For me it has always been tough to understand "What is the importance of Language". Even though my Hindi educated father always told me command over language (Even though he wanted me to master English but my understanding is he always implied both Hindi and English) is one of the most important skill I can ever have. I was young and good at Maths and Science, and the way my school worked and so many school often does, if you can pass Hindi and English and excel in Maths and Science you are a brilliant student. It didn't really matter whether you can communicate or not, all what mattered was an entrance examination and a rank. Don't get me wrong, getting a rank did wonders for me. I got a rank and it opened thousands of door for me. I moved up in the society, took a flight to states, started earning green paper and most of this because of a rank in one entrance examination.
In this process of getting a rank, figuring out equations and formulas, I never really tried to understand the beauty and importance of language specifically English. For people like me its really difficult to understand, the magical formula of impressing people by good communication skills, to bond with people by listening intimately and responding warmly, to influence people by writing a simple yet insightful memo, to be able to read a good influential book, gain some insight from it and translate it into working knowledge of the language. I am currently so much behind the curve that it is not possible for me to write few paragraphs like this without hundred's of grammatical errors, (Which I am sure my readers, if any, will be kind enough to point out) thousands of spelling errors (Which no one will be able to find thanks to spelling correcting feature in this text editor).
I think there are two important ingredients of good article, blog or essay, first is the clarity of thought process and second being clarity of expression and I have none. I am young and I think there is still lot of time to clear up my head and my thought process. However, I do feel that once I have clear thought process, I will still be in the same condition or rather worse because of lack of English words to express it. It is very important to feel the language before you can start using it as a tool to express yourself. For example - I wanted to ask a friend of mine that where his "Kafilla" will go next, now this guy is American and obviously he has no clue what "Kafilla" means so I have to find a word in English which means the same but unfortunately for me there is no word in English which means the same. Of course, Google search tells you that Cavalcade is a close word but it doesn't really ring bell in my head, I can't feel that I will be communicating the same meaning by using Cavalcade and that makes me realize importance of Language.
In this process of getting a rank, figuring out equations and formulas, I never really tried to understand the beauty and importance of language specifically English. For people like me its really difficult to understand, the magical formula of impressing people by good communication skills, to bond with people by listening intimately and responding warmly, to influence people by writing a simple yet insightful memo, to be able to read a good influential book, gain some insight from it and translate it into working knowledge of the language. I am currently so much behind the curve that it is not possible for me to write few paragraphs like this without hundred's of grammatical errors, (Which I am sure my readers, if any, will be kind enough to point out) thousands of spelling errors (Which no one will be able to find thanks to spelling correcting feature in this text editor).
I think there are two important ingredients of good article, blog or essay, first is the clarity of thought process and second being clarity of expression and I have none. I am young and I think there is still lot of time to clear up my head and my thought process. However, I do feel that once I have clear thought process, I will still be in the same condition or rather worse because of lack of English words to express it. It is very important to feel the language before you can start using it as a tool to express yourself. For example - I wanted to ask a friend of mine that where his "Kafilla" will go next, now this guy is American and obviously he has no clue what "Kafilla" means so I have to find a word in English which means the same but unfortunately for me there is no word in English which means the same. Of course, Google search tells you that Cavalcade is a close word but it doesn't really ring bell in my head, I can't feel that I will be communicating the same meaning by using Cavalcade and that makes me realize importance of Language.
Think its a big step in the direction!
ReplyDeleteAbout the particular piece, to start with there are several basic grammatical errors like - "one of the skill", "hundred's", "so much behind" etc. Then there are issues in sentence structure. Also i felt the flow of the write could be better. While the central idea is very clearly laid out, the supporting ideas can be woven better.
Best of Luck!
And i think i am inspired to start writing one myself :)
I mean... I have never thought so seriously about the language and communication...
ReplyDeleteI feel this sentence has some error
"It didn't really matter whether you can communicate or not, all what mattered was an entrance examination and a rank."
it is a good beginning to write a blog...
i also feel being in love also teaches you a lot about language and communication particularly...outside the classroom...write good love letters :) good poems and ...enjoy....
I would think the word 'caravan' is a close subsititute for 'kafila'. But certain words just paint such an authentic picture, that an english substitute just doesn't quite cut it. Isn't that why so many vernacular words have now been incorporated in the english language?
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating how historically languages have borrowed from each other. For instance the colloqialism 'oye' is actually spanish for 'listen' or 'you listen'.
While language is a tool to communication, i think the 'warmth' and 'influence' you are alluding is a factor of more than speaking 'correctly'. And without sounding patronizing, i think some of it is very much there:)
Waiting to read more.