Linguistics
Thinking Through Languages
Language, a forever-evolving conundrum that echoes through everyone who speaks it.
“Hindi? Sanskrit?? Who am I even going to speak to in Sanskrit? FRENCH! French! Yes, that’s it! Bonjour! Simple letters and sounds; yes, that’s my third language!”
A shared experience that most Indian students go through — choosing a ‘third language’. While it is a luxury and a symbol of the elite in the western world to speak more than one language, it is quite the opposite here. Almost everyone you meet would be well versed in a language other than their mother tongue. With a country that speaks more than 19,500 languages, meeting a bilingual is a stone’s throw away.
In the likely event of a bilingual reading this — you, yes YOU! It is highly possible that you have CDNA (culturally diverse nucleic acid). However, this strand does cause a lot of mutations. Amongst all the pesky mutations, here are some quirks only you may possess-
- Enrich communiTEA. Awaken your inner commentator and enlighten others by translating every verbal duel. Spread happiness and CDNA by helping others feel a part of the live-action sequence. Also allows you to practise switching between languages effortlessly. Parkour!
- Switch, smile, and speak. Switch to another language, smile, and give them a piece of your mind. This makes sure you can communicate effectively without negative consequences. A pro technique for anger management using your diverse choice of words.
- Buy-one-get-three-personalities. Channel this power to think in different languages to give the best comeback to that roast. Also, you get a voice changer as a bonus!
- Free popularity. Every now and then, translation mishaps like “if you do good to 4 people, nothing is wrong” happen. Instantly promotes your social identity into a walking-breathing meme. Convert all the setbacks into conversation starters and slay.
- SUB-DUB Anomaly. Subs are a total no-no because now eyes have only one work, and that’s to crit the subtitles and their author. Provide community service by writing sub as almost all subs trigger your CDNA.
- Encryption. Whether it be complimenting a rude waitress or sharing generational trauma, some languages just give the feeling like no other. Encrypt your private comments to a different script to mess with the auto correct and show AI who the boss is.
- Thrifting. Develop a rapport with vendors in their local languages; voila! Every day is a mega sale. Helps your pockets and brings clout. Now listening to every vendor has a cashback of 10%.
- Un-socialise like a pro. Use your knowledge and a pinch of acting to dodge any unwanted socialisation. At any rate, it is easier than playing mute or blind to avoid confrontation.
- Accomplished cinema critic. Use your prowess to provide valuable feedback on the various remakes and inspired stories in cinemas. The information may help to change billions of lives and end world hunger.
- Origin story. Use your lingual skills to cook up your original origin story. Make sure to involve at least two wars and famines to explain why you know how to say banana in Russian. 100% guaranteed rise in social status.
Last but not least, bring a change around you. Being a polyglot somewhat helps us see through the lines that divide the population. What if writing extra exams and remembering all those verb forms actually could bring a change to society?
Where it all began
Before we start with how unfair it is for a curriculum to force every student to become a polyglot, let me enlighten you with the actual power of the CDNA. Unlike other chromosomes, we are not born with this. It is an adaptation of various circumstances.
In ancient times, this ability gave us a sense of power. It made survival easy when travelling for trade or fleeing from hunger and famine. Learning other tongues has helped us evolve globally into multicultural communities. In recent times, we also see a rise in preferences towards a particular language over others.
India, having a language count of 121 recognized languages, has only 20 or so for legal procedures and documents. Many of us are educated in a language other than our mother tongue, such as this.
However, when we see the big picture, we realise the CDNA in this case, is backed up by the economic status of the holder. Let’s go where we began — choosing your second and third language. What about choosing your first language?
While government schools in every state provide education in the mother tongue, elite private schools use English as the medium of instruction. However, they make up only 30% of the population.
It is true that English is essential for communication between states, the Central Government, and foreign companies. Yet introducing it as a medium of instruction/first language at school hinders many children from understanding the subjects just because the language is foreign to them. A lot of us have experienced home tuitions alongside schooling, where concepts are again broken down in native languages with individual attention. Some schools also go to the extent of asking if the parents are English literate so that the child can cope.
When we give into the rat race
Let’s take the situation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Telugu-speaking states of the nation. They recently announced that the majority of the government schools would be in English medium as the enrolment in government schools has dropped. The states combined have a population larger than France, South Korea, and Turkey, and emphasise having their languages as the first language in their curriculum, unlike other states. All this, with the lack of English-speaking teachers.
On the one hand, there is a huge artificial demand for English, starting from the need to address local gatherings and meetings. On the other hand, we have a costly solution provided, which is English medium education.
At the grassroots level, language is not just a form of communication; education stems from it.
It manages to define the ideas we are exposed to. It determines the books one reads, the movies a person watches, and the TV shows one follows. It defines our bubble of exposure and culture. It shapes how we interpret the world and, in turn, our identities. This is one of the reasons why our cultural heritage is losing significance. Language is a shared identity that stores knowledge and words of shared experiences and resources. This knowledge can never be passed on without indigenous vocabulary. For e.g., local vegetables do have any alternatives in English; in fact, they were hardly recognized as colonisers considered anything Indian to be sub-par. The attitude of belittling our own culture and languages rings a bell now, doesn’t it?
A hope for change
Almost 70–80% of India is not English literate; that is about 840–960 million people oppressed in a free India because of the widespread use of one language for job opportunities, advertisements, and other marketing. Private sectors, on the other hand, have understood the reach of local languages. They have changed their marketing strategy by introducing translated webpages and allowing android user interfaces.
Yet as of today, this language has become a symbol of progression.
Should we, the conscious bearers of CDNA, let this favouritism take over us?
