Lord Macaulay, English historian , scholar and statesman, wanted to prepare a class of Indians who are Indian in blood and colour but the british in spirit and thought. I think he has succeeded to a certain extent in his endeavor. Although it is nearly seven decades since India got independence, the Indians still follow the british law and administration. they have not even changed their educational or academic calendar. Sunday is a holiday even though most Indians do not go to church. The Indians are very much like their counterpart in their dress and out look But their use of English has a distinguishing mark of Indianness They are very creative in their use of English. They have coined new idioms, usages and even contributed a lot of new words to the world of the English language. I think the british need to be indebted to the Indians for that
Let us know the difference between the british and the Indians :
v The british are notorious for their divine silence in the public places like hotels, trains, buses and the theaters .But the poor Indian teachers want to maintain pin drop silence in the classes .They will never succeed in their attempts
v During the festive days the Indians have a total bath or an oil bath .But the british may wash their hair
v Indians reply their friends’ letters or e-mails. But the british reply to them
v I don’t know why the Indians like fruits and fishes while the british like only fruit and fish
v Even the Indian professors of English discuss about many linguistic and literary problems but they will never solve them.but the British discuss their problems and solve them very soon
v The Indians search every nook and corner when they lose anything. But the british will search every nook and cranny if they lose something
v In India the exams are either postponed or preponed but in England they may be postponed or advanced.
v The Indians ask their friends to do the needful but their counterparts ask anybody to do what is necessary.
v Indians wish their friends good morning even if they meet them even in the night for the first time on that day But the british are punctual and meticulous and a night or evening can never be a morning to them.
v Indians have cousin brothers and sisters. But their counterparts have only cousins.
The british are always the british in their manners or in their use of English. But the Indians are more democratic and creative and are at liberty to use English the way they like.
yours sincerely,
JVL NARASIMHA RAO
- jvl narasimha rao's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Log in or register
Follow TeachingEnglish
 |
 |
 |
 |
Comments
Dear Mr Rao,
I love your blog. My story is slighty different because my family is Anglo-Argentine but I know what you mean.
When I'm in England visiting friends and family I really feel I'm Argentine, esp. when it comes to cultural differences. When I'm back in Argentina people treat me and my family like "the brits".
I think it's great to be different and it's great to embrace what makes us a singular human being. I'm proud of my roots. My ancestry has helped me become who I am. My experiences, my country and my culture (Argentina) have added a lot to my ways as well and I love that.
Love,
georgina
www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/georginahudson
My dearest Georgina
Thanks a lot for your compliments. Your Anglo-Argentine identity is very interesting. Your roots are in England but you have branched out in Argentina and you are proud of your roots and branches. There are no branches without roots. Thank you very much for your interst in my blogs. Infact, you are popularising me. I hope our friendship is flourishing day by day like the plants watered by the waters of rivers.
JVL Narasimha Rao
"Your roots are in England but you have branched out in Argentina and you are proud of your roots and branches" It's a great way of putting it.
Mind you, you're very popular and you were before I read your gripping personal story.
It's nice to know I have a teacher friend in India. By the way, your blog about communication has turned out to be a hit!
Georgina
www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/georginahudson
Dear Georgina,
Thank you very much for your reply. My story may be gripping but only you have read it and commented on it. I do not know whether I am popular or not but I am just writing blogs and commenting on blogs like yours.
Although you and I belong to different linguistic and cultural back grounds, we are sailing in the same boat,that is, teaching english. English binds people like you and me linguistically. It is really great that you practise yoga and likeIndian culture. I hope you will visit India very soon. If you have a project in english, please do visit Andhra Pradesh. We can meet each other there. I have already made friends with two native english speakers from England when they taught in my school for two months. I hope you will read my blog "two angels from the west"
yours lovingly,
JVL NARASIMHA RAO
I may be digressing from the main topic but I really need some help.
Actually my brother, also like all of you, is an teacher of English in a college. He, too, love to use technology. He was using technology (powerpoint presentations, videos etectra). Students were tempted to learn more.
But the problem is that the faculty in his college does not believe in using technology (most of them, at least sixty percent, do not know how to use it). They fear as they have started losing students. Some have directly come to him and drew horrible faces while delievering horrible intonations which made him call me today when it really made him ponder(when he reached home) : whether it was anger, suggestion or kind of a threat? This happened many times.
Anyway, this is India and this is a small village of India full of political wrestle.
Please suggest me something. (please don't say approach the head of institution as even the authority of the college has warned him not to use technology at all.)
Besides solving above riddle can you suggest some traditional teaching methods as well ?
Dear Mr Sharma,
I am really surprised to see your comment below my blog. I can not call it digression but it surprises me why you posed the question to me. Nevertheless,I would like to clarify your question to the best of my ability. I am not a high tech man but i have just started learning the computer and I am good at using internet.
Regarding your riddle, I would like to say that technology is OK at the experimental level but in the actual class room chalk and talk method is the order of the day even at the highest level.Technology attracts the students but we can not use it all the time. It has got its own disadvantages. Some times technology fails to deliver the goods. Technology can supplement a teacher but it will never supplant him/her. I think your brother should advise his friends to know the importance of technology and convince them to use it in their respective classes.Using too much of technology does not solve all the problems in India. It should be used sparingly and judiciously. We should not discard the traditional methods totally. Whatever may be the method,the teacher should be resourceful in the class otherwise everthing fails. I hope I have tried to solve the riddle but the mystery is very much there.
yours sincerely,
JVL Narasimha Rao
India
TE Team
Hi Narasimha
I was interested to see your post replying to Mr Sharma. Even though it wasn't relevant to the original topic you answered thoughfully. I think this is the essence of the site where teachers from all over the world share ideas on all number of topics relevant to them or not.
Cheers
Del
TE Team
There is lots of help on this site regarding interactive whiteboards. Type the words into the search bar at the top of the screen and you'll see numerous threads.
I hope this helps
Cheers
Del
My bro, maybe, was using "too much of technology."
As I was browsing Google regarding teaching of English and typed: "Teacher's Blog." It brought me direct to this cite and your blog. So I approached you. Thank you so much. I think this has really solved the problem.
Thank you again.
Dear Mr Spafford,
I would like to thank you for your kind and encouraging words. When the question was posed to me, I was a bit surprised but i felt the need to answer Mr sharma to the best of my ability. I always think that writing anything on this site is a beauty. I have written a blog with the title too. The BC is doing yeoman service to the English teaching fraternity across the globe and I thank the team whole heartedly for that.
yours sincerely,
JVL Narasimha Rao
India