‘Lotus Blog’

Here’s a great excerpt from an article by Paul Danahar in the March 8 issue of Outlook.

” In a sign that it may one day open up to the western world, North Korea has gradually shifted a lot of its language training away from Chinese and Russian towards English. I asked one student what he hoped to do with his language skills. ” I hope to achieve speaking English so that I can go abroad and do some business, because I want to be a businessman”, he told me. Another said he was going to be a diplomat. They seemed at the moment anyway, quite willing to engage with the outside world.”

Is there any country in the world where speaking good English is not a must? Is there any country in the world where Good English is the passport to success? Even China - and today lots of American students are being taught Mandarin - has made English a top priority, and focussed lots of resources to achieving this goal.

Good English has provided India the cutting edge in the BPO and offshoring markets so far. But if we dont watch out, we will be overtaken by other countries.

‘Oops I did it again’ seems to be the theme song for Junior Minister Shashi Tharoor, who is now being pilloried for referring to the Saudis as interlocutors in the context of Kashmir. He has been accused of selling the country down the river, and abandoning the age old premise that India does not need any outside parties intervening, or mediating on the Kashmir issue.

Once more, Tharoor is left bleating to anyone who will listen, that they have misunderstood him. So, what’s the truth? What does the word interlocutor mean?

I consulted two good dictionaries and here’s what they said:

” Interlocutor : a person who takes part in a conversation or dialogue”

” Interlocutor : a person who takes part in a conversation”.

So, the Saudi role envisaged by Tharoor was mere participants in a conversation, not as mediators or something else.

So, how to solve this problem ? Could Tharoor hand out texts of his speeches , with the dictionary meaning of complex words included in parentheses so that his meaning is clear?

Or could he not use what my American friends call three dollar words, and instead use simpler language. Couldnt he say that Saudi Arabia are good people to talk to, because they have a friendly relationship with Pakistan?

Alternatively he could do all his speeches in Malayalam, without any fear of being misunderstood! After all, you first have to be understood, before any mis- can creep in.

I read this bizarre news item in the Bombay papers recently. The HSC exams are underway, and on the date of the English paper, the Board had put into place many more flying squads to visit exam halls. Why? Because English is the paper that students have the most difficulty, and hence there is the maximum cheating that takes place.

What a terrible shame! Why should so many students have this much difficulty with the English paper? It means that the system has failed them. If English were taught from early on, and taught well, it would be a scoring subject, not one to be feared.

Everywhere we can see signs that the educational system is not geared to teaching English in the right way. This at a time, when we see signs that command over English is essential for success in the 21st century.

We have the answer, and we must take it to the powers that be. Linguaphone with Eyespeak will help make such flying squads of invigilators a thing of the past.

 I was talking to a senior banker the other day. He had just come back from conducting job interviews at one of the IIMs. As you know, these candidates are highly sought after, and usually none of them has any problem in getting placed.

Maharashtra will start 82 English medium schools in tribal districts.

In an ambitious plan to bring tribal children into the mainstream, the state government will start dedicated English medium schools in 16 tribal districts in the state from the next academic year.

The Tribal Development Minster Babanrao Pachpute said the government expects about a lakh students to benefit from the project.

The Centre has given a grant of Rs 36 crores for such schools.

It is wonderful that the State Government has taken this initiative. Proof that command over the English language is recognized as essential even in the most backward and rural areas of India.

The need to improve students’ English is felt in every part of the country. Linguaphone Children’s English would be a very valuable resource for the Primary School Curriculum, and  a Linguaphone 21 with Eyespeak Lab would give the students global quality Spoken English.

Bravo Maharashtra. 

Here is a very interesting news story that appeared in the Mumbai Times on February 4^th.  Its based on the interschool cricket tournaments – the Giles and Harris Shields – that are part of the folklore of anyone who has studied or grown up in Bombay.

The interschool circuit, once dominated by schools like Shardashram, Balmohan, Sule Guruji, all from the Dadar-Shivaji part area has now moved beyond.

While Shardashram’s marathi medium wing didn’t even play in the elite league this year, their English medium was knocked out in the first round. Sadanand Gavli, the administrative manager of Shardashram, says that the era of marathi schools’ dominance may well be behind us, as the schools are not getting enough students. “ Increasingly parents are opting for English medium schools for their children. There are a few lower income group students who opt for marathi medium education, but the school has to invest heavily in providing them with facilities and kits”.

If Henry Higgins came to 21^st century India, he would be amazed to see the number of people who “speak” English, and also fascinated at how “interestingly” it is spoken.

