Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
Indians better than British in English usage
By
siliconindia news bureau
London: Indians must be proud as academics say that the students from India who are studying in British universities possess high potential in using English language perfectly. While many British students usually come up with wrong usage of spelling, punctuation and grammar, Indian students are often showing high standards in the basic English grammar and other usages.
An Indian-origin university lecturer said that British students even in their second year of degree course, use atrocious English in their assignments. He said that he often found it challenging to figure out what students wanted to express in English. "International students, in contrast, had better English language skill," he added.
According to the academics, most common mistakes are in spelling, student often use 'their' when they mean 'there', 'who's' for 'whose', 'truely' for 'truly', 'occured' for 'occurred' and 'speach' for 'speech'.
Ken Smith, a senior lecturer in criminology at Bucks New University, said that many students failed to apply basic rules, such as 'i' before 'e', except after 'c'. The words 'weird', 'seize', 'leisure' and 'neighbor' are regularly misspelt by students. "Mistakes are now so common that academics should simply accept them as 'variants,"' he told.
Bernard Lamb, a Reader in genetics at Imperial College London told that many British students appear to have been through school without mastering basic rules of grammar and punctuation, or having their errors corrected.
As students find it difficult to use English properly, some universities have extended the course by a year to give extra tuition to weaker students.
"All the data suggests that there are more and more students at university level whose spelling is not up to scratch. Universities are even finding they have masters-level students who cannot spell," told Jack Bovill, Chairman of The Spelling Society.
An Indian-origin university lecturer said that British students even in their second year of degree course, use atrocious English in their assignments. He said that he often found it challenging to figure out what students wanted to express in English. "International students, in contrast, had better English language skill," he added.
According to the academics, most common mistakes are in spelling, student often use 'their' when they mean 'there', 'who's' for 'whose', 'truely' for 'truly', 'occured' for 'occurred' and 'speach' for 'speech'.
Ken Smith, a senior lecturer in criminology at Bucks New University, said that many students failed to apply basic rules, such as 'i' before 'e', except after 'c'. The words 'weird', 'seize', 'leisure' and 'neighbor' are regularly misspelt by students. "Mistakes are now so common that academics should simply accept them as 'variants,"' he told.
Bernard Lamb, a Reader in genetics at Imperial College London told that many British students appear to have been through school without mastering basic rules of grammar and punctuation, or having their errors corrected.
As students find it difficult to use English properly, some universities have extended the course by a year to give extra tuition to weaker students.
"All the data suggests that there are more and more students at university level whose spelling is not up to scratch. Universities are even finding they have masters-level students who cannot spell," told Jack Bovill, Chairman of The Spelling Society.
Reader's comments(51)
1: Indians must be proud as academics
bad grammar so far - ambiguous: "Indians, as academics, must be proud ..." or "Indians must be proud: academics ..."
say that the
"the" not required here
students from India who are studying in British universities
possess high potential in using English language perfectly.
what does this mean ? "have a high potential to use ..." ? Furthermore, having a high potential to do anything doesn't actually mean they succeed - the sentence implies that you are doing these high-potential students down.
While many British students usually come up with wrong usage of
delete "usually come up with wrong usage of" and insert "frequently make mistakes in"
spelling, punctuation and grammar, Indian students are often showing
"are often showing" is incorrect in standard English - use "often show"
high standards in the
omit "the"
basic English grammar and other usages.
change "usages" to "usage"
An Indian-origin university lecturer said that British students even in their second year of degree course, use atrocious English in their assignments.
Re-write as "... British students use atrocious English in their assignments, even in the second year of their degree course"
He said that he often found it challenging to figure out what students wanted to express in English. "International students, in contrast, had better English language skill," he added.
"skills" not "skill"
According to the academics,
add "the" here
most common mistakes are in spelling,
colon here ? Not a comma, anyway.
student
"students"
often use 'their' when they mean 'there', 'who's' for 'whose', 'truely' for 'truly', 'occured' for 'occurred' and 'speach' for 'speech'.
Ken Smith, a senior lecturer in criminology at Bucks New University,
[where is this hallowed institution ? Never heard of it !]
said that many students failed to apply basic rules, such as 'i' before 'e', except after 'c'. The words 'weird', 'seize', 'leisure' and 'neighbor'
"neighbour" in British English
are regularly misspelt by students. "Mistakes are now so common that academics should simply accept them as 'variants,"'
' " not " '
he told.
