The difficulties of learning English
By Deborah Sundmacher, SDNN

There is an old joke which asks three questions. The first question: “What do you call a person who knows three languages?”  The answer, of course, is “tri-lingual.”  The second question: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?  “Bi-lingual.”  The final question: What do you call a person who speaks only one language?  Not surprisingly, few get the punch line:   “An American.”  Almost all other educational systems, except the U.S. system, require students to be fluent in two languages.

But with English fast becoming the lingua franca (common language of commerce) between nations, our students already have the edge.  According to the British Council, over 1 billion people are currently learning English world wide.   Test your own language acumen by reading the following sentences out loud:

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
2. The purpose of a truck farm is to produce produce.
3. After a number of injections, my jaw got number.
4. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

Just as a sport requires the training of specific muscle groups, learning English requires not only a new set of oral skills for pronunciation, but also a new pattern of thinking.

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A contrived language war. Again!
By Jim Wilson, The Suburban

QUEBEC—This province’s political leaders’ recent remarks on the Supreme Court decision regarding Bill 104 are not surprising. Their denunciation of the ruling is classic self serving posturing. The call to arms to defend the language and culture smacks of the worst demagoguery. A strategy to divert people’s attention from other, truly pressing concerns.

Quebec’s political parties vie for the right to be at the head of the movement that promotes itself as the savior of Quebec against an invasion of the dreaded English language, often described as the language of the oppressor.

The defense of any language is a vague concept, and has no specified time limit as to when victory can be declared. Indeed, those whose careers are dependent on such tactics know it would be a colossal error to even suggest that a victory was at hand. We have reached a state of permanent, albeit contrived, language war. These politicians do not care about the state of the French language, but they care very much about their own survival and if sanctimoniously lamenting the erosion of the language helps their image, so much the better.

Wars, even phony wars, need enemies, and the citizenry must be told to be on their guard. The English language is perceived as a danger to Quebec, and individuals who use it are targeted too. Citizens who believe that English could be a valuable tool are often betrayed as alien to Quebec.

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Letter from Bandar: Association doing good job promoting English

It is heartening to know that a significant sum has been allocated in the 2010 Budget for the provision of quality and affordable education.

The focus on the four NKRA sub-components is commendable, particularly the initiative to increase literacy.

Literacy is without doubt a key element in producing high quality human capital for the nation. Nevertheless, for Malaysia to be able to make a name for herself globally, it is imperative for the nation’s workforce to be competent in the English language…

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight commendable efforts taken by the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (Melta) to promote the development of the English Language in Malaysia.

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Boosting English language learning in Sri Lanka
By Susantha P. Hewa

We have to accept that our sacred formula for teaching English has been writing-centred. School text books for English do include speech activities, but they cannot be prevented from being glossed over because the gains students accrue by doing them go unnoticed as no tests are conducted to evaluate speech skills at the end of the school term. Moreover, parents who are left with no index other than what they can find in their child’s exercise book to get an idea of the amount of work the child has done during the English period are naturally happy with the more tangible writing output.

It is not surprising that they feel justified in being satisfied with this criterion of evaluation because it is only a written paper that the child has to face in the end. The strongest evidence for our inbuilt and institutionalized sluggishness about developing speech skills is that speech is not tested at the G.C.E (O/L) exam.

It is true that all academic work is unthinkable without writing. You cannot think of any worthwhile gain in the pursuit of knowledge if writing is to be avoided from the very beginning of the process…

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