It is now one of the great clichés in India that for job seekers to ensure success, it is essential to speak good English. Better English leads to better jobs. There’s no argument about that.

Take a walk down any street in most of the cities and towns of India, and many villages too, and you will see signs advertising Spoken English classes. It is probably one of India’s fastest growing businesses – both as a cottage industry and in the organized sector. And yet, talk to employers and they will tell you of the number of good candidates they have had to turn down, just because they couldn’t speak even passable English.

The need to revolutionize Spoken English in India derives from an economic imperative. It is part of our competitive advantage. China aims to emerge as the largest English speaking nation in the world. Their Crazy English program combines acquiring mastery over the language, along with strong doses of motivation and inspiration. It is a quintessentially Chinese solution. And it is only one of the array of initiatives they have thrown at the problem.   

We have learned some lessons, and gained some insights from our experience over the last 12 years in the area of Spoken English. Some of these may be useful in working out a game plan to raise the prevalence and quality of the English that we speak.

There are 5 main challenges that people face when it comes to speaking a new language:

Vocabulary – do they have a storehouse of words

Expression – do they know how to use those words to communicate

Grammar – do they use the words correctly

Pronunciation – do they say the words properly

Translation – do they think in the mother tongue and then translate.

One of our colleagues created an acronym – Veg Patties, which is the only mnemonic I have ever heard that also tickles the taste buds.

In India, unlike many parts of Asia, English is part of our environment. There is a thriving English press, advertising, news media, brand names, shop signs. This is unlike some of our Asian neighbors where English drops off the moment you leave the capital city.

English has also been part of the school curriculum in fits and starts across all the states, and students have been taught how to read and write the language. Both environment and education have created a base vocabulary among most Indians, which is why so many of us report that we ‘speak’ English in various surveys. The key question is – how well do we actually speak English? Are we able to speak it well enough?

We conducted a TECS study (Test of English Communications skills) survey in some of the top schools in Mumbai to assess the Spoken English levels with students and teachers. There was a Written component comprising 30 questions, and an Oral component comprising 10 short exercises. In order to maintain confidentiality we have not mentioned the names of the institutions, but they are among the well known names in the city.

                                    TECS scores in Mumbai – March 2009

Oral              Sch A %      Sch B %         Sch B %         Mgmt Coll%

                                                                 Teachers

Overall                    38               35                    29                  50

Pronunciation      31               28                   21                  48

Pitch                      75               66                   75                    79

Timing                   66               60                   57                    34

Loudness              69               68                   69                    73

Written

30 questions         49               33                    55                   61

No. of Students/

Teachers tested   910              291                   30               161

The scores are low for the school students including teachers, and even the collegians don’t do too much better. Interestingly, the lowest oral score for everyone is in pronunciation. If we can improve pronunciation, we can revolutionize the quality of English that is spoken.  

We do have some English in our heads, but how come it does not trip lightly off our tongues? Even when it does, the accent is so strongly influenced by the Mother Tongue that it may not be easily understood.  If we bridge this gap, we could make English India’s largest spoken language. The answer lies in looking at how we are taught English.

But let’s go back even further. How did we learn our Mother Tongue? Did we ever go to classes, or learn it formally? No, we learned it at home, listening to our family members speaking it. We built up our vocabulary, began to learn pronunciation, intonation, and usage long before we started to speak.

On the other hand, we have learned English as a subject in the classroom, rather than as a language. We call it the Other Tongue method.

Mother Tongue Method                           Other Tongue Method

(Learning a Language)                             (Learning a Subject)

Listen                                                              ABCs and reading

Understand                                                    Writing

Speak                                                             Grammar

                                                                        Speaking

Our teachers have largely been competent at teaching reading, writing and grammar in English, much of it by rote. Speaking is another question altogether. In most cases, the teachers themselves don’t speak the language too well. This is also true for a lot of foreign language education in India. Our school or college French is excellent in everything except asking for directions in Paris. Of course, this does not include the excellent efforts by the Alliance Francaise, or Max Mueller Bhavan.

To transform the way English is spoken in India, we will need to invert the process by which English is taught – take it from the Other Tongue method into the Mother Tongue method. The first step is giving our learners lots of listening.

What kind of listening? Do we just ask them to tune on to BBC radio, or watch CNN, BBC, Times Now, NDTV or CNN/IBN? Will that be adequate? Or do we get them to listen to recordings of plays – Partap Sharma has done an excellent recording of Julius Caesar- or the famous speeches of Nehru, Churchill, Kennedy, and now Obama. If only life were so easy.

