The English Patient

How many times have you come across a piece of literature that made you think, “This does seem to be written in English. Then why the heck am I not able to understand a thing?”? Now when this happens, there can be only two things; either you cannot read English or the writer cannot write in English.

It’s a widespread belief in India that using high sounding words or jargon or even obsolete ‘nigga’ slangs is the ‘in’ thing. And what’s worse is that even the so-called ‘language and speech’ trainers stress on this. Also included are putting up an accent, mugging up tough words, speaking quickly and my favorite, having weird expressions while talking. Some bright pupils go as far as using the ‘F’ word in multiple ways. It can be for joy, sorrow, happiness, exclamation, request, order and so on (there’s even a neat little sound clip which shows the uses with examples but it’s understood that it’s only for entertainment purpose.). Clearly, the Queen’s language has taken a backseat while people embrace the new, improved gibberish.

While doing all that, we have forgotten the basic rules which are of prime importance in any language. Grammar, spelling and phrasing of a sentence are rarely given any importance. Proper salutations and greetings are unheard of and people, more often than not, rely on ‘Waddup?’. The sms lingo, which was invented to save the labor of typing on a cramped keyboard has entered mainstream and there have been cases where school children have been using it in exams.

In my view, there’s an easy solution to all this. Reading stuff. Be it newspapers, magazines or even textbooks. Reading anything in which there’s minimal abuse of language will make you imitate its style and better your writing and speaking skills. You do not need to be a noble laureate in English but a correct knowledge of the language would suffice. Also, this will assure that you don’t go in an interview, hold up your hand and say ‘Waddup mate? Let’s make it quick and smooth’.