'English Is Not My Mother Tongue!'
That is the response received on pointing out a few mistakes of his during a Whatsapp chat I was having with a colleague. Yes he is an Indian and I, like him, have the handicap of having as my mother tongue a language which is not English.
What is a language? Have you ever thought about that? According to me, language is nothing but a set of sounds which is gibberish to most others and meaningful to those who have mastered the rhythm of those sounds. As the North Indians say, the South Indian languages can be produced by knocking stones about inside a tin vessel!
I like Indian languages as they are spoken as they are written. Possibly, some other languages which are foreign to India, also are spoken as they are written. Definitely not English and French. We have a hotel called Papillon in a small town of Gujarat. Unfortunately this French word, which indicates a beautiful creature otherwise known as a butterfly, is pronounced, by the French, as 'Paapiyon'. I find it difficult to invite people to that restaurant. Yes, it is a restaurant and not a hotel. Ah, I spoke to the owner. He knows it and is happy that its patrons do not know the pronunciation. Paapiyon, to those uninitiated to the Hindi language, means sinners.
Language is a means of communication and not patronisation. One learns one's mother tongue to communicate within his family and neighbourhood. He also learns a few more languages which are spoken by others so that he can communicate with the world at large. Unfortunately, there are people with weak language skills, who defend themselves when they are not able to communicate in an alien language, with a weak comment that it is not their mother tongue. They use the words like 'pride' and 'self-respect' (Asmita) as they have not learnt that there is a world out there which would be glad to be one with them once they break the shackles of ignorance.
I wish that my command over mother tongue was as strong as my command over the number of other languages I know to read, write and speak or communicate in. I also wish that, those who know when I am wrong or have mispronounced any word(s), have the courtesy to point out my mistakes they notice, so that I could improve. Or at least I will attempt to.
I would rather not have an excuse that I do not know any language, which I use to communicate, but would be glad to learn of my errors from others who are better placed in the language. This is the message to those who know that they are weak in the English language but refuse to, or are lazy to, learn it and yet want to use it for their (mis)communications.
As a parting gift - the same colleague wrote to me - 'Let's celebrate the victory of good over evil. Happy Dassera...'.
My responses was - 'Place? Yours or mine?' Both live in different state capitals.
Now that man is unhappy! He wanted me to celebrate without him. How would I know? On other thoughts - yes, that calls for a celebration!
I just wish somebody gives this colleague of mine an injection! A prick to release the balloon of his ignorance and inject a little sense of humour in him.
Disclaimer:
I have a wicked sense of humour. Sometimes I fail to understand what I am saying.
That is the response received on pointing out a few mistakes of his during a Whatsapp chat I was having with a colleague. Yes he is an Indian and I, like him, have the handicap of having as my mother tongue a language which is not English.
What is a language? Have you ever thought about that? According to me, language is nothing but a set of sounds which is gibberish to most others and meaningful to those who have mastered the rhythm of those sounds. As the North Indians say, the South Indian languages can be produced by knocking stones about inside a tin vessel!
I like Indian languages as they are spoken as they are written. Possibly, some other languages which are foreign to India, also are spoken as they are written. Definitely not English and French. We have a hotel called Papillon in a small town of Gujarat. Unfortunately this French word, which indicates a beautiful creature otherwise known as a butterfly, is pronounced, by the French, as 'Paapiyon'. I find it difficult to invite people to that restaurant. Yes, it is a restaurant and not a hotel. Ah, I spoke to the owner. He knows it and is happy that its patrons do not know the pronunciation. Paapiyon, to those uninitiated to the Hindi language, means sinners.
Language is a means of communication and not patronisation. One learns one's mother tongue to communicate within his family and neighbourhood. He also learns a few more languages which are spoken by others so that he can communicate with the world at large. Unfortunately, there are people with weak language skills, who defend themselves when they are not able to communicate in an alien language, with a weak comment that it is not their mother tongue. They use the words like 'pride' and 'self-respect' (Asmita) as they have not learnt that there is a world out there which would be glad to be one with them once they break the shackles of ignorance.
I wish that my command over mother tongue was as strong as my command over the number of other languages I know to read, write and speak or communicate in. I also wish that, those who know when I am wrong or have mispronounced any word(s), have the courtesy to point out my mistakes they notice, so that I could improve. Or at least I will attempt to.
I would rather not have an excuse that I do not know any language, which I use to communicate, but would be glad to learn of my errors from others who are better placed in the language. This is the message to those who know that they are weak in the English language but refuse to, or are lazy to, learn it and yet want to use it for their (mis)communications.
As a parting gift - the same colleague wrote to me - 'Let's celebrate the victory of good over evil. Happy Dassera...'.
My responses was - 'Place? Yours or mine?' Both live in different state capitals.
Now that man is unhappy! He wanted me to celebrate without him. How would I know? On other thoughts - yes, that calls for a celebration!
I just wish somebody gives this colleague of mine an injection! A prick to release the balloon of his ignorance and inject a little sense of humour in him.
Disclaimer:
I have a wicked sense of humour. Sometimes I fail to understand what I am saying.