We need a structured Spoken English curriculum that is totally different from the typical curriculum taught for reading and writing. What should the curriculum contain? There must be a clearly identified target vocabulary to be acquired, and the vocabulary must be graded and introduced in a logical progression. It should be a strongly functional vocabulary, and meant to build confidence in speaking English in personal life, social life and work life. It should be a spiral curriculum using repetition and reinforcement to imprint the vocabulary in the learner’s mind. Most important, it should be activity based, with the learner as a dynamic participant in the process – using the communicative method. The activities should be drawn from the personal life, social life and work life of the target learners.

The best way to acquire this vocabulary is by listening to it. Listen. Repeat. Practice. Evaluate. Improve. And own the language. It is ideal to listen to native speakers - people who have grown up with English as their Mother Tongue. Why? Do we want our learners to speak English like Brits, or Yanks, or Wogs? No, absolutely not. But we do want to neutralize the mother tongue influence on their accent, so they can speak in a manner that is understood all over India and all over the world. That’s part of being a Global Player. We also want them attuned to understanding English as she is spoken by people from other countries too.

How about grammar? It is best learned the way we learned our Mother Tongue - by learning it in context. No rules. No drills. Just listen to good language being spoken, and absorb it. Then, be told what the rules are. Your reaction will be – Aha, I know that, that’s how I speak.

It is important to stop thinking in the Mother Tongue, and translating into English? How to think and speak in English? Immerse the learner in the new language, using the direct method. No learning English through the mother tongue. Learn English through English – a technique that is particularly suited to India, where so many of us have a hidden vocabulary in our heads.

Why is it important to have a structured curriculum, which has been designed by experts in learning how to speak English? This may be a very obvious question, but many institutions leave the curriculum building to the teachers, who neither have the training nor the time to do a thorough job. The same institutions would not think of leaving it to the teachers to develop curricula for the sciences, or maths, or even English as a subject. But somehow Spoken English is thought of as an adjunct to English reading, writing and grammar.

It’s essential to have a good curriculum and ensure a standard quality of teaching. If the teachers feel burdened or excessively challenged by tasks, they will not be motivated, and the program will fail. If they feel that Spoken English can be easily taught, they will be enthusiastic, since one of the spin-offs is that their own English will also improve.

What are some of the hallmarks of an effective Curriculum? It should be based on a well recognized and researched syllabus of the kind developed by the Council of Europe. It should provide a strong working vocabulary – say about 2500 words. It should be interactive full of activities that the learner can do. It should ideally be based on principles of Self Study, and not place an extra burden on the teachers – an important consideration for them and their administrators. 

Finally, who is going to evaluate the learners’ pronunciation and speech? With the exception of a small number of teachers, the rest don’t speak English well themselves. To ask them to evaluate and correct their students is to perpetuate the problem.

Any Spoken English initiative that is dependent on live teaching is not scaleable because there are simply not enough good teachers to do the job. Usually the answer in such a situation is to find a technology solution. Language Labs have existed for years – why can’t they be pressed into action?

The typical hardware driven Language Lab tends to fail, because it requires a teacher to do the “teaching’, listen in to the students, correct them in a live mode, grade them and keep track of their progress. All very nice if the teachers could speak Good English. In fact, if our teachers spoke English well, our students would not have an English problem.

The hardware driven Labs, with the seductive veneer of technology – audio work stations, central consoles, ability to monitor and interact with the learners’ conversations - tend to dismiss the curriculum as mere software. Some audio and worksheet material is provided but the main teaching and intervention is left to the teacher. When there is a good teacher, the Labs succeed. When the teacher leaves, and this happens often, the Lab lies in disuse.

A robust solution that is a curriculum based Speech Recognition software program that is able to do everything that the teacher should – provide model speech examples, evaluate the learner’s speech, quantify the results, give suggestions for how to improve, engage in role plays, and maintain a record of the progress. The teachers’ role is to coordinate, and trouble shoot, but the electronic teacher should do all the heavy lifting.  

This kind of Language Lab can be overlaid on the Computer Lab, if there is spare capacity. Otherwise it will need investment in more computers.

Today, the debate is no longer about do we need command over English. The question is how to acquire it. For policy makers and educators, the main challenge will be to integrate Spoken English into the English/Communications skills timetable, rather than have it be taught as an “extra” or “optional” subject.

