The following post is my letter to the editor of The New Indian Express in response to an extremely offensive article by one Ms. Alexandra Delaney, an English lady, who confesses that, while in Kerala, she pretended to be a French national in order to be spared the torture of having to listen to “Kerala English”. Needless to say, my letter was not published. I admit i overreacted – but then, insults always provoke strong, emotional reaction.
Forgive me, my blogger friends, for imposing this trashed letter on you. You see, i spent half an hour writing this. Why waste the effort, i thought - - -
Unfortunately i couldn’t locate the Ms Delaney's letter on the net.
Forgive me, my blogger friends, for imposing this trashed letter on you. You see, i spent half an hour writing this. Why waste the effort, i thought - - -
Unfortunately i couldn’t locate the Ms Delaney's letter on the net.
PS A blog visitor located the link.
Dear Sir
I found Ms. Alexandra Delaney’s article titled English in Kerala or Kerala English? (TNIE, Sept 23) not only offensive, but factually incorrect and totally lacking in knowledge of the situation in which English is taught in the schools in the state.
Dear Sir
I found Ms. Alexandra Delaney’s article titled English in Kerala or Kerala English? (TNIE, Sept 23) not only offensive, but factually incorrect and totally lacking in knowledge of the situation in which English is taught in the schools in the state.
Let me begin by reminding Ms.Delaney that English is not our mother tongue. Our mother tongue is Malayalam. We have the necessary communicative skills in our mother tongue, and look upon English as a utility object. Yes, call it mercenary attitude if you like, but I feel no need to be apologetic about it. We do not feel obliged to speak the language the way it is spoken by the native speaker of English or to keep pace with the changing idiom of English as it is spoken in England. Why should we? The Keralites with their “Kerala English” which makes Ms. Delaney’s flesh crawl have made their presence felt indispensably in the English speaking world. We have been able to extract the benefits of the language to the hilt. That’s enough for us. We have our mother tongue to fall back on, and Kerala English to communicate with other non-Keralite friends. Let Ms. Melaney suffer no heartburn on account of our deficiency in handling spoken English.
Now to come to some points she has raised: the stress pattern. Contrary to what she has said, in no state in India do the speakers of English use the stress pattern of British English. All Indians distribute stress evenly over all the syllables in the word. Perhaps a handful of those who do use the British stress pattern have had their education in the premier schools in the country or outside India. In this context I would like to ask Ms. Delaney if the American English follows the British stress pattern.
I do not agree with her that the “rigid implementation of teaching material and the purely text book teaching” is responsible for the “poor speech” of those she has this grouse about. There are a lot of issues regarding the teaching of English at school level in Kerala about which she knows absolutely nothing. I don’t intend to go into the issue here. It’s too unwieldy. But the lady’s pronouncement on what is wrong with the teaching of English in Kerala afforded me a lot of merriment (hope this usage doesn’t make her want to "scream"). I do hope she will refrain from behaving as though she is the last word on the system of education in Kerala which is complex with both social and political implications.
I found the following statement totally unwarranted: what is surprising, however, is the confidence with which Keralites speak English, despite being considered as confused and incorrect to outsiders. Well, that was a really nasty statement to make. It amazes her that with grammatically incorrect English and entirely unsuitable vocabulary, we Malayalees are able to communicate with each other in English. What on earth is her problem? That her mother tongue is being distorted? Well, let me assure her that we have not signed contract with the British to maintain the purity of the English language and keep it free from the influence of our language. We do not think being able to speak English like the native speaker of English is the ultimate achievement in life. The language has its uses as the medium of communication for official purposes and career advancement, and for communication with the outside world. That’s it. We have enough knowledge of English to do well in our life and careers anywhere in the world.
If the lady doesn’t like being asked her "good name", and from "which place" she comes from and “how she likes Kerala food”, I think she had better think of packing up her bags. We don’t intend to change our way of speaking English to please Ms. Alexandra Delaney.
Kochuthresiamma P J
Thiruvananthapuram
Here's the original article.
Ha Ha Ha !!!
