The kids in the tribal childrens' hostel in our campus, sometimes come to the college canteen and get food. I think the canteen people give them some food, once in a way. I wished to teach them but did not manage to do much. All I managed was to make them sit and study for their unit tests and exams. I hope the coming year, I can do some work with them and teach them to speak well in English. Those of us who speak, read and write English well, do not realise the limited avenues opened for those who do not. Good higher education is not available in Indian languages, unless of course one studies the language itself--obviously, best Hindi scholars will be in India. Hence, a student from an Indian language based education, has to shift to an English medium college after studying till the 10th in hindi/telugu/tamil etc. This in itself is a daunting task.
So usually, a child from a local language medium school, has not much scope for higher education even if s/he is very proficient in math/science/any other subject. We must be losing a lot of manpower that way. Since these children do not have the two words " engg./medicine drilled into them from childhood, they are more likely to become innovative thinkers if they could get over this language barrier. I saw this in the village where I spent last year. I also occasionally listen to some young girls speak in the "pattimandram" like Visu's "arattai arangam"(not sure of the name)-- debates organised by some Tamil TV channels. These programs are held in the districts and one finds young girls and boys speaking with such skills...logical, well reasoned arguments, wonderful examples to prove their point, and some humour. ... and the flow of language! amazing....it gives me an inferiority complex. There must be a quick way to learn English well.
6 comments:
Very true! This issue has bugged me for a long time. Do you think that translating books or articles into regional languages like Hindi and Tamil might help? I am looking to start something in this regard but it has still remained a thought. Would you be interested, especially B.Sc. level chemistry books like Sykes, Morrison, Finar, etc?
Ranga, your comment brings me to the other side of the coin. Having lived in north India, and having been educated in English medium schools run by English women, my knowledge of Tamil is just above zero and of Hindi a little better. Neither is good enough for me to translate Morrison and Boyd/Peter Sykes.
Hehe!! Its a similar story here, brought up in North India, a bit of Tamil here, slightly more Hindi outside home and English in school; it does get cluttered up at times. But, I still feel we might be counting ourselves short by not trying.
I was educated in Hindi medium and picked up English later during college years. There are Hindi books for Physics/Chemistry for undergraduate courses, though not as good as i would like them to be but reasonable enough for that level.
Times of India was a great resource for me for speaking English as I used read aloud to be comfortable with the language during my M. Sc. I am still improving my writing skills in English.
All these obstacle can be overcome if there is a need and wish. If you would have strong wish to translate books in Hindi/Tamil, you will find a way to improve upon these languages and do it. All you need a strong motivation for doing it.
One suggestion is to team up with someone who is good in the language you want to work. Translating a book is huge work and having someone on-board will be of great help.
Recently, I needed to submit a grant proposal, and I took help of a professional proof reader to go through my text for grammar and clarity. There are always more 'the' to put in my text than I can imagine. The money I paid to him was negligible in comparison to what this grant will do to my career if funded. So you can also take help of someone who is proficient in the language.
These are mere suggestions but might be useful. Sorry, if I sound preachy.
@RS; Translation was a suggestion made by Ranga. I am not really upto translating a book as comprehensive as Morrison and Boyd. I find it tough enough to keep my notes updated. But yes, someone should translate these books, but it should be done by someone who understands the subject. My blogpost was to point out that the English medium education is not as comprehensive as it is made out to be.
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