If you give the students a choice, there is nothing they love more than “Choice mein chod do”. If it is in the timetable, and there are marks assigned to English speaking proficiency, this is the best way to catch the attention of teachers and students, and make them focus their efforts. Spoken English communications skills should be treated on par with the other core skills being taught in the education system. The new Model Schools have been given a mission to impart the highest quality of Maths, Science and English education, and most states plan to have English as the medium of instruction. There is a great deal of policy support, both at the national and state levels.

In the choice of the right curriculum, there is often an ‘Indian’ versus ‘Foreign’ debate. Do we use Indian or International voices. If you want Global English, it is always best to learn from Global voices, and from Native speakers.

Should the course be set in India, or abroad? We call it the “Begumpet” versus “ Birmingham” debate that we used to have with APSCHE ( AP State Council for Higher Education) who were one of the pioneers in building a Diploma Course that included Spoken English . Eventually the students settled the matter for us. They said that it made the course far more interesting if it was set outside India. “We get to learn more about other countries’ culture and customs. We already know about India, we live in Begumpet, so it is more exciting for us to learn about places , people and situations that we don’t know”.

It is absolutely possible to create a vast pool of English speaking Indians, who can satisfy the needs of the service sector. There are no barriers towards acceptance of this idea. Our young people want to get command over the language, since they know that it is key to their success in getting good jobs. There is consensus both on the policy and political level.

The key issues are to select a curriculum that is specially meant to teach Spoken English, and to select a delivery platform that can teach/evaluate/guide learners, without relying on teachers. Embed Spoken English into the timetable, and the examination subjects at the school and college level.

In the long run, it will be necessary to deal with the challenge at its roots. Make Spoken English part of the curriculum from the KG onwards. Let our children grow up proficient in at least two languages – their Mother Tongue, and English.

Good English has emerged as one of the key factors in making job seekers more employable. As we say “Your marks will get you the interview. Your English will get you the job”. Master English, and master your world.

The Outlook magazine Feb 1 issue focuses on India at 60. I was delighted to see some powerful references to English, that I am quoting below:

From Nandan Nilekani

His article spoke about how there are various ways in which our national

identity is defined - linguistic, religious etc.

” English acts as a glue because it is a neutral language. English was a

compromise to ensure everybody had an equal footing. Later, it became a

language of aspiration and opportunity because of globalisation and IT.

We even have English groups among Dalits, for example, people like

Chandra Bhan Prasad say English is the language of empowerment for

Dalits”.

From Mrinal Pande

Today it is undeniable that English has come to signify social status and

good education in India. And, with TV and mobile phones guaranteeing

connectivity to villages in the remotes areas, the English language has 

begun to wash even in the rural backwaters. Anecdotal evidence also

suggest that knowledge of English helps not just in getting better jobs but

also substantially improves one’s chances in the matrimonial market.

Maids, drivers, guides and even beggars earn better if they can speak

English. The Samajwadi leadership that supported Hindi has been

trounced in UP and the Dalits in power are singing paeans to the “English

Devi”, whose birthday was celebrated with Lord Macaulay’s, with Dalit

thinker Chandra Bhan Prasad cutting a cake! Mayawati has recently

declared that English will be taught in all state run schools in UP.

All states face a severe shortage of teachers armed with necessary skills

for teaching the Queen’s English. But in the age of revolutionary inventions

in communication technology, if there is a will, it can be tackled.

?

There was a wonderful brouhaha some time ago about Shashi Tharoor’s tweet regarding cattle class. Much debate about whether Indians have a sense of humor, and are we capable of enjoying a joke at our expense.

Of course, Indians have a sense of humor. Its just that we dont have it in English. For many Indians, the intricacies of idiom, usage, deft twists of words, puns and other verbal sleight of hand are like Greek and Latin, when the language is English.

I thought that Shashi had done a smart play with words ‘ cattle class’ and ’sacred cows’. I’m sure he was quite pleased with the tweet as he hit the send button. I also thought one of his critics worked an equally deft if somewhat obvious play on ‘twits who tweet’.

It took the PM to ride to his rescue and dismiss all the controversy as the use of slang, and harmless fun.

You’d think Indian politicians would have slightly more important things to be concerned about. But, that’s the subject of another post.

There was a news item in Bombay recently that cops were not taking up plum assignments with the CBI because they did not have command over English.

A perfect example of a great opportunity that cannot be used, because of lack of English.

It is becoming more and more obvious that acquiring good English is a gateway, and a passport to new opportunity and to growth in careers.

All police cadets go through an intensive training program for about a year, before they go out on active duty. Wouldn’t it be great if the government were to make English language labs a compulsory part of the course - just 30 minutes a day for each cadet using a self study program would give them one more boost to their confidence.

