Did you know that there is a separate day in the United Nations (UN) calendar to celebrate the English language ? Yes, the UN English Language Day falls tomorrow (23). Incidentally, the date is traditionally observed as both, the birthday and date of death of English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, whose plays are still performed all over the world.
The UN actually has separate days to celebrate its six official languages – English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian, though the English Language day is shared with Spanish. The purpose of the UN’s language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.
Lingua franca
English has achieved prime status by becoming the most widely spoken language in the world – if one disregards full proficiency – ahead of Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. It is spoken by around two billion people and there are many more who have a rudimentary understanding of the language. English is spoken in 101 countries (either as the first language or the second), while Arabic is spoken in 60, French in 51, Chinese in 33, and Spanish in 31. It is also an official language in 54 countries including Sri Lanka. From one small island (UK), English has gone on to acquire lingua franca status in international business, worldwide diplomacy, and science. English is also the most widely studied foreign language the world over with nearly a billion students.
How did English originate ? It is believed to be a Germanic language, though today’s German and English do sound vastly different. In fact, the word “Angles” which eventually became “English” denotes a tribe of people who migrated to England thousands of years ago. The word “Angles” is itself derived from the Anglia or Anglen peninsula in the Baltic Sea where these people lived.
English as we know it was first spoken around 400 AD in England. It spread rapidly as the English conquered various countries around the world, including Sri Lanka. The natives learned English to communicate with the ruling classes. Later on, the biggest impetus for the success of English came from the invention of the printing press. To date, English books, newspapers and magazines dominate the world. Scientific research is mostly conducted and published in English. The Internet (or rather the World Wide Web) is almost 90 percent English, making a good knowledge of English essential to get by in the modern world.
Kaduwa
In Sri Lanka, the teaching and learning of English suffered as a result of the increased emphasis on education in the two vernacular languages. But the authorities have made amends by making English an official language and a “link” language. It is also possible to study in the English medium in many Government and private schools. However, children, especially, from rural areas still lack a good knowledge of English, which diminishes their chances of finding a job in the highly competitive job market as their City counterparts wield a much better “Kaduwa” (sword) as English is called by many Sri Lankans. Even at University level, many graduates lack proficiency in English, which makes them uncompetitive in the job market.
This should not be the case – all children should get an equal opportunity to learn English. Any dearth of qualified English teachers must be addressed for this to happen. There are also a few private sector companies which actually give graduates a good foundation course in English before recruiting them. This initiative should be widened.
A teacher or any other person dealing with the English language must know one thing – English is constantly evolving (this is not unique to English - all languages including Sinhala and Tamil do). New words are added to English all the time and English also borrows words from many other languages including Sinhala and Tamil. For example, the word “Aiyo” widely used in Sri Lanka and South India to denote sadness, surprise or disgust was officially added to the English vocabulary last year. From Photobomb (someone unexpectedly comes to a pre-arranged photo) to Vaping (smoking electronic cigarettes), many new words are added to English every year. Scholars say that around 45 percent of English words have Latin and French origins. And English is spoken differently among different populations and even in different areas of the same country. Yes, sometimes a person in Adelaide may not initially understand what someone from Sydney says, even though both are native speakers.
But the reverse is also true. English is so successful that many English words have crept into other languages. Here in Sri Lanka, we speak Sinhala and Tamil mixed with a hearty dose of English, to the extent that many advertisements are now either bilingual or trilingual. And one cannot help noticing that many Sinhala and English words sound very similar, partly as a result of Indo-Aryan origins and partly as a result of the colonial legacy. Water, for example, is similar to “Wathura” in Sinhala and the number Five is “Paha” in Sinhala. These are just two examples.
Chronometer
Some countries are attempting in vain to suppress this fusion of languages – France has