ReplyDeleteI loved this letter...I am a Keralite whose English pronunciation has reached no where near the sophisticated English. And I don't have the hope of losing the Kerala accent in the next ten years.
But let me confess something. I do get irritated when highly educated and so called sophisticated people misspell common English words and talk grammatically incorrect English...
Didn't get to read Ms. Alexandra Delaney's letter. But from your post, I understand that this lady has presumed too much from too little and formed some rather obnoxious ideas of Malayalees speaking English that is totally unacceptable. Ask her to speak our language as much as we can speak hers, and we can perhaps give in, whatsay?!
ReplyDeleteMa'am, I suspect this lady's identity; it could very well be one among us, an Anglophile malayalee.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, i feel that your ire is wasted; because it is so obvious that no one with an iota of sense would comment as this alleged Delaney has. If she speaks Queen's English, she should listen to the atrocious accents of her own countrymen, the London Cockney or the Scotch or that funny Aussie accent.
On reflection, I think the Malayalee has to be blamed for this. The Alpha and Omega of the aspirations of the average urban Malayalee is to be as English/American as possible. If Delaney blames our education system, isn't there some truth in it? Can you show me one other country in the world which has Kindergartens that insists on speaking in an alien tongue, schools that forbids, at the threat of corporal punishment, interaction among students in their native tongue? In many civilized nations it is compulsory to teach at primary level in the mother tongue of the children.
Have you really observed how groveling, how morbidly servile the Malayalee is to the White? Even if they are drug addicted white trash? How they try to show off their smattering of English, how they persistently irritate even the most polite tourist?
One young urban Malayalee who can complete one full sentence in Malayalam without mistakes is a rare thing. I have seen educated youngsters struggling to write even a simple request at the Bank. Have you watched the horrible Reality shows and the pirouetting,nauseating anchors and starlets who talk in a mixture of two languages and act as if it is soooo difficult to express in their mother tongue? And their atrocious imitation of American accents?
Do you really know the standard of English of a graduate or professionally qualified fresher? I know, and I am ashamed. ( Forgive me, I know you are an English teacher; but I believe your familiarity could end there, with the handful of your students who are proficient in English. Please forgive me if I sound rude)
We are ashamed of our culture, our language. We have a complex about it. Probably that's what Ms.Delaney sensed.
Perhaps we should really take a second look at the way languages are taught here; not only languages but sciences too. The syllabus for many are so outdated or its design has some ulterior motives.
it is natural that our hackles rise when an outsider criticizes us. Let us bash her; but let us be introspective and critical amongst ourselves. Nothing like a dose of bitter medicine...
And then who is speaking the right English? They cant mutually understand English from different parts,where they speak it, and is their mother tongue.At least,there are people could communicate with her!
ReplyDeleteI have traveled to different parts of Europe.Germans never speak a word of any other language,even if they know. If you ask them in English,they will make it a point to answer in German !! And so are others in different parts.What would this lady do when she travels to elsewhere?
@ all
ReplyDeletei have pasted the link of the original article in my post.
@ soorya
a million thanks for taking the trouble to find the article.
@ elizabeth
once upon a time i too used to get irritated. But once i started teaching in a college in kerala, i found myself getting more upset than irritated. most students came from malayalam medium schools. what was upsetting was the terror they had for the eng language. i tried to release them from that fear but cant say i succeeded. the fear had entered their souls!
@ rgb
if she had given her email id, i'd have asked her about her competence in malayaslam. u see, i get very angry and react childishly when we r taken to task for a language.
@ balachandran
you cant be more right, sir. we malayalees take pride in NOT knowing malayalam. where colonial hangover is concerned, we are the worst victims.
'Perhaps we should really take a second look at the way languages are taught here; not only languages but sciences too. The syllabus for many are so outdated or its design has some ulterior motives"
despite this, malayalees are among the most wanted category in the industry globally. how do we explain this? our edcnl system cannot be all that bad:-)
@ dr antony
yes, for the life of me, i cant nderstand why we malayalees go giddy over the english language. why dont we understand that after all it is only a language!
Ms.delaney appears to be an incurable imperialist!