He told whom ? "He said" or "he told the interviewer".
Bernard Lamb, a Reader in genetics at Imperial College London told
Who did he tell ? ...
that many British students appear to have been through school without mastering basic rules of grammar and punctuation, or having their errors corrected.
As students find it difficult to use English properly, some universities have extended the course by a year to give extra tuition to weaker students.
"All the data suggests that there are more and more students at university level whose spelling is not up to scratch. Universities are even finding they have masters-level students who cannot spell," told
"said" not "told" unless you are telling somebody ... :-)
Jack Bovill, Chairman of The Spelling Society.
bad grammar so far - ambiguous: "Indians, as academics, must be proud ..." or "Indians must be proud: academics ..."
say that the
"the" not required here
students from India who are studying in British universities
possess high potential in using English language perfectly.
what does this mean ? "have a high potential to use ..." ? Furthermore, having a high potential to do anything doesn't actually mean they succeed - the sentence implies that you are doing these high-potential students down.
While many British students usually come up with wrong usage of
delete "usually come up with wrong usage of" and insert "frequently make mistakes in"
spelling, punctuation and grammar, Indian students are often showing
"are often showing" is incorrect in standard English - use "often show"
high standards in the
omit "the"
basic English grammar and other usages.
change "usages" to "usage"
An Indian-origin university lecturer said that British students even in their second year of degree course, use atrocious English in their assignments.
Re-write as "... British students use atrocious English in their assignments, even in the second year of their degree course"
He said that he often found it challenging to figure out what students wanted to express in English. "International students, in contrast, had better English language skill," he added.
"skills" not "skill"
According to the academics,
add "the" here
most common mistakes are in spelling,
colon here ? Not a comma, anyway.
student
"students"
often use 'their' when they mean 'there', 'who's' for 'whose', 'truely' for 'truly', 'occured' for 'occurred' and 'speach' for 'speech'.
Ken Smith, a senior lecturer in criminology at Bucks New University,
[where is this hallowed institution ? Never heard of it !]
said that many students failed to apply basic rules, such as 'i' before 'e', except after 'c'. The words 'weird', 'seize', 'leisure' and 'neighbor'
"neighbour" in British English
are regularly misspelt by students. "Mistakes are now so common that academics should simply accept them as 'variants,"'
' " not " '
he told.
He told whom ? "He said" or "he told the interviewer".
Bernard Lamb, a Reader in genetics at Imperial College London told
Who did he tell ? ...
that many British students appear to have been through school without mastering basic rules of grammar and punctuation, or having their errors corrected.
As students find it difficult to use English properly, some universities have extended the course by a year to give extra tuition to weaker students.
"All the data suggests that there are more and more students at university level whose spelling is not up to scratch. Universities are even finding they have masters-level students who cannot spell," told
"said" not "told" unless you are telling somebody ... :-)
Jack Bovill, Chairman of The Spelling Society.
Posted by: DJK - 12:00 AM Sep 28, ' 08
2: Since this refers specifically to British,
not American, English, it's disappointing to
find a spelling mistake. It's NEIGHBOUR, not
neighbor!
Posted by: saba - 12:00 AM Sep 25, ' 08
3: Please read my comments at
http://dilipbarad.blogspot.com/2008/08/spelli ngs-in-english-language-to-spell.html
Your comments are invited.
Thanks
http://dilipbarad.blogspot.com/2008/08/spelli ngs-in-english-language-to-spell.html
Your comments are invited.
Thanks
Posted by: Dilip Barad - 12:00 AM Aug 23, ' 08
4: I see these articles repeatedly appearing in
the news. It is true that The Queen's English
is losing its lustre. The internet and
computers are some of the most influencing
factors. Sometimes, the computers give wrong
suggestions and we tend to accept the
grammar, punctuation or spelling given by the
computer. All this confusion is due to the
in-build language correction feature found in
different software provided. We need to give
due importance to the basics at the school
level so that the next generations have good
language skills. The print media is one
important factor in developing good language
skills which again is influenced by the
computers for composing the articles.
