Short essay on The Future of English in India (free to read). Many people think that the teaching of English is playing havoc with our native regional languages. Even the protagonists of Hindi, our national language, are deadly opposed to it.
They think that English is a foreign language and an average Indian can neither understand it, nor express himself in it. Moreover much energy of a child is being wasted in the learning of English. So English should altogether be abolished from this land.
Quite opposed to this camp are the phil-Anglians. They believe that English has been in use in India for the last about two centuries. As such, English is no longer a foreign language. Innumerable words of English are being used in our language of daily use. Particularly in the South, the people prefer English to Hindi.
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No doubt, English is an international language. Most of the research work in science and technology in the world is being done through the medium of English. English is the window for western knowledge to India. A very poor country as India is, it is very difficult to translate all the latest knowledge into national and regional languages. Even if an effort is made in this respect, till the knowledge concerned is translated, the theory has since changed meanwhile. That is why even countries like China and Japan have started giving more attention to the study of English to get the latest knowledge.
It is also argued that our freedom fighters like M.K.Gandhi, JPL. Nehru, Cochlea etc. were greatly influenced by western political thought on freedom through a study of English philosophers, thinkers and poets. English is said to be a great link between different Indian languages and a strong bond for national integration.
Clout, teaching of English leads to large-scale failures in various examinations. Yet, a formula should be evolved such that English is taught in schools and colleges but not at the cost of Indian languages. The teaching of English cannot and should not be dispensed with.