During the entire fuss over Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah, there was one very interesting footnote.

A magazine reported that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was very fond of Jaswant Singh. He was very impressed with his command over the English language, and loved to listen to his baritone, as he held forth on some subject or another.

High praise indeed from Atalji, who is perhaps India’s only poet PM, and whose oratory in Hindi is unparalleled.

Better English opens many doors indeed.

We conduct TECS studies in educational institutions to assess the English Communications Skills of students and teachers. Here are some findings of a recent study done in two schools and one management college in Bombay. The TECS study comprises both a written and an oral component.

                                    TECS scores in Mumbai – March 2009

Oral              School A %   School B %   School B %      Mgmnt Coll.

                                                                     Teachers

Overall                    38                 35                    29                50

Pronunciation      31               28                   21                  48

Pitch                      75               66                   75                    79

Timing                   66               60                   57                    34

Loudness              69               68                   69                    73

Written

30 questions         49               33                    55                   61

No. of Students/

Teachers tested   910              291                   30                 161

The scores are low for the school students including teachers, and even the collegians don’t do too much better. Interestingly, the lowest oral score for everyone is in pronunciation. If we can improve pronunciation, we can revolutionize the quality of English that is spoken.  

The government is setting up over 2000 Model Schools all over the country. These schools will set the new standards and bench marks that all schools will aspire to.

The Education Minister’s brief is that the schools should provide a high standard of education in Maths, Science, and English. The states have been allowed to select the medium of instruction, and most have chosen English.

An initiative like this means that in the future, all schools will have excellence in English as one of their key goals, and this will be the standard against which they will be evaluated.

We’ve been saying that this is needed for the last ten years, and it is wonderful that it is now being reflected in the policy statements of the government.

What happens when people learn to speak English confidently? Their entire personality begins to reflect the confidence.

We were set a challenge by the Head of Police Training for Maharashtra State. ‘ Take 6 of my cadets at the Police Academy in Marol and train them for a week. Let me see how they improve’.

He personally came to Marol, picked 6 cadets from the hardcore rural heartland of the State, and we got to spend an hour with them each day using Linguaphone.

A week later, the cadets travelled all the way to the heart of Bombay, to the State Police HQ opposite Regal Cinema. Something had changed in the way they carried themselves.

The boss man came out of his room, and the cadets all whipped off crisp salutes. He asked them very simple questions in English and they answered with alacrity and enthusiasm. He was delighted and complimented them. You should have seen the smile on his face, when in unison they all said ‘Have a nice day, sir’.

Linguaphone had given them the one thing they lacked. Confidence.

There was a wonderful story in the Times of India on Sunday August 23. Maulvis who are undergoing their religious training are also being offered a course to improve their English, so that they can be better communicators.

Many of them are eagerly taking to the course, and over time, about 300 maulvis have been trained.

One of them, who for good reason wishes to remain anonymous, spoke of an unexpected bonus. He said that because they were now fluent in English, they noticed a definite rise in the “quality” of marriage proposals coming their way.

We’ve always said that Better English leads to better jobs. Now we can add brides to the list of benefits that accrue when your English improves.

There is hardly an ad ( in the classified sections) that does not mention fluency in English.

Virtually all computer based work needs English skills. English is also the language of the Net, of exposure, of awareness, of opportunity.

At the policy level, the issue should be addressed at the school level rather than the college level, though pre-employment courses in Egnlish, if tailored well would of course help too.

At the implementation level, teacher training is key. In many government schools, English teachers need two pronged training - in English proficiency as well as in English teaching methodology.

A. Paranandi, curriculum coordinator, teacher and research scholar, English and Foreign Languages University, EFLU, Hyderabad

Letter in Hindustan Times, August 13, 2009

How to immerse oneself in English?

By putting yourself in the path of English. By being in a situation where most of the language you hear is English, and where you have as many opportunities  as possible to speak English.

This is what they do to diplomats who have to learn a language quickly before they are posted there. The bureaucrats are usually sent off to an immersion course, where they only hear and speak the language they want to master. In four to six weeks, they become fluent.

If you are not a diplomat, and no one else is willing to pick up the tab for such a course, here are some suggestions to rapidly improve the quality of your English.

Watch BBC and CNN, and NDTV.

Read an English newspaper every day.

Talk to everyone you meet in English, even if you have problems initially. Your family, your friends, your colleagues, your housekeeper, the shopwallahs - dont leave a single stone unturned. Practice, practice, practice and before you know it, you will be perfect.

Simple low cost ideas, but very effective.