Posted by: Pavan Bayyapureddi - 12:00 AM Aug 19, ' 08
5: I feel delighted to note the study "Indians
better than British in English usage". It is
true that we take care to understand and
write. We learn gammar too. Because it is not
our mother toungue, we take evry care. We
learn English but do not pick it up from
streets as one of the former Indian leaders
commented. I am living in an academic
institution in an English speaking country. I
have a few (4)Enlish colleagues. Oneday one
of them one day commented that Indians use
more 'the's with a sort of refrain. I felt it
bad. I have seen his English; it is mostly
slang. I am confident we use relatively
flawless English. I feel some how, some of
the English men like my colleage do not see
the reality. They simply go by prejudice. Any
way ley us rejoice and go forward; let us not
worry what others feel! I see a great future
to the Indian community. I only wish they
must keep up their identity and valules and
should not be carried away by the western way
of life.
Posted by: Vasudev Kanithi - 12:00 AM Aug 15, ' 08
6: Hi
I would like to advise everyone to please use spell check after writing anything and then we will not have to read such silly articles
I would like to advise everyone to please use spell check after writing anything and then we will not have to read such silly articles
Posted by: BIJU - 12:00 AM Aug 11, ' 08
7: While on one hand it's true (indians are
better in english) since last 20 - 25 years,
it's also a fact not many indians even today
can write gramatically correct english. When
it comes to speaking, many of them 'manage'
to exhibit some fluency, we falter in writing
quite substantially. I have come across wrong
english even in top level business
communication.
Posted by: Prodosh Sen - 12:00 AM Aug 11, ' 08
8: Indians have learnt English language and
where as the British have picked it.
Posted by: Gopinath Rao - 12:00 AM Aug 11, ' 08
9: this often happens. forgieners studying hindi
here are better in usage than us.
Posted by: Mayur - 12:00 AM Aug 10, ' 08
11: I would have to agree that, Indians make a
formidable workforce. That in itself is an
indisputable fact.
That we have yet to master the nuances of the English language, is a given. However, I would like to point out ,that to generalize that "all" Indians speak better or worse than most of the British or American population is absolutely inappropriate.
In the same breath,it would be absolutely incorrect to say that the latter two speak the Queen's English as well. The fact that Indians are exposed to their Mother Tongue and the National language which is Hindi,and English only features third on the list, is a well known fact. However, despite this fact, there are pockets in India such as in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to name a few, where the pronunciation, enunciation and phonetics would give any world citizen a run for their money. It largely depends on an individual's family and upbringing.
The British and the Americans, despite being exposed to the English language right from infancy, have taken liberties with the language and mauled it to suit their attitude and fancy. Living in America, I would have to say that many American's use of slang, or convoluted English, is an effort to sound "HIP" or "cool" and is far from desirable where effective communication is concerned. Similarly,the British either speak too fast or carry such a thick accent that its usually a huge detterent to effective communication.
There are many however, in India, Britian, America and the rest of the world who choose to speak well, with the right enunciation, pronunciation, syllabic stress,punctuation and what have you. They are "Global Citizens" and speak a received pronunciation which is more conducive to effective communication and is deviod of any particular flavour.
The world around us is in the throes of globalization. It is in everyone's best interest to appreciate, value and accept that there is more to the world than what the British and the Americans have to offer. Born and bred in India, travelled the rest of the world, facilitated and taught the world over to a diverse audience,I would have to say, that the only trait that distinguishes us from the rest of the world is our warmth.
"What" we say is not half as important as "how" we say it.
I have often been asked where I learnt to speak the way I do. There is always an underlying thought in the questioner's mind. Did I study abroad?
I am happy and proud to say that I am Indian born, bred and educated.
The credit would go to my mother and the nuns at the Convent Schools I attended.
Indian's be proud, your time of glory has arrived! Help each other succeed. That in itself would lead to a better fruition than the deriding comments in some of the posts before me. We need to hold hands to get ahead, not pull each other down.
Best Wishes,
Poonam Bhogal
That we have yet to master the nuances of the English language, is a given. However, I would like to point out ,that to generalize that "all" Indians speak better or worse than most of the British or American population is absolutely inappropriate.
In the same breath,it would be absolutely incorrect to say that the latter two speak the Queen's English as well. The fact that Indians are exposed to their Mother Tongue and the National language which is Hindi,and English only features third on the list, is a well known fact. However, despite this fact, there are pockets in India such as in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to name a few, where the pronunciation, enunciation and phonetics would give any world citizen a run for their money. It largely depends on an individual's family and upbringing.
