The importance of English vis-a-vis India's languages

[system]

Deprivation’s real language
[SIZE=-1]Indian Express, India - 54 minutes ago[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]... That is how the sons of the Jats of Haryana, Punjab and UP, who constitute the landowning and political elites in these two states, end up as bus conductors ... [/SIZE]


More...

 

[dndeswal]

An appeal to young Jatlanders

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After going through the above article which appeared in The Indian Express, I think it should be an eye-opener not only for we Jats but for the entire rural youth. Introduction of more English medium schools is not a solution. It has been proved that any foreign language imposed on indigenous population does more harm than good, especially in countries with large indigenous populations. English could gain ground in those places where British empire spread its wings and where the number of indigenous population was very low. Those original inhabitants were wiped out by colonial powers – for example in US, Canada, Australia, N.Zealand and in Mauritius (by French/ Portuguese).

By the way, 14 September is the “Hindi Day” and a “Hindi Fortnight” is celebrated every year (1-15 September) – to me, it seems to be a mockery – to celebrate a “Hindi” day in India itself where this language has generated. If you have such celebrations in a foreign land, it looks reasonable. Read another interesting article on following link:

http://us.jagran.com/newssite/opinion.asp?storyid=2699505&lpageno=1

Coming back to the point of writing quality English, proof can be found here on Jatland itself – what kind of English our young members are using. See a few example of Jatlanders’ ‘Hinglish’:

----------------------
(spelling mistakes and other irritants have been shown in red colour)

“ thanx, how r u”,

“allrite m gonna stop this crap”

"well, guys i wud like to feel d choices n prefernces of d fellow jatlanders
so, kindly let us know who ur fav. HOLLYWOOD actress is……"

"Mr. sanjeev m. i don't expect our own community ppl 2 say such nasty things abt it.Acc. 2 what i 've noticed till now is that jats are ppl who are extremely compassionate and don't 4get their values wherevr they are.this is da same compassion that has forced us all to join this forum".

"I used to visit dis site everyday”


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The list is endless. So far as writing a language is concerned, it should be written correctly, otherwise the ‘guests’ who visit this site regularly, will only laugh at our ‘Jaatu English’. Short-cuts should be avoided, punctuations should invariably be applied – in Roman-style Hindi also. Words such as Tau, Jat etc. should start with a capital letter. No major time is lost if you have to press a few more key-strokes on your keyboard. If you type ‘4get’ instead of ‘forget’, you only save two keystrokes but make a mockery of yourself in the eyes of seasoned readers.
.

 

[fool4love]

.
----------------------
(spelling mistakes and other irritants have been shown in red colour)

“ thanx, how r u”,

“allrite m gonna stop this crap”

"well, guys i wud like to feel d choices nprefernces of d fellow jatlanders
so, kindly let us know who ur fav. HOLLYWOOD actress is……"

"Mr. sanjeev m. i don't expect our own community ppl 2 say such nasty things abt it.Acc. 2 what i 've noticed till now is that jats are ppl who are extremely compassionate and don't 4get their values wherevr they are.this is da same compassion that has forced us all to join this forum".

"I used to visit dis site everyday”


------------------------

The list is endless. So far as writing a language is concerned, it should be written correctly, otherwise the ‘guests’ who visit this site regularly, will only laugh at our ‘Jaatu English’. Short-cuts should be avoided, punctuations should invariably be applied – in Roman-style Hindi also. Words such as Tau, Jat etc. should start with a capital letter. No major time is lost if you have to press a few more key-strokes on your keyboard. If you type ‘4get’ instead of ‘forget’, you only save two keystrokes but make a mockery of yourself in the eyes of seasoned readers.
.

Deswal Ji, (punctuation mark ) this english is not 'Jaatu English' and its really not about saving time. Its all about whats IN. Unfortunately, what you see is an IN thing and guests would laugh at us if we don't use these so called shortcuts.
Not that i care... don get me wrong.. but this is how u chat.. this is how u text.. .. n this is how .. u piss someone off!!

 

[dndeswal]

Deswal Ji, (punctuation mark ) this english is not 'Jaatu English' and its really not about saving time. Its all about whats IN. Unfortunately, what you see is an IN thing and guests would laugh at us if we don't use these so called shortcuts.
Not that i care... don get me wrong.. but this is how u chat.. this is how u text.. .. n this is how .. u piss someone off!!

भाई वाह, कमल - अगर 'शार्टकट' न इस्तेमाल किये जायें तो लोग हंसेंगे ! कनाडा में अपनी यूनिवर्सिटी में एक essay लिख कर दिखाओ ऐसी अंग्रेजी में -फिर देखना कितने नंबर मिलते हैं । चैट करना और बात है और लिखना और । किसी अखबार या पत्रिका में ऐसी अंग्रेजी देखी है क्या? ये जाटलैंड भी एक पत्रिका की तरह ही है जिसे बहुत से लोग पढते हैं । मेरे कहने का मतलब यह है कि भाषा कोई भी लिखो, अपने शुद्ध रूप में ही लिखो । अपने जाटलैंड पर भी कई अच्छे लिखने वाले हैं । सुमित दहिया के विचारों से हम कितने भी असहमत हों, परन्तु उसके इंगलिश लिखने के स्टाइल का जवाब नहीं - उसकी अंग्रेजी पर कोई नहीं हंसेगा ।
.