We are not turning this into a cooking blog. This is a nice acronym that one of our team members came up with a long time ago.

People face 5 main challenges when learning to speak a new language.

Vocabulary : Not have enough words.

Expression : Not know how to use the words

Grammar : Not know how to use the language correctly.

Pronunciation : Not know how to say the words correctly

Translation : Think in the mother tongue and translate into English.

VEGPT. Veg Patties.

In India, we find that people tend to have the vocabulary, and they tend to have the grammar. What they mostly lack is the expression, pronunciation, and the ability to think and speak in English.

Linguaphone is very effective in dealing with VEGPT.

It uses the natural method of learning a new language : Listen-Understand-Speak. It also uses the Communicative method - teaching not through rules, but activities. It uses Guided Total Immersion to help the learner think and speak in English.

Once you use Linguaphone, you can enjoy Veg Patties with sauce and chutney, without having to worry about VEGPT.

No, this is not an admonition to measure your words.

Most people who learn a new language usually think in their mother tongue, and then translate into the new language. This causes all kinds of problems because they tend to apply the rules of grammar from their mother tongue to the new language. And, create a mish mash as a result.

How to overcome this issue? Use the immersion method. What language experts call the Direct Method. Learn the new language without any intervention from the Mother Tongue. Learn it directly.

When you do this, you are also learning to think in the new language. Linguaphone 21 has been created for India as a mono lingual program, because there is a wide awareness of English vocabulary. So, people are able to understand and learn from an English-English program, and do not need to learn English through Hindi or Marathi.

When you start thinking in English and speaking in English, you are taking the first steps towards mastering it like your Mother Tongue.

If you want to learn to speak Tamil, would you rather learn from Mrs Ramanujam of Chennai, or Mrs Agarwal of Delhi? And vice versa, who would you rather learn Hindi from?

When you learn a new language from a Native speaker, you get to hear and speak the language like your Mother Tongue. You learn all the nuances of pronunciation, the correct usage, emphasis, all the tunes of the language, in the most natural way possible.

The ear is a great learning instrument, and if you listen enough, and speak enough, your own earn will train you to correct yourself.

That’s why Linguaphone always uses Native speakers in every language in which it has courses. It also sets the course in the native country, so you get to absorb a little bit of the culture and social mores as well.

Are you meant to mimic the Native Speaker. No. But you will speak a lot better English, or French, or Dutch than you would if you learnt from someone who did not have the language as his or her mother tongue.

What, not a single person loves grammar? No one wants to stand up and confess to their undying love of this subject? How come?

The answer is very simple. Most of us were taught grammar as a set of rules at school. We memorized the rules and their applications, but when it came to actually applying them, many of us seem incapable of doing so. People who speak impeccably correct English often fail the grammar tests, because they apply the rules instinctively, but dont know the rules as rules.

This is how we all learned grammar in our Mother Tongue. Your mother did not teach you the rules, she just spoke the language correctly, and you followed the Listen-Understand-Speak method, without knowing that you were doing so.

Spoken Language is caught not taught, whether it is accent, pronunciation, usage or grammar.

Linguaphone teaches grammar brilliantly, because it follows this method. You learn to use the language, and then you discover the rule that you have been applying. No sweat, right?

You may still not love grammar, but you will never have a problem with it.

Most people get tongue tied, not because they dont have good ideas to share, but because they are not sure about how to express themselves in English.

You see this most at business meetings. How many times have you seen someone with a capacity for eloquence carry the day with an inferior idea, and someone else who has a great idea feeling inferior because they dont have the language skills.

Communications is the language of leadership. As you rise in an organisation, your ability to communicate will determine how effective you are. How well can you communicate with your peers, your superiors, and your team? Are you able to persuade people, inspire them, and make them follow you? If you are, then you will rise all the way to the top.

When you are at the beginning of your career, your technical knowledge and skills will determine your success. As you rise, your leadership skills will be crucial.

Linguaphone is very tailored to the needs of the work place. Level 4 of Linguaphone 21 is all about the language of business. And the Business English program imparts Boardroom language, and Boardroom style as well.

This is a key question to ask when people want to improve their pronunciation, and make their English more Global.

Is it better to have a British accent, or an American accent? Which will give you more of an advantage?

The truth is that you dont really want to acquire any such accent. In fact, people who try very hard to ” put on” these accents make a bit of a spectacle of themselves. You dont fool anyone, specially native English speakers.

You need to have your own accent, with some small changes to make it completely understandable. You need to smooth out the influence of your Mother Tongue - neutralise it rather than change it. And, you need to make sure that your English is understood by everyone you talk to.