The British and the Americans, despite being exposed to the English language right from infancy, have taken liberties with the language and mauled it to suit their attitude and fancy. Living in America, I would have to say that many American's use of slang, or convoluted English, is an effort to sound "HIP" or "cool" and is far from desirable where effective communication is concerned. Similarly,the British either speak too fast or carry such a thick accent that its usually a huge detterent to effective communication.
There are many however, in India, Britian, America and the rest of the world who choose to speak well, with the right enunciation, pronunciation, syllabic stress,punctuation and what have you. They are "Global Citizens" and speak a received pronunciation which is more conducive to effective communication and is deviod of any particular flavour.
The world around us is in the throes of globalization. It is in everyone's best interest to appreciate, value and accept that there is more to the world than what the British and the Americans have to offer. Born and bred in India, travelled the rest of the world, facilitated and taught the world over to a diverse audience,I would have to say, that the only trait that distinguishes us from the rest of the world is our warmth.
"What" we say is not half as important as "how" we say it.
I have often been asked where I learnt to speak the way I do. There is always an underlying thought in the questioner's mind. Did I study abroad?
I am happy and proud to say that I am Indian born, bred and educated.
The credit would go to my mother and the nuns at the Convent Schools I attended.
Indian's be proud, your time of glory has arrived! Help each other succeed. That in itself would lead to a better fruition than the deriding comments in some of the posts before me. We need to hold hands to get ahead, not pull each other down.
Best Wishes,
Poonam Bhogal
Posted by: Poonam - 12:00 AM Aug 10, ' 08
12: Though I agree that Indians have basic
knowledge of English grammar and classical
words but their pronunciations for many
simple words are incorrect. Younger
generation Indians are now caught in the
middle of British and American English but
not willing to learn the correct
pronunciation (I am not talking about accent
yet, though it is equally important) by any
of the two standards.
There is no focus in all most any school on correct pronunciation / phonetics / accent of English and the mistakes in pronunciations are being carried forward by generations.
India is not considered an English speaking country and knowledge / qualification of Indian English at any level is not recognized / accepted for higher studies in most of the English speaking developed countries.
There is no focus in all most any school on correct pronunciation / phonetics / accent of English and the mistakes in pronunciations are being carried forward by generations.
India is not considered an English speaking country and knowledge / qualification of Indian English at any level is not recognized / accepted for higher studies in most of the English speaking developed countries.
Posted by: Amulya Gurtu - 12:00 AM Aug 10, ' 08
13: great article. i like the coverage of
siliconindia new. keep it up.
Posted by: shankarappa - 12:00 AM Aug 10, ' 08
14: Indians do take pride in their ability to
speak English and I like the way we were
taught to speak the language in India. We
paid attention to grammar, spelling and added
to our vocabulary. Sadly, the standard for
the language has fallen and in the U.S. the
usage is atrocious. Pet peeves - Me and her
(are going out on Sunday); They invited (Rich
and I) to the party; None of them (are)
coming today; I am doing (good), in response
to "How are you?"; and "I am going to (lay)
down for a nap" to name a few. I do not see
teachers correcting children and some of them
even speak this way. I have known professors
who think "None ... are..." is correct!
"Me too" has become so widely used that it sounds correct, and to use the proper form "I too" sounds stilted now, just as "It's me" has replaced the correct form ,"It is I". I think it is fighting a losing battle and agree that accepting mistakes as variants may be the only option.
"Me too" has become so widely used that it sounds correct, and to use the proper form "I too" sounds stilted now, just as "It's me" has replaced the correct form ,"It is I". I think it is fighting a losing battle and agree that accepting mistakes as variants may be the only option.
Posted by: cleo - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
15: Mr.Murty BVNS and Mr. Joe Shmo are too
anxious to comment on "Briton" as used by
Mr.Srinath. Better, you both come out soon of
your kindergarten mentality. The word
"Briton" is not a wrong usage. May be, some
call it an archaic. Yet it could be used as
to attract the special attention, and is
novel.
Still it is acceptable in English. I could vouch for this as I am a Professor of English department.
Still it is acceptable in English. I could vouch for this as I am a Professor of English department.