Soorya has left a new comment on your post "A letter to the Editor - ignored by The New Indian...":
ReplyDeleteFound the link, here it is :-)
http://expressbuzz.com/biography/english-in-kerala-or-kerala-english/209179.html
good points. enjoyed it much. yup, we have not signed any contracts:-)
ReplyDeleteGood letter ma'am.. and i dont think i need say more.. enoughs been said by all!
ReplyDeleteI concur with Balachandran. The language of 'Ms.Delaney's' letter is so stuffy that the editorial board of The Hindu would swoon en masse at the erudition of the fresh-off-the-boat Britisher in Kozhikode.
ReplyDeleteSomebody is playing games with the readers, just to elicit strong reactions and 'buzz', I think.
I find it too improbable for an English lady who travels the world to dish out such a trash letter to our National newspaper. Wonder why she was so distressed to hear mallu English. And even more surprising that she had to 'act' like a French, whom the English can't stand at all. And what does she expect people to do? Speak mallu French when she speaks French? Malayalees will speak their English either way! Nonsense stuff. She doesn't appear intellighent at all, or thinks too high of herself. Perhaps she must just stay within the UK.
ReplyDeleteStrong letter. I went to the link and read her letter too. It seems she too is an English teacher like you. I was comparing the two letters. I found the difference in the way you use the language the real answer to her letter.
ReplyDeleteI would have added one more point. Within Great Briton, how is English spoken in Scotland, for instance? Don't they have different dialects? Does everyone in GK speak Queen's English? Her letter is in very bad taste. TNIE should not have published it.
Frankly, my spoken English is not good, especially when I have to make small talk. It is not schooling alone that is the problem. We don't get to speak much English because we have our mother tongue when we are among our people. My architect daughter too had this problem. But, after being in UK for a couple of years, she can now speak the language with British accent. I know she writes the language even better than similarly educated people there. Back in Kerala she has reverted to our style of speaking the language, because it would really sound odd for a Malayalee to speak with a British accent. Accent is part of the culture of a place. Even the body language when we communicate is part of a culture with a definite identity, isn't it?
2nd last para from the original article "They are able communicate using this medium in their own contexts and I have witnessed students using grammatically incorrect English with ...". Is this correct? looks like it is missing something. what say teacher?
ReplyDeleteshy
Loved this letter of yours... nd wonder why it never got published..
ReplyDeleteYes.. ask that lady to learn Malayalam she would rather die I am sure :)
nd would she dare say anything to the French if they ever agree to speak in English?
At times I have admired the way some Malayalees fearlessly speak English.. even if it doenst come out as English. nd when I came to the Gulf and tried to learn Arabic, I realized that learning a new language is not an easy task and if one is able to communicate then it is more than enough.
and some Malayalees have become so scared of English that they refuse to speak Malayalam even at home just so that their children would speak proper English..
Wikipedia has devoted a section to Indian English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_English
This person's insularity is matched by her lack of taste, and perhaps her lack of knowledge too. One feels sorry for her students.
ReplyDeleteShe deserves to be ignored.
I ask her, 'why do you come to the office dressed this way? Have n't I told you not to?'
ReplyDelete'And I have told you that this is how we dress for office in my country'
'You are in India and Kerala. What if I were to attend office in your country dressed like AB Vajpayee or so with my behinds exposed? And, are you trying to tempt me or what, you crazy woman?'
'You would n't dare do so because it is very cold out there sometimes. And as for adjusting with your place, you just now called me crazy. Do you know how rude a thing it is to do so, in my country?'
'Oh, I am sorry; but acting crazy is what you are doing dressed this way; I must tell you. You don't know about our pervert males. And what would my wife and relatives think if they find you here like this?'
'Look, I have half a mind to take off my TShirt now, just to spite you. You are a harmless oldie; so I won't do so. But I would like to say that you are as much a perv as your other countrymen to get horny about a bit of exposure to survive in this humidity. Grow up, Sir'.
I am too agitated to reply befittingly. I get up and leave the room.
[Conversation took place at Kochi last month.]