 

[fool4love]

भाई वाह, कमल - अगर 'शार्टकट' न इस्तेमाल किये जायें तो लोग हंसेंगे ! कनाडा में अपनी यूनिवर्सिटी में एक essay लिख कर दिखाओ ऐसी अंग्रेजी में -फिर देखना कितने नंबर मिलते हैं । चैट करना और बात है और लिखना और । किसी अखबार या पत्रिका में ऐसी अंग्रेजी देखी है क्या? ये जाटलैंड भी एक पत्रिका की तरह ही है जिसे बहुत से लोग पढते हैं । मेरे कहने का मतलब यह है कि भाषा कोई भी लिखो, अपने शुद्ध रूप में ही लिखो । अपने जाटलैंड पर भी कई अच्छे लिखने वाले हैं । सुमित दहिया के विचारों से हम कितने भी असहमत हों, परन्तु उसके इंगलिश लिखने के स्टाइल का जवाब नहीं - उसकी अंग्रेजी पर कोई नहीं हंसेगा ।
.

I was just trying to tell you why its like that... I am not taking any stand here... n aapne mereko hi lecture de diya.
use it.. or not.... that's the last thing i wanna argue about...
its all about... whatever makes u happy...

 

[chhillar]

I think it’s not about Deshwal saab, Kamal, Sumit or I it’s about those who are not up to speed in English. Once some body like Kamal has a good handle to the language but still spells ‘forget' in alpha numeric as ‘4get’ or wants to be a King/Devil/Witch of cryptic English…be my guest!

Question is to lower your handicap in English to avoid illiterate expression which I agree with totally. I, some times use acronyms like LOL, ASAP, AKA, BTW, PS etc. especially because they are pretty well accepted in the official communications too now.

Personally I avoid being the ‘King’ but some times can’t resist writing friends things like Hzt goin???

While I was in school my Nana Ji used to keep all my letters safe until he would get a chance to pull my ears for spellings or syntax.

 

[poonam]

I beg to differ

Howdy Deswal Sir? (The word is there in the dictionary, just in case... )

Well, I'm dead sure none of us would be using this "short cut" language for the official purposes. Its just the matter of convenience here at unofficial/informal places (Jatland, chats, private emails for instance). This is just for ease and to expedite and I guess, no harm as long as the gist is conveyed and as long as it is comprehensible. Don’t buy that, someone would be as fool as to use these short forms in writing for more serious stuff/places (and if they are doing that...what to say.. ) What say guys?

 

[chhillar]

भाई वाह, कमल - अगर 'शार्टकट' न इस्तेमाल किये जायें तो लोग हंसेंगे ! कनाडा में अपनी यूनिवर्सिटी में एक essay लिख कर दिखाओ ऐसी अंग्रेजी में -फिर देखना कितने नंबर मिलते हैं । .

I think Kamal knows how to write assays in formal English and must have scored good grades too. This is the main difference I have observed in last one decade of my time here in North America between them and us, Indians.
People do lecture here too be it at office or class but they always keep it respectful to the one they targeting their lecture, believe me it's much more effective that way. This reminds me of an incident happened to my friend at Rohtak.

This guy was not too good at studies and parents you know have to push for studies regardless. His father once opened one of his books and brought real close to son’s eyes and said “Dekhya…ke padya is kitaab ne( did it bite you)…padh kyun na leta jib”. Father here is being very creative (negatively) in boosting the son’s enthusiasm to studies.

Last of all knowledge and use of English in India is now really paying off, people living out side India would agree with me on this. Introduction of English medium schools in India is not solution to everything, agreed but then why do we send our kids to English Medium schools (Deshwal Ji aap ke bacche to Amrika mein padhte hein), who wants to send the kids to Gurukuls or madarsas.

I visited my school in Kunjpura last year and some body from the old boys was debating that we should have social science subjects introduced in 11th and 12th as social sciences as a subject need equal attention and kids should in those jobs too, again agreed but what do you kids do sir??....both are engineers.

I don't see a problem in going to an English school and leverage on the knowledge of the language and be successful. Knowledge of Hindi comes naturally in India, focus should be on other languages now and English happens to be the boss (I know French would not like it)

 

[shamshermalik]

Language is to communicate and sometime it is better to be fast and effective than being too formal. I think everyone knows what to write depending upon the situation.

This short cut language started mainly from cell phone SMS due to limited space in one message and to avoid pressing the keys multiple times. When SMS became popular in India it was not that much used in America and this type of short was not seen much even in american chat rooms but now it is every where. It's just the matter of comfort.

So Deswalji,donot take it on your heart...everyone knows it and no one goes too much into the detail how and what we write in Jatland.

What matters more is the content of thoughts.

 

[raj_rathee]

Bhaaaaasssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn!!!!!

Master Ji, yhaade bhassaan den ka ko fayaada koni. Ko na sunta
yahre. Experience tae batan laag ra hun.

It all depends on the audience you want to target. If the language
you use sends the message to the audience you want toh kaahe ko
tension lene ka ???

Personally I am no fan of the shortcuts, lekin chalta hai yaar. Ji kare
toh padh lo, err na kare tae *skip*.

Woh kilki-pilki tae bhoondi dhaal sar dhard ho jaya karta...issliye
saari *skip*.

Chalta hai. Baalka nae bolon do apni bhaasa mein. Un-neh bhoode-shayana
tae batlaana hoga tae aape nae dhang tae likhan laag jaange. 'Nd it
goz both waz. If v wanna tlk wid em v can rite lik dat 2.