Posted by: ROSHAN JAWAHAR - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
16: thge main reason for this our basic education
is strong and very pracitical for
youngers and the english common in every where and students are always
proud thamself if they speak good grammer english
thes are the reson at the same time it will help lot to relatioship between english speeking countries and our country.
youngers and the english common in every where and students are always
proud thamself if they speak good grammer english
thes are the reson at the same time it will help lot to relatioship between english speeking countries and our country.
Posted by: raja - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
17: This refers to Comment posted from FYI :- -
Hallo FYI - Your comments seems to be
baised? and un-grounded, or without support,
I shall appreciate please Elaborate your
Comment. WHAT was bad for you? or your own
Ego? to accept the failure of English from
UK`s, English? It is not new, words due
to, quick writing slips ? which renowned
Psycholigist too endorse this statement.
Besides If you go back to the History of UK`,
and their original Spoken Languages, or
Visitors from UK to US in the early days and
their spoken English languages? I think you
should learn a lot, yet to make sensible
comments? without having any knowledge, as
to what you say? take my advice to learn more
on the background of any subject than say
your views? which could be usefull-
Posted by: Kamath - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
18: There is a wrong belief that having a medium
of learning as English automatically improves
one's knowledge of English. We forget that
wrong medium keeps the knowledge of subject
being taught weak. I have studied English in
a Marathi medium school and was able to score
highest marks in English in an All India
Competitive examination.
Secondly Indian languages have scripts indicating the actual sounds and so there is no need to mug up spelling. Roman script has this weakness and so learning spelling is an extra burden for language learners.
Secondly Indian languages have scripts indicating the actual sounds and so there is no need to mug up spelling. Roman script has this weakness and so learning spelling is an extra burden for language learners.
Posted by: Gangadhar G. Barve - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
19: that is true ,experianceing in my work
place,but white skin matter more.
if we compare salary of graduate Engineer with 10 years experiance indian
origin engineer not matching.
if we compare salary of graduate Engineer with 10 years experiance indian
origin engineer not matching.
Posted by: Ravi - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
20: It is more interesting going through the
comments than reading the article itself! I
have been teaching ENGLISH for quite some
years, and I find the 'mistakes' mentioned in
the article are very common and I found such
in almost all the students' scripts.
Confusion about using ' ei' ... 'ie' etc.,
We are proud 'of' our prowess in learning and
using English and we can claim command 'of '
the Language...Uh!!! All the best!!
Posted by: Namagiri.B - 12:00 AM Aug 09, ' 08
21: Ask any Indian to write in his or her mother
tongue ; I think the scenario would
pathetic . Having said I donut mean to dwarf
the caliber of Indians . Here in India
English is taught as a subject and
knowledge in English is almost equated with
education and considered the same as most
important factory in career . People take
pride in India to be able to speak in English
. Even the poorest of the poor want his
children to admitted in English medium school
. There is no death of teacher and education
is cheap in India . So I am not surprised
and we know better English than a British
Posted by: tarun majumdar - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
22: I am least bothered about who is good at
what. Specifically those who speak other
languages as better as they go through all
the necessary gramatical constrictions and
take pains to learn it. After learning
english we oue Indian now only dream about
their culture, vedic, spiritual philosophy.
English culture is individual, and ours is
joint family. Where everybody works for
everybody. So everybody has to maitain some
decency and mannners and respect experience.
The other is only one and only one himself or
herself. No respect for any body highly
egoistic. No ethical and morale upkeeping.
Posted by: D.Bheemeswar - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
23: A very healthy and proud information that
indians are in a position to teach english to
the english.
Posted by: narendran - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
24: we can be proud of ourselves and need to
continue the same standards.
Posted by: venkat.kakarla - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
25: Excellent article. We should be very proud to
be an Indian.Jai Hind
Posted by: Boopathiraja.K - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
27: I should make exceptions for mona as well as
ramana too. The latter seems to have posted
at the same time as I did. Peace.
Posted by: FYI - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
28: Other than Eileen, paddy and dontreallycare,
the rest of the authors below (and let us not
forget the author of the article) seem to
prove the exact opposite of what the article
seems to be saying. While the native speakers
of English may mince a few words here and
there, almost nobody here (other than the
exceptions noted) seems to be able to string
a sentence together correctly. Guys, I don't
know why you even bother to leave your
comments in such bad English (see kamath for
eg) . Siliconindia of course has long been
known to hire people with terrible language
skills. Peace.
