A question of language...

The biggest challenge or rather, one of the biggest challenges in life, is to give advise. 

Just the other day, I was on the bus to a city centre. The young man sitting next to me had a flyer in his hand that read " Do you want to make it big? Learn to communicate first. Contact xyz for spoken English classes." I queried him out of curiosity.

He had completed his under-graduation in arts; diploma in computer programming and a certificate course in hardware maintenance. He could not pursue his dreams of  making into an engineer (at least half of India wants to!) because his father could not afford. He had worked part-time here and there and just then was on his way to another job interview. Yes, he was contemplating whether to subscribe to 'Spoken English' classes or not because at each interview that he faced, it appeared that the job went to those who spoke better English.

Perhaps he was right. Even though I ventured to suggest to him that he may perhaps like to hone his language skills, there was as yet another thought that wormed through me.

Are we looking at English because we want a job or are we looking at it because that is essential to perform both in the interview as well as at the career thereafter?

MDQ (Million Dollar Question)!

Language, particularly English, skills today are considered as important as mastery of any professional subject. Rightfully so. In a fast-shrinking world, where you and I need to work together we may as well interact and understand each other better through a common language. The other day Times of India carried a huge article on 'A question of employability'. The article in nutshell said that societal pressure, inadequate infrastructure, poor quality of teachers and outdated syllabi contribute more towards un-employability than the ability to speak in English.

Every developing society has the same story. Employment is not just a desire, it is a fundamental right. It is just that in our enthusiasm to obtain employment, we forget the ancient adage ' So you sow; So you reap'. Proliferating colleges, huge donations, reservations as against merit in the selection of teachers, poor pay for teachers in private sector colleges, job rather than quality oriented education and syllabi, lack of encouragement to original research and such other issues have a direct impact on the employability of the school and collages graduates that we produce every year.

As I was even suggesting to the young man that he must hone up his language skills (this particular one appeared to need that), I could not help my mind wander into the system reforms that we in the society must look for; ask for and work for so as to enhance our children's employability than merely helping them to speak better English.

Anyone seen the movie 'English Vinglish'? I believe the Japanese enjoy the movie!!!