In this country where every second person wants a Diversity Visa (DV) to go to the United States, where a major portion of the productive labor force is migrating to the gulf countries, where GCE 'A level' examination is considered to be a better option than the SLC, where English medium schools are growing at an alarming rate, where every high school student dreams of going abroad for future studies, don't you think it is ironical that people give you bizarre looks when you speak in English? Being fluent in and respecting your mother tongue is very essential. But at the same time, in this global village today, being familiar with English is essential to be abreast of all the happenings and developments. One might feel educationally illiterate or left out if he lacks the ability to speak English fluently. Today every parent tries to send his children to English medium schools so that their children can speak in English and are confident in every aspect of their personality. But on the other hand, you get labeled by words like "posse" and "showoff" if you tend to speak English on a regular basis. People don't understand that by doing so one does not intend to belittle anybody. In our day to day conversations we use many English words while speaking Nepali because we don't have any other convenient alternatives. We have very readily embraced those words in our daily language then why is it so difficult to accept people who speak English? On the other hand, it would be wrong not to mention people who have categorized speaking English as a status symbol. According to them, English is the language of the elite. Maybe this is the reason why non-English speaking people get annoyed and feel belittled. Due to this they feel the need to reciprocate by insulting the ones who speak in English through comments and taunts. This entire thought process was started by an incident. A few days back while traveling in a bus my friends and me were speaking to each other in English. But we were interrupted very rudely by another group of people who were mocking us and passing us very nasty comments. By doing so they did not embarrass us in anyway but displayed how narrow-minded they were and they made us wonder if speaking in English makes us face this sort of behavior from others. Speaking or not speaking English is not the point, but what matters is what kind of mindset we have. A person does not become big or small by the language he speaks but by what he conveys in those words. Perceiving a person and his character through these criteria is wrong because the true essence of a person is not showcased by the language he speaks.

 

(from KtmPost, 050208)

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