Posted by: FYI - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
29: I'm not concerned about who's better, but
whether this reporting is based on
statistically significant survey or not. The
words listed are so common, I could almost
guess all of them; that again reflects that
these might be common errors students might
make, and you don't need a survey to
substantiate it.
The article, or at least the way it is written, looks like reminiscent of what Times of India and Rediff folks usually indulge in: Take a piece of ice, and claim that there is a large iceberg out there-- wrong pitch, but good for internet traffic.
"An Indian-origin university lecturer", Ken Smith, Bernard Lamb all three expressed their opinion. And Jack Bovill said something that "suggests" his conclusions. Out of all the four, only the first guy made a statement specific to Indians. Even then, none of this is quantitative -- a pure expression of opinion. I too have some, would you care to publish them?
Contrary to what is being said inside the article, the title of the article is too bold, cozy, uplifting, marvelous, bordering on racial, untruthful, and downright false.
Stop wasting time yaar....
The article, or at least the way it is written, looks like reminiscent of what Times of India and Rediff folks usually indulge in: Take a piece of ice, and claim that there is a large iceberg out there-- wrong pitch, but good for internet traffic.
"An Indian-origin university lecturer", Ken Smith, Bernard Lamb all three expressed their opinion. And Jack Bovill said something that "suggests" his conclusions. Out of all the four, only the first guy made a statement specific to Indians. Even then, none of this is quantitative -- a pure expression of opinion. I too have some, would you care to publish them?
Contrary to what is being said inside the article, the title of the article is too bold, cozy, uplifting, marvelous, bordering on racial, untruthful, and downright false.
Stop wasting time yaar....
Posted by: ramana - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
30: Indian students in UK may indeed have better
command of English than their UK-born
counterparts. However, Siliconindia.com
journalists clearly can't produce
grammatically correct passages. "he told?"
Even my 4 year old niece knows that you can't
say "he told". "he said" is fine, but not "he
told". Oh.. stop plagiarizing from other news
sources! Shame on you!
Posted by: Mona - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
32:
Maybe Indians are better at English than a lot of British people but you NEVER say "he told" that should ALWAYS have an object behind it, like "he told her" or "she told me." I am a teacher of English in Spain (born in the UK) and I have to say that from what I see here in the article and from the comments below, neither the British nor the Indian people should boast about their control of English spelling and US English doesn't help matters either as that simplifies spelling and is accepted in the US but not in British English, which complicates things even more.
Hav ing said that, keep up the level, I am pleased to see some people are still interested in maintaining a good level in English and especially in a country with so many languages to be learnt!!! Congratulations.grammar as there were mistakes in the comments here below the article too.
In the UK the problem is the lack of attention children give to their teachers and the teachers dismotivation due to this lack of interest.
Maybe Indians are better at English than a lot of British people but you NEVER say "he told" that should ALWAYS have an object behind it, like "he told her" or "she told me." I am a teacher of English in Spain (born in the UK) and I have to say that from what I see here in the article and from the comments below, neither the British nor the Indian people should boast about their control of English spelling and US English doesn't help matters either as that simplifies spelling and is accepted in the US but not in British English, which complicates things even more.
Hav ing said that, keep up the level, I am pleased to see some people are still interested in maintaining a good level in English and especially in a country with so many languages to be learnt!!! Congratulations.grammar as there were mistakes in the comments here below the article too.
In the UK the problem is the lack of attention children give to their teachers and the teachers dismotivation due to this lack of interest.
Posted by: Eileen Brophy - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
33: I guess there are a couple of readers who
commented initially with a sheer intention of
complaining about this article, out scoping
the authors whole purpose of manifesting the
survey or research carried. Rest of them
seems to be good and by the way "neighbor"
word is in the Thesaurus: English (U.S). Mr.
Author please take care.
The article really encourages the non-English speaking mass to further improvise and maintain the supremacy. The native English speaking people are far superior while they speak, not that to mention. ItÂ’s the consciousness of non-English speaking people to write and speak grammatically correct sentences and avoiding use of slang and variants that keeps them in podium. I remember and Indian winning the dictation/spelling competition in U.S a couple of years back.
Cheers!
