Thus do we speak English

K S Sivakumaran

Dr Lal Fonseka's articles in Punch are stimulating and productive. I benefit from them. I particularly liked his piece published on March 12, 2012. For those who have missed reading it, let me retell the portions I liked before I write my own impressions in speaking English as a teacher of English and English Literature.

This is what L F stressed:

In a practical sense one could survive without English, but with the globalized nature of the world and commerce, knowledge of English is quite essential.

Those who are not fluent in English most of the time negotiate their business in English through the interpreters.

The knowledge of English could help to open many professional and literary doors.

Today English is widely taught around the world as a second language but not in our country. Right correctly Thamil language is the second language in our country but a majority of the population is unable to converse even in Thamil though it is a second language.

This is a very sad state of affairs. In my view, all Sri Lankans should be able to communicate in Tamil language since it is the second language.

British English is still widely taught as the prestige form in class rooms around the world, including Sri Lanka.

You will be surprised to note that about 1.5 billion people in the world speak English. Another 1 billion are learning it. 75 % of the world's letters and pot cards are written in English.

English let's you feel the culture of the world like no other language. With a good knowledge of the English language, you can do wonderful things.

Those were the observations of Dr Lal Fonseka. At the end of the article he has suggested the ways one can improve their knowledge of English and learn to speak well.

May I also add that all Sri Lankans not only should learn Thamil but also all Thamil-speaking people should also learn Sinhala. How Thamil becomes the second language in the country is because not only the people in the north, east and other peoples speak Thamil, but also the hillcountry people and the Muslims all over the island speak Thamil as their mother tongue.

Just as much as Sinhala is the most important language in the country, English is the most important language around the world.

Now let me voice my understanding why only five to eight percent persons really understand English in this country.

There are several reasons for this: political, social, economic, educational and so on. These are obvious to all of us who have experienced our past immediate history. I need not elaborate on them. Instead taking the current climate into consideration let us see what the real difficulties are in learning English.

Ever since English was unceremoniously dethroned from its prestigious position, an artificial antipathy was created against English. Younger generations for more than six decades grew up in ignorance in relative terms and thus neglected English. They then thought that English was really 'Kaduwa' that prevented the preservation and growth of our own indigenous cultures. Isolationism and extreme nationalism naturally led to parochialism. Instead of people thinking as people of one Nation, they began to believe that only dominant culture is the right answer to progress and development.

While English was neglected throughout the country to a poor state partly due to incapable teachers in many parts of the island, a minority of the elites in the big cities like Colombo, Kandy and Galle could hold sway with their polished way of speaking English. This naturally led to the antagonism of the underprivileged lot in all parts of the country.

Even those from the rural sector wanted to learn English the way it should be spoken found it difficult to adjust to the correct pronunciation of English words as they were not used to speak English in their respective areas.

So devise was envisaged for students to speak English in our own way of speaking and pronouncing English. Although this can encourage people to somehow or the other communicate in English with our own Sinhala or Thamil accent, yet one could learn better if we could learn to pronounce English words as it should be spoken by an educated audience. As we see in world forums, most educated persons from different parts of the world try to speak in accepted way of pronouncing the words even though there may be nuances of their intrinsic way of pronouncing English words.

One should not mistake correct or received pronunciation for accent. And in good speech there is no accent.

Of course the English language is somewhat peculiar in spelling and pronunciation, but lately some modifications akin to the American spelling is being used fast for commercial purpose. And people find them easy. And with the short message service (SMS) in vogue even in our little island, accuracy in using language is not strictly observed.

Even the English language has undergone several changes over the centuries and continues to change and the style of writing has become more direct, personal and simple so much so people would rather read that than go back to lengthy and ornamental writing.

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