Instead of India, let's talk about USA where English is the national & official language....
How many works of English literary excellence would you be able to find, originating from the US?....
And what in the world do you mean by 'the reading public isn't very good at English?.... In case you are ignorant of the fact, no. of English Book sales in Delhi is the highest for any city in the world....
I am happy that somebody raised this matter. This degradation is happening not only in english writting but also in other languages, be it Hindi or any other Indian language. This is due to "Chalta hai" mentality and "specialists don't need english skill" thinking. Like here itself somebody reacted "Don't fall pre to those strict grammar rules." If we can learn what is bad in that, even if, it comes in the form of correction (which we usually misunderstrand as fault finding). Secondly, I want to bring to attention that skill or intellect is not related with english only. Any language, to be spoken correctly, needs thorough knowledge of that language. One can argue that it hinders the flow of idea but that happens initially only gradually it becomes habit and ideas start coming with correct language. So, let us mind our language.
Hi Mate, You are a mad man. A prey to English language. Please answer this question of mine: How does it matter to a person who creates enormous wealth to know English as a language? Even if he/she speaks something it will be considered as a new trend or an aspect of innovation in terms of language function. Come out of this shell and understand the reality of life. Do you think the dissertations done by people in top-notch universities across the world [OTHER THAN INDIA] have quality language? And adding to the current context, I would like to tell you that,in the age where SMS rules the world [Stats: More than a billion SMS circulates in UK per day.], please do not expect fair and pure English from people. I hope you have understood the need of the day in modern world. It just needs to know the meaning of it than how it was communicated. People does not have time to sit and correct the grammatical mistakes of someone else, in fact themselves first. Irony of thought, in your terms, but is acceptable in all countries across the world. Thank you.
RE:I think you have not got the point....
by ASA C on Nov 24, 2007 02:34 PM Permalink
New idea coming to mind is everything.Writing is not that big an issue, but talking is an issue. We have to be refined and not to attack directly while talking.Many people have to improve talking method.Even top politicians have to. Look at a report, as per that our V.P. said USA's middle east policy is increasing terrorism. It should have been, USA need a different m.e. policy to curb terrorism [ Expressing negative things in positive way]
It is surprising to note person who has given the article has not updated himself. My daughter studying in Delhi Public School (CBSE) (3rd std)is regularly given written assignments for essay writing not just in English but hindi as well. Grammer taught to her class is equivalent to that taught in 5th Std SSC board. Her communication skills is outstanding at this age. I'm proud of getting her admitted in CBSE board.
It is not just the students that lack English writing skills. Even the academicians, who write text books, lack skills to present their subject in a simple and easy to understand format. This is because we inherited English from the British. Americans have mastered in this aspect. Compare the american and indian text books on similar subjects to see the difference. Indian text books are rubbish. By the way I am not sure whether text book is the right word here!
RE:This is not new
by Ramakrishna on Nov 24, 2007 02:02 PM Permalink
Hi Mate, You are a mad man. A prey to English language. Please answer this question of mine: How does it matter to a person who creates enormous wealth to know English as a language? Even if he/she speaks something it will be considered as a new trend or an aspect of innovation in terms of language function. Come out of this shell and understand the reality of life. Do you think the dissertations done by people in top-notch universities across the world [OTHER THAN INDIA] have quality language? And adding to the current context, I would like to tell you that,in the age where SMS rules the world [Stats: More than a billion SMS circulates in UK per day.], please do not expect fair and pure English from people. I hope you have understood the need of the day in modern world. It just needs to know the meaning of it than how it was communicated. People does not have time to sit and correct the grammatical mistakes of someone else, in fact themselves first. Irony of thought, in your terms, but is acceptable in all countries across the world. Thank you.
RE:This is not new
by vinay kapur on Nov 25, 2007 06:31 PM Permalink
Just because you do not agree with him , you think he is mad.Why are you trying to mix up creation of wealth with knowledge of English? Are you suggesting that wealth created by a person should be inversely proportional to his ability to express himself in good English? Are you suggesting that Ratan Tata or Mukesh Ambani should deliver their speeches in SMS English? You have yourself written good English if we leave out the last sentence.
I totally agree that we Indians need a great lot of improvement in our writing skills. Just to give a simple example, most of us are too hesitant to use a 'the' in our sentences and don't realise the importance of a 'the'.
RE:RE:Agreed.
by vinay kapur on Nov 25, 2007 06:13 PM Permalink
Reading grammetically correct English is great fun.Read any book written by P.G.Wodehouse and you will find out.