The article really encourages the non-English speaking mass to further improvise and maintain the supremacy. The native English speaking people are far superior while they speak, not that to mention. ItÂ’s the consciousness of non-English speaking people to write and speak grammatically correct sentences and avoiding use of slang and variants that keeps them in podium. I remember and Indian winning the dictation/spelling competition in U.S a couple of years back.
Cheers!
Posted by: Pravin Majhi - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
34: It is pathetic to read some of these
comments. They appear to be proud of their
English language skills but if you read their
comments they don't have much to be proud of.
The article itself has many flaws. Be proud of good things and NOT just for the heck of it. I read more and more such proud comments where they don'd deserve. Watch olympics opening ceremony that should make most Indians proud, isn't it? How long will it take India to showcase something like that? May be another 50 years?...........
The article itself has many flaws. Be proud of good things and NOT just for the heck of it. I read more and more such proud comments where they don'd deserve. Watch olympics opening ceremony that should make most Indians proud, isn't it? How long will it take India to showcase something like that? May be another 50 years?...........
Posted by: VS - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
35: Two quick points:
**SRINATH is a funny man
**SI STOP this pls or atleast do a spell check...you guys can't copy also properly...it's simple ctrl+c...then ctrl+v
ha ha ha
**SRINATH is a funny man
**SI STOP this pls or atleast do a spell check...you guys can't copy also properly...it's simple ctrl+c...then ctrl+v
ha ha ha
Posted by: Murty BVNS - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
36: How funny, Mr. Srinath should complain about
improper usage of English language and yet "
Briton " appears in his gripe. Dont throw
stones if you live in a glass house, Mr.
Srinath
Posted by: Joe Shmo - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
37: If you are talking about "English English"
(rather than, say, American) then there is a
mistake in this article, in the spelling of
"neighbour". Standards had better be high, if
you're writing about this issue!
In terms of the content and slant of the article - this may reveal the difference between academically-learned English and native. In a country where people speak the language as a native tongue, useage will always be more fluid. Plus, you should factor in the multi-cultural nature of Britain today - English is absorbing the influences of other cultures and language perhaps like never before. And will be all the richer for it.
In terms of the content and slant of the article - this may reveal the difference between academically-learned English and native. In a country where people speak the language as a native tongue, useage will always be more fluid. Plus, you should factor in the multi-cultural nature of Britain today - English is absorbing the influences of other cultures and language perhaps like never before. And will be all the richer for it.
Posted by: paddy - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
38: I have many times noted that Indians feel shy
if they use wrong spelling or pronunciation
of English though they they may not be be
correct with their own mother tongue. That is
the manner our parents have attributed
importance to English while teaching their
children.
Srinath
Srinath
Posted by: SRINATH - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
39: I agree to the contents of these reports. I
use to receive letters from friends abroad
like Briton and Africa with wrong spellings
of English that sometimes misleads with the
meaning.
SRINATH.
SRINATH.
Posted by: srinath. - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
40: Not surprising. It always happens that a non
native speaker learns a foreign language in
standard way a language had to be learnt. We
can see that it is more accurate,
grammatically correct with proper spelling
and sentence structures. But it is more of
academic nature. I dont think this shall be
treated as a merit of a nation. More over
India has been ruled by British for several
centuries and the English in usage is British
and in its older form i.e. pure . Anyways the
command of English itself has given Indians
the dominant possession among Asians.
Posted by: Murty BVNS - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
41: Hi,
I lived in Australia for couple of years and did not find indians speaking very good english however they are better than many other people who are from non english speaking countries. I think there are people in every society who take their language for granted just the way many indian can't speak good Hindi but that does not mean most indian do not know Hindi well. I am sure the would be true in case of British. I found many British Australian had good command over their language. Cheers????
I lived in Australia for couple of years and did not find indians speaking very good english however they are better than many other people who are from non english speaking countries. I think there are people in every society who take their language for granted just the way many indian can't speak good Hindi but that does not mean most indian do not know Hindi well. I am sure the would be true in case of British. I found many British Australian had good command over their language. Cheers????