I agree quite with Balachandran.
ReplyDeleteWe Malayalees are responsible for these comments.Children are taught to say Mummy and Daddy . The false pride of the average Malayalee has to be blamed.Speaking in English is considered a status symbol.Then better do it well , grammatically and verbally.
" korachu korachu malayalllam paraum", isnt it true?
As for the Queens English, my foot.
Nevertheless look from another perspective. Dont we come across virtual rape of Malayalam spoken and written? The late Professor Krishnan Nair was perhaps the ideal person to comment, And he used to, quite derisively and sharply .
If one travel to the UK one will notice the English spoken in the very city of London by the Whites are sometimes dreadful and comical.The stress and accent is pathetic. It is no English but would sound like the chuckling of the Bush men.
Well-said KT! I was also outraged seeing the article and surprised that they actually published it.
ReplyDeleteNo one can deny the fact that languages are primarily meant for communication. But then, one must also note that there is a way to use them. I agree that it is hard to draw a line separating "good english" and "bad english". It is too complicated to decide. While local forms or variations of the language are acceptable locally, it may not be the case in the outside world. I am not saying every one of should use Queen's English but we should strive to learn step-by-step. The only reason to change our English pronunciation or usage is to be better understood and accepted. At this juncture, sticking on to "my English" is perhaps not very appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI mean no offense to people from Kerala, but sometimes it becomes hard to understand certain English words because they are pronounced differently. Many times, I have had to ask the spelling of certain of the words my Malayali colleagues use, just because I am not used to it being pronounced that way. Owing to all these problems, one of my colleagues has worked hard to remove the influence of Malayalam on his English pronunciation. He has done very well and people have no problem understanding him now. I envy him because I haven't been able to get rid of the influence of my mother tongue on my pronunciation yet.
To sum it up, one should be know both the local form and the universally acceptable form of the language in order to survive in this dog eat dog world. And also, my personal opinion is that when one learns a foreign language,one should respect it as much as one respects one's mother tongue. Everyone makes mistakes but learning is a continuous process. :)
No one can deny the fact that languages are primarily meant for communication. But then, one must also note that there is a way to use them. I agree that it is hard to draw a line separating "good english" and "bad english". It is too complicated to decide. While local forms or variations of the language are acceptable locally, it may not be the case in the outside world. I am not saying every one of should use Queen's English but we should strive to learn step-by-step. The only reason to change our English pronunciation or usage is to be better understood and accepted. At this juncture, sticking on to "my English" is perhaps not very appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI mean no offense to people from Kerala, but sometimes it becomes hard to understand certain English words because they are pronounced differently. Many times, I have had to ask the spelling of certain of the words my Malayali colleagues use, just because I am not used to it being pronounced that way. Owing to all these problems, one of my colleagues has worked hard to remove the influence of Malayalam on his English pronunciation. He has done very well and people have no problem understanding him now. I envy him because I haven't been able to get rid of the influence of my mother tongue on my pronunciation yet.
To sum it up, one should be know both the local form and the universally acceptable form of the language in order to survive in this dog eat dog world. And also, my personal opinion is that when one learns a foreign language,one should respect it as much as one respects one's mother tongue. Everyone makes mistakes but learning is a continuous process. :)
No wonder why this letter was never published in the paper. till now it was just big dam religions that were divided by people. Now you have started to divide languages too.
ReplyDeleteTo Miss.Kochuthresiamma we are indians.. we too have Hindi as a major language in our country that should be known to all. Do you know that ?? International Language is -English, Followed by Hindi which represents India and after that only come Malayalam or any other state languages falls. Though world has rated malayalam to be a very tough language to speak -but i would say no wonder its rated tough coz people like you are so selfish that you want others to speak Malayalam correctly and with perfect accent or else you can make fun of them to so extend and record their way of speaking and publish on various sites. And when others say to speak their language correctly you just make a stike by these letters etc. See dnt make fun of the languages...each place have their accent,language and culture. And whenevr people travel around they take all these with them. When others be with us we need to adjust or learn to adjust to make them comfortable. And all we require is respect !!