Literacy News

English is a second language for Indians. Though the sound system and the pronunciation is very difficult for them still they got a mastery over the language. Its due to the long collaboration with the British people and specially for their interest in it.

 The population of India passed a billion, that was thousand million a couple of years ago and it is increasing at the rate of three percent per annum. In 1997 an Indian today survey suggested that about a third of population had the ability to carry on a conversation in English and more or less that will be doubled in coming years.

 “Once before the publication of the most famous book “Kanthapura” by Raja Rao, he gives some valuable comments on the Indian English that “We in India , think quickly, we talk quickly and when we move, we move quickly. There must be something on the sun of India that makes us rush and tumble and run. We can prove our dialect which will some day prove to be distintictive and colorful as Irish or the American. Time will justify it.”

 Really time justified it. Now people skip their meals for a class of English for their children. It’s a passport for employment and one can say it’s a pinch of salt for  the all round personality of a person. As cross cultural exchanges happens and job requires knowledge of effective English speaking skills, the people across the world including China, Germany and the other non-speaking European nations are very conscious about their English.

The flow of globalization changed every thing. In the year1947 people were in roads to protest English medium schools but now people are donating funds for better English medium school.  Economic scenario changed the attitudes of Indians. Secured jobs and good incomes made them more comfortable and confident and the same confidence has shown in their speaking style.

Indians can not speak like the British and the American. They should not. They must look at the larger part of the world like their own part. People like to call it “Indian English” sometimes proudly and some times derisively.

   Indians have excellent control over their written English, yet when it comes to pronunciation or speaking effectively, one is not sound . the problem is while the native speakers think English, they think in their mother -tongue and translate it while speaking. There are some sounds boxes of our mother tongue which are become hurdles for improving the pronunciation  like dha sound in our mother tounge which is not present in English

Indian call center executives speak in native way than accented English to appeal their foreign clients. The focus here is  in making thinks clear and the problems solved rather than acceptance of the accent but its true that pronunciation plays a grate role in learning a language and it is one of the barrier in process of communication.

Infact, Indian English is a recognized dialect of English like BBC English or Australian English. It has lots of distinctive syntax and quite a bit of lexical variation and it can be as hard for American to understand as British especially if it is spoken in speed.

 Many believe that Indian English is very similar to British English. Every linguistic item is not used in Indian English. Like alveolar consonants replaced by retroflex consonants e.g walked- walk. Indians shorten terms, that is not pronounced as it should be, like fundamental shorten to fundas and pronounced as fundamental.

The influence of Hindi in English is always there in the land of India where its national language, the colloquialism of which has been widely accepted by the Indians and even some words like Badmash ,babu, maska and many more are introduced in English dictionaries. If you go to any office the receptionalist will ask you “ What can I do for you?” rather saying “ Can I help you?”which is Hindi influence “ Me apke liye kya kar sakti hunu?”like the Indians in habit of asking “ What is your good name?” as we are saying in hindi “ Apka subha nam kya he?” so when people speaks English they mix Hindi in context of their conversation the accent of which some how similar with the English rather than other regional languages hence the speakers of English like to use Hindi as code switching and code mixing.

 When Indians use English it’s a Dalama (a dish mixture of all vegetables and some dals ), the seven C’s of communication that is Candid, Clear, Concise, Correct, Complete and Concrete while the native speakers following the Candid, Clear and Concreteness in their speaking. We are bilingual hence we think of English as intellectual make up than emotional.

Like other English speaking countries India is going to make mark in world language, showing Indian English as a Standard English as American and Australian. The time has really come for us to prove that learning a  new language is always  like learning your mother tongue. If the population of  crores are able to express their ideas clearly which will understood by more than half of the population of world then their style of speaking is going to be accepted by others no doubt.

Lect. Mrs Sumitra Biswal

Srusti Academy of Manegement

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