you simply cannot get knowledge about the world and learn a new language in a month. That's where our education system fails. And that is where the people who tell me the most important agenda at hand right now language, fall short. Even if such abroad enthusiasts manage to get a score and reach their favorite country, do you think that's it? Happy ending? Think again.

The problems they face from beginning to end are as follows:

1. Lack of Ideas

What do you think the IELTS test is for? Its full form is the International English Language Testing System. The exam doesn't only test your language but your knowledge as well, your reasoning too. But it isn't something we haven't already grown up doing, at least on paper. The problem lies in the fact that we've always been doing it wrong.

Essay writing, for instance, has been a part of our curriculum, in every language too. Then why do people lack ideas when it comes to IELTS? It is because we always only crammed those essays and never used our brains. There were even teachers in my school who would deduct marks if we wrote something out of the box. We were taught to just learn and write the same answer everyone else was writing. Even in graduation and studies ahead, people were in the habit of doing just that.

There're guides to everything. While applying for my master's in English literature from a reputed Indian university campus, I had thought of meeting some dynamic people who would be so into novels and poetry. But all I'd got was a bunch of classmates, with the exception of a few, who didn't even like to read the novels in our syllabus, let alone anything else. They only ever read their summaries and crammed the answers to popularly-asked questions, from guides. Most of them didn't even know how to write. And they had all entered the university by clearing a written test, God knows how.

But then, here even the path to Ph.D. is highly objective. All my years as an editor, I've even heard people asking me to write their thesis for them or remove plagiarism from their pieces compiled from here and there through cut/copy, paste on their fancy laptops.

No wonder then that I've lost respect for degrees and it's only the actual knowledge a person has that attracts me toward them.

So don't even get me started on the kinds of answers I've read while teaching students in an IELTS coaching institute. There were people who didn't have any ideas on women empowerment (the most discussed topic on social media itself), there were people who didn't know what our country's staple food is (many told me it was burger/pizza), there were people who told me we were living in the 20th century right now just because it was written in their book.

2. Picking Up Accent

A big part of the test also includes teaching you to understand different accents. But in that also people fall short. In my graduation days only, I would often hear students telling the teachers to talk in Punjabi as they found it hard to understand English. Even those who voluntarily took Elective English would have issues. In the university, many dropped out just because they couldn't understand the lecturers teaching English literature in English. How do you think such people then cope with studies abroad?

A student in England I knew of had failed to finish his assignment on time and had told me to write an apology letter to his teacher. There is no dearth of Punjabis abroad who can't even talk to anyone not speaking their language and tag along with anyone who is confident enough to be a translator for them. Why do they then spend lakhs of rupees to go there? Just to look cool? How can you think of working in a largely English-speaking nation when you can't even converse with them?

3. Knowing Your Words

English cannot be learned just by translating another language. And synonyms aren't as easy to be used in English as in Punjabi. For instance, a student of mine had once asked me if she could use the word 'cheating' in place of 'mimicking'. Only toddlers don't try to do cheating while acquiring their first language. But then she was learning and was bound to make mistakes in order to not make them in the real world.

But know that I am not saying this to promote English. Its wrong usage can be hazardous for you in one way or the other. The IELTS test also checks your letter-writing skills in some cases. And the problem there goes deep. Most people don't even realize when their letter sounds rude beyond limits, so rude that the person they are writing to might end up becoming their enemy for it. A person I know of had written an email to her agent sitting abroad and the agent had got furious as she had misjudged her tone. The woman was clueless but I could understand the confusion. This happens at workplaces in India as well. So little knowledge can actually destroy your career or make it hell-worthy.

But why only abroad? What about other states? What about making deals with people out of Punjab? Almost every person I know of is either sitting abroad or in another state or working in a place where English is used extensively. How can you survive on Punjabi alone in that case? Why have so much enmity with a language when instead you can embrace it and do better?

However, in no way have I ever said don't learn Punjabi. It is very important to learn your mother tongue. Just don't shy away from learning. What good is learning a language if you don't use it to gain knowledge?

Don't stick to a curriculum. Read. In any language. Just read. It increases your understanding of the world you live in. Words used in context are easier to remember and use than those found in isolation.

There are people who like biographies and non-fictional works. There are others who rely on newspapers and magazines for knowledge. But that isn't the only way. For me, fiction became the window to the world. Find what suits you the most and read.

If going abroad is really your dream, start early. Don't just think about the exam, think about your life beyond it. And then prepare. If you want to do something, strive to be excellent at it. What's the fun in being mediocre?

Also read: When exams turn into a race course