About Me — M. Ilyas
English, is one of the most important and powerful languages in the world, learning English is always critical, especially in a country like Pakistan where English is taught as a Second language. Learning English is not like learning only a language or having another ability but it is very important to earn and get the confidence which is very important to move socially in our country.
Keeping in mind the importance of English my parents admitted me to an English medium school, even though they were unable to read and write in Urdu and never went to any school, in simple words they had zero education. As my parents had yet to learn what English medium means, my school was an ordinary English medium school in the locality, where medium English means teaching subjects like science, social studies, and mathematics in English. However, the school couldn’t impart the language skills to their students and was unable to make them conversational, which is the case for 90% of local English medium schools in Karachi.
Lucky enough I was, that God has given me the ability to grab the language quickly. My first memory regarding English is; when I was in class 1, watching a cartoon with my family the cartoon named “Animals and Plants” As a young kid I shared my knowledge with my mother that “animal and plants” means “janwar aur pode” the translation of the phrase in Urdu. My mother was extremely joyful, she didn’t know how to express her happiness, and she instantly told her sister (my khala). One of my cousins (khala’s son) had an inverse effect of my knowledge on him, as he was in the same school and one year senior than me, my khala started scolding him why didn’t you know all these things why can’t you translate, my cousin’s misery couldn’t end here, next day my khala went to our school and started an argument with the headmistress, that why my son is not able to translate, I don’t remember how the headmistress made her satisfied, and send her away.
When I was in class 10th, I was not conversational and I lost my interest in English because of some bad teachers, especially the one who taught us in class 10th, he was only concerned about the course outline and finishing off the syllabus in time he had no interest in imparting the English skills. Somewhere somehow just finished my matric with low grades and had no skills in speaking the language.
After finishing my intermediate (12th standard) I was just wasting my time with friends moving here and there. My elder brother was admitted admission an English language center called “The Linguistic Center” (TLC). My brother advised me to join the center as well, as I have no interest in learning English; I initially refused him, but he made me realize that in a couple of years when I complete my graduation I could speak English as well so I would have great chances to get a good job. As the middle class, we always thought to made us eligible and acceptable for the job market. I convinced one of my schoolmates to take admission with me so it would be fun to be there with a friend. The language classes were fun, nothing more than, debates, speeches, vocabulary games, and arguments in conversational class, amidst the fun how I started speaking English I don’t know I never focused so hard but the language automatically came to me. I spent almost 3 years in TLC thanks to our teacher Syed Afzal Hussain who made us conversational.
Having the ability of English just changed my personality, I was far more confident than previous me, and the whole of my paradigm was shifted. Understanding the power of English, I started enjoying the English songs Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, and so on. Reading articles in the Dawn newspaper, listening to BBC news all these things just have taken me to a different world. My mindset has changed now, I started feeling that I am something I do have some worth in this world I am educated.
Soon enough I applied for a teaching job in the government of Sindh, the written test was taken by IBA SUKKUR, which was a tough one, synonyms, antonyms, and grammar the test was not a piece of cake for everyone but thanks to my English skills I could pass the exam and got the government job as a primary school teacher. After the long process of the government system, I finally got the appointment letter in the school which was very close to my dwelling. I had the memories of playing cricket in that school ground but it was a long time ago for many years I didn’t go there. Now I was appointed as a teacher in the same school. It was my first day, I had my documents filed in my hand and went inside the school but the school was very different from other government schools and my imagination. It was a huge school, the old building was turned into a new one, beautiful tiles cafeteria, I stepped forward to reception she asked me to submit my file and wait. I knew that the school was adopted by Zindagi Trust but still, I couldn’t fathom that they had changed it drastically. Finally, my wait was over I was guided into the office, the office was a very beautiful air conditioning room in front of me a woman was sitting, a very fair middle-aged woman my first impression was that she might be an American or English woman. She told me to sit and asked me some basic questions about myself and my past job experiences, after my replies she commented “I am very happy that Pakistani boys can speak English”. Her comment gave me a strong thought that she might not belong to Pakistan but I was wrong the woman was Rafia Khan Phoenics expert and trainer. Rafia Khan introduced me to another English giant Mr. Hasan Aamir, after my interview Ms. Rafia and Mr. Aamir told me that because of my English skills, I would be teaching senior classes although the government appointed me as a primary teacher. Mr. Hasan Aamir was the director of studies and worked with senior-grade teachers, my placement in senior grades means I would be working with him. On my very first day, Sir Hasan took me to the school library and asked me to read some books. It was a huge library so many books of English literature were there Shakespeare, Dumas, Dickens, and many more.
Meeting with Sir Hasan and working under him was a life-changing experience for me I had never seen somebody so responsive in pointing out the mistakes of English. I never forget how I used to pronounce the word ‘people’ as ‘peepal’ and 100 out of 100 times Sir Hasan used to rectify me. Initially, I was very dishurt my whole idea and imagination of being a good English speaker was destroyed, I started considering myself zero in English and hesitated in speaking English, especially in front of Sir Hasan, then I realized and talked to myself what am I doing? This is a learning process for me I should learn. I convinced myself and I entered into a new world of English learning. I took books from the library Heidi, Three Musketeers, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and many many more. I started discussing with Sir Hasan the stories, about Shakespeare, Dickens, religion, politics, and a variety of topics. Sir Hasan was a powerhouse of a vocabulary (a walking dictionary) the way he taught me the vocabulary and the way he used to give me definitions and details of different words and their etymologies, I could never thank him for his efforts in improving me. I remember quite clearly although I was a graduate when I started teaching at Smb Fatima Jinnah school I don’t know the meaning of the words like ‘abridged’ and ‘unabridged’. I came to know that the English I knew before was something different from the English I know now. All my readings and studies of novels made me interested in taking part in the Master in English course.
