MASTERING ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS

Mastering English Language Skills

                                                                           

                                                                             By

                                                             GURMEET SETHI

(Only for the light reader !!)

I am no exponent of the Queen’s Language, but found myself better than post graduates in English. Remember going once to the University’s Language Department to recruit Language trainers for my CAT Training Centre. The HOD gave us three of their best names. When put through a test all performed miserably.  In the class demo , they were even worse When informed , they were keen to attend one of my classes. They sat dumb struck and confessed that they were not competent to take on the role. Infact they wanted to enroll for the sessions!

The above experience and several others have got me around to believe that, it is nearly impossible to improve language skills of our youth at the Graduation level, if not done so during the formative years.  Unfortunately, we are unable to provide an English speaking environment to our youth at our schools. Thus, the dream of a good executive job, cracking competitive exams, Group Discussions and  Interviews remains a frustrating experience. The coaching centres encash upon selling such distant dreams to the gullible lot. “Nothing is Impossible” is the ruse that convinces the candidate to join.

He struggles with Reading Comprehension passages drawn across diverse areas such as Anthropology, Microbiology, Rocket Science, Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Religion, Metaphysics, Aesthetics and dozen other subjects that he has never encountered during his educational journey of sticking strictly to his core subjects. He is suddenly expected to comprehend such areas.” Is this English?”, he asks! He fails to understand a single paragraph, leave alone answer questions!

His vocabulary, is poor and lesser said the better. spellings, pronunciation, understanding of roots, prefixes and suffixes is unheard of. Connotation and denotation are jumbled. Use of foreign words in the language further adds to the faux pas ! We are yet to touch Grammar!

Even ,at this stage, I dread grammar.  All that I know is “gut grammar”. There is something deep inside me that tells me that it ought to be this way! Do not ask me, why? This is no age to take up Wren and Martin.  At times, I wonder what do these so called ‘English Speaking “ courses deliver! I shudder at the very thought. I remember going through a thin booklet titled “English Errors in Indian Schools”.It taught that Tests are to be “taken” and not “given” and that horses ran “neck and neck” and not “neck to neck” !

Poor reading speeds, remind me of the need to improve this skill in our students. Degrees won’t fetch jobs- maybe skills would!  Such skills can be taught and can prove to be useful . An ordinary student, generally has a reading speed of 75 to 100 wpm (Words per minute) A well read student with practice and techniques can go upto 400-450 wpm. John F Kennedy, the US President had alcohol in his blood , but a fantastic  reading speed of 1000 wpm! In my career spanning across 15 years and some 9000 students trained, I have come across just three students with matching reading speeds of 1000 wpm. They all had been introduced to reading early in their childhood. Were voracious readers across genres.

This brings me to firmly believe that introduction to reading at an early age is the only way out! Even , Norman Lewis, the famous Author of” How to Read and Write better” has only one advice- Read, read and read for more! Catch them young and make the reading bug bite. Put them through story telling sessions. Gift them books, encourage library visits and form family reading habits. Everything must happen at the right age!

There is a madness that goes with it !  We have grown reading comics, followed by fairy tales, Arabian Nights, Enid Blytons, have  enjoyed reading detective series of Perry Masons from both ends simultaneously trying to find the murderer! I got my ears pulled when my mother caught me reading Harold Robbins booked wrapped up in a news paper, with a sexy lady spread across the cover. One had to do a lot of explaining!! We grew up reading James Bond novels, Lobsang Rampa, Jeffery Archer, Danielle Steel, Dan Brown and what not-these found more time than the text books .I remember reading Alwin Toffler way back in 1970s, talking of the Information highways! (Today’s Internet.)

Selecting a book by its cover and flipping through, is an art that one need to perfect. If one were to know the sequence, one needs to start with fiction, move onto self-help books, autobiographies and then mature to the world of abstract kingdom and philosophy. The difference between a man and an animal is- cow can see grass, eat grass  but cannot understand gravity!

Many have come asking for a book to be suggested for his/her reading. I always ask them them to get their own feel and decide based on their past reading and interest. What if I suggested Mein Kampf by Adolf Hiler! They would never dare  touch any other book for years to come ! It is best left to the person to pick a book as per ones taste and choice. But, unfortunately most do not have a taste for anything!

Talking of taste, Porn  during college days added to our vocabulary and reading speed . It was not just porn, Good classic porn! Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Casanova, Temptation, A man with a maid, Lollita, Confessions of an English maid and several others did the rounds after last light. Many of these were borrowed, exchanged and even stolen, found hidden under  friend’s  pillows. Many of us owe our language skills to contributions made by these valued authors and friends.  Khushwant Singh would refer to  these as the one handed books!

As hindsight, I wonder , if this methodology could be advocated to the already porn addicted youth of the day! Could recommending some of these books be an answer to this vexed problem? Atleast, they may after all get addicted to reading and find their calling (sic ) interest!

It may happen at some point in their life that they realize that reading a James Bond novel by Ian Fleming was any day better and more thrilling than the movie! Insha Allaha, this may bridge the barrier between their aspirations and dreams that has been leading to  frustration and greater scorn for those who are proficient in the language.

Cheers!

(Only for the light reader!)

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