Posted by: vicky - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
42: Well Mr.JS We Indians have not only got to
learn English which is a dire requirement but
also other Hindi and local Indian languages
which are not taught on priority basis at
school levels.Naturally the eloquence in
these native languages suffers.Hence the fact
that some of us are not good at at local
languages does not mean it is our
incapability .It is rather circumstantial
.
good day
Chik
good day
Chik
Posted by: chiksukruth - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
43: Well Mr. Kannan, How many indians can speak
good Hindi ...can u ? I am no ...thats our
mother language and should have a good
command over it ...but unfortunately it is
not to be ...English being the first language
in the UK ...it may happen that many of them
are not able to speak gramitically correct
English ...
Sorry no offences ...but its a fact that about only 9% of the total indian over the age of 14 can speak proper Hindi (gramtically correct or 'Suddh Hindi)
Thanks !
JS
Sorry no offences ...but its a fact that about only 9% of the total indian over the age of 14 can speak proper Hindi (gramtically correct or 'Suddh Hindi)
Thanks !
JS
Posted by: JS - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
44: In fact it is bit late to reveal this truth.
Indian students undoubtedly speak good
English while comparing to British students.
Its a pity that British students are unable
to have good command over their own language.
It is better to have Indian
Teachers/professors in British Educational
Institutes to develop a good standard of
English amongst students.
J.K
J.K
Posted by: J.Kannan - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
45: The English being the 2nd language to
Indians, due to the British Raj in India. In
one way it is really a good for the future.
But all younger generations neglect their own
mother tounges, and other Regional languages,
learnt in Scool days. once they leave India
and few of them even bring UK / US Slangs of
English which is very difficult to understand
some times?. It is also true, that, the
English spoken from Indians/ Indian Origins
in UK- f.e.g. on BBC Moderators, a very clear
speach, understandable, to every one than the
UK`s own Moderators?. that exhibits INDIANS
are capable of learning anything if they put
their heart in it. This applies too, in
GERMANY, . some Indian Jouarnalists speak
excellent German, than the slanged Germans of
different part. but regret to mention that,
they are never HONERED due to the mentality
of few Germans? and egoistic living?.
in Germany.
in Germany.
Posted by: kamath - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
46: It is truly ironic that the author of this
article writes in terrible English. He uses
almost every grammatical construct of
'Hinglish' and demonstrates the real state of
the English language as it exists in India.
Posted by: Dontreallycare - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
47: only the thing that indians need is to throw
their shyness and be confident enough to come
infront of this world ,as we have good
talents than others and no one could stop us.
Posted by: som - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
48: If not viewed linguistic point of view,
English is the easiest language to speak
write and read. There are two reasons behind
that. One is that grammer of English is not
too lengthy and complicated. Second is that
There are so many exceptions in English
spellings to speak and write differently. One
cay call it its most imperfact language
whereas someone can say its flexible
language. Unfortunately we need to speak the
way its spoken in British while appearing for
IELTS Exams. Indians speak very nicely. As it
is written, as it is being read, its spoken.
In rest of the world, its not spoken so
purely.
Posted by: Rashmin - 12:00 AM Aug 08, ' 08
49: Ya its very true and i think we should be
proud for it. We should also encourage our
young one's to develop further on their
English usage...
Posted by: Ashwin George - 12:00 AM Aug 07, ' 08
50: Exactly. When compared to all over the
Indians speech in english is well understood
all over the world..
Posted by: gokul - 12:00 AM Aug 07, ' 08
51: I agree with this. Most of my college friends
in London write 'colij' instead of college.
Posted by: Dinto - 12:00 AM Aug 07, ' 08
- India loses six lakh jobs in four months
- 80 Stocks in BSE tremble, due to 'Tech snag'
- Air India backtracks, won't pay salaries on July 3
- India's 'dream budget' is unlikely to materialise
- Australian coroners fake info on Indian deaths
- Banks should alert customers after transaction: RBI
- Venkatramani to head Cognizant's India operations
- NASSCOM urges to restructure education loan
- 58 Million job generation in India expected till 2012
- Industrial recovery underway: Economic Survey
- Nilekani quits Infy, moves to Cabinet
- American tech grads are unemployable: HCL CEO
- India reply to Obama's 'No Bangalore' policy
- India opens the gates of its first sea bridge
- HCL outbids IBM, grabs U.S. firm's deal
- Obama gets tougher; firms look to move out of U.S.
- 'Missile Woman of India' to lead Agni V project
- Five Indian banks among world's top 1000
- Bangalore most difficult city for startups
- U.S. companies move work onshore
RSS