When call centres and BPOs first began to operate, all the focus was on giving the employees an American accent, an American orientation, and even American names. Anu had to be Ann. Pretty soon, this approach was discarded, since it simply wasnt working.

Now the focus is on speaking clear English in an accent that comes naturally to you, with some fine tuning to ensure it can be understood.

Four young men on a mission - they are all completing their studies either at the graduate or post graduate level. In a course on rural marketing, they had to do field work selling indigenous potato chips to homes in villages. That’s when they met the people of Dhamote village - 3 kms from Nerul on the outskirts of Bombay.

As they got to know the village ( they went door to door trying to sell the chips) they also got a good grasp of the challenges faced by the children. The biggest challenge - they had no grasp over the English language.

Vijit had used Linguaphone about ten years ago, and had improved his English. ” I used to have a strong Gujarati accent, and I used Linguaphone to neutralise it. I also got to know the difference between British and American English”. So, he came to us and asked if we had a product for younger children.

LCE - Children’s English came to the rescue. The four men dipped into their savings, pooled their funds and invested in one set of LCE that they are going to give to the school. The teachers will come into our office and get trained on how to use it with the children. We will also map the LCE curriculum for their special needs, so that they will have a clear road map on how to implement LCE.

It was a fantastic experience meeting these 4 young men - Vijit Vinchhi, Nikhil Sawant, Paresh Thore, and Krunal Punjani. They intend to take up more ideas to help the children of Dhamote village .

Who says that young Indians are not involved, or disengaged, or not idealistic?

There have been 3 great speakers in English in the 20th century. First was Winston Churchill - the man who during the Battle of Britain stood up in the British Parliament and sent his eloquent language to war against the Germans. Who can forget his words ” We will fight them in the trenches, we will fight them on the sea, we will fight them in the air…….”

Then came Nehru. ‘ A tryst with Destiny’. Even today when you hear those words you are inspired by the hopes and dreams that he had for India.

John F Kennedy - ” Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country”. His inaugural address surely must rank as the finest delivered by a President of the USA.

The 21 st century has brought us Obama. A torrent of eloquence, passion and  intellect, able to stir us on any subject that he chooses to address.

When we listen to these speeches, and all of them are somewhere on the Internet, we come to understand the truth of the statement - Master English and Master your world.

So much about getting a great job and doing well in one’s career is common sense. And yet, young people seem to  behave as if they walk on water, and these rules dont apply to them.

1. Have you seen the number of young employees on their celphones or SMSing during office hours.

2. Geniuses who use their office email accounts to send forwards to all their friends.

3. Feeling it is okay to come late, specially on Monday mornings, because “I partied so much last night yaar - got wasted”.

4. Petty thievery of office supplies is one of those big no nos. Dont think it is not noticed.

5. Not being punctual in arriving, but being overly punctual when its time to leave.

The list can go on. It seems laughable, and trivial. Yet a person’s image and perception is based on lots of little things that his peers and superiors observe.

Trifles make for perfection, and perfection is no trifle - sage advice I got when I was starting out.

For most people, their resume is a historical record of what happened - an outcome of their education and experience. For some though it is the result of a planned strategy, and outcome over which they maintained control. How does this happen?

Start with knowing yourself, and understanding your strengths and weaknesses.  Next comes choosing careers that are best suited to your aptitudes. It is easy to shortlist companies that you should be applying to, and doing interview prep aimed to get you the job that you want.

The four years ( or three) in college are focussed on getting the 3 Es : Education, Extra Curricular and Experience for the resume. Time is invested, not spent. And the result - a great start to a career, and a lifetime of success.

Yes, it is possible to improve your English by watching TV. The more you listen, the more you learn - vocabulary, pronunciation, accent, usage and all the tunes of the language.

We recommend that people in India watch the following news channels for about 10 minutes each every day:

ND TV 24/7 or Times Now

CNN

CNBC

BBC

You will get a range of the English language, and also a range of the uses : Business, Interviews, News, Documentaries.

You will also be very uptodate on your news.

Is this a substitute for Linguaphone. No. There is no substitute for learning a language using the Listen-Understand-Speak method. And there is nothing equal to Eyespeak for mastering pronunciation and accent.

But once you have mastered the basics, other inputs like these TV programs can give your English the extra polish and finish that you need.

A news item from the Hindustan Times, Mumbai edition, July 22 2009

As the English versus mother tongue debate continues, the Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the rationale behind imposition of mother tongue as a comulsory medium of instruction in educational institutions, saying it could adversely affect students interests in the competitive world dominated by English.

If states tried to impose mother tongue on unwilling students, it could prove counter-productive and make them ineligible even for clerical jobs, a bench of CJI K.G.Balakrishnan remarked over the Karnatak government’s decision to make Kannada a compulsory medium of instruction for primary education ( class 1 to 6).

” They are unable to get even clerical posts. It is easy to say things. How do we surivive in the world?”…….the bench…refusing to stay a Karnataka HC verdict quashing the state’s decision to make it mandatory for all schools to impart primary education in Kannada.

The South Korean government is going to make it easier for Indian professionals to visit and work there. One of the categories they will welcome is people who can teach English.

There is a whole network of English teachers, specially for Spoken English, all over South East Asia, Japan, the Middle East, and Latin America. Its a great way for young people to see the world, experience a new culture, and earn some money just after they graduate.

Now it seems that this opportunity is going to open up in a big way for Indians too. Here’s the best reason to become a Global English speaker - you can become a Global traveler. What a great way for young Indians either to spend their summers, or the year after they graduate!

No, this is not a post about Survivor or any of the other reality shows that are clogging up our networks. It refers to the first level of proficiency in a language - being able to survive in a country that speaks a different language.

How do you introduce yourself, ask for directions, talk about your own family, city and country, ask people information about themselves, order in a restaurant, catch a bus or a train, hail a taxi …. all the mundane details of living that are made easy when you know the language.

PDQ is an incredible set from Linguaphone that helps learners get survival skills - a vocabulary of about 600 words in a course that can be done on a crash basis in about 2 weeks. It could also be completed in 8 weeks, if time is a constraint.

Why is it important to have survival skills in a new language? You may be a tourist, who likes visiting the country, and wants to spend time there. You may be an importer or exporter with business associates in that country. You may be a student who plans to do a course there.

Whoever you are, you are assured of a better welcome when you know even a sprinkling of the language. It shows that you have made the effort. And you know the old principle - when you take one step forward, people usually take two steps towards you. Its the nicest way to win friends in the global arena.

Today all you have to do is walk down the street anywhere in India, and you will see signs saying ” Spoken English classes”.

So, how come Indians are not speaking better English? How come employers bemoan the fact that most candidates they interview fail because of their poor English.

Our schools and colleges do a good job teaching English reading and writing. But where they fail is in Spoken English. Most of the teachers themselves dont speak English well. For the same reason, many students in India who learn to read and write French in school, have atrocious pronunciation and accent.

What’s to be done? Learn to speak English preferably from native speakers, or from people who speak it really well . And learn Spoken English from a curriculum that is designed to teach the language, not the subject.

The Linguaphone curriculum and the Eyespeak software are geared to teaching world class Spoken English. The curriculum sets out the course step by step, and the software fulfils all the roles of the teacher - teaches, evaluates, grades, corrects, and maintains a progress report.

Here are some classic responses from interviews I have conducted.

Q : Tell me something about yourself.

A : What would you like to know sir?

Grrrrr….Tell me how you would be a good candidate for the job.

Q : Have you seen our company website?

A : Sorry sir, my internet was not working.

Grrrr….So, couldnt you take the trouble to go to a cybercafe?

Q : Do you have any questions?

A : No sir

Grrrr….. Why are you wasting this chance to ask some intelligent questions?

Q : Why have you applied for this job?

A : I just sent out lots of applications, and you called me for the interview.

Grrrr…….Cant you at least try to show that you WANT this job!

Q : Tell me what are your strengths and weaknesses.

A : Everybody says that I am a nice person, and no one has ever said anything bad about me.

Grrrrr…..You’ve just shown me that you have not ever given this any thought.

Young people make these elementary mistakes, because they have just not been trained on how to prepare for an interview.

May I recommend Taking Charge - how to get the job of your dreams. By the time you complete the course, you will be a formidable candidate for any job.

The AICTE has been taking some pioneering steps to make  students in Technical Education courses more employable. Some time ago, they had mandated the establishment of a Language Lab in each institution.

They have also outlined a Curriculum for the introduction of Communicative English in the courses.

We analsyed the Curriculum against Linguaphone 21, to see if L 21 did actually cover everything that was required.

The answer is a resounding YES. In fact, L 21 goes over and above the requirements of the AICTE curriculum. What is more everything in L 21 is taught through practice, and activities. There is no theory.

With the aid of Eyespeak, the students can be graded on their Spoken English, and this is a major advantage.

The Curriculum Analysis is available with Lotus. Please send us an email at lotusban@vsnl.com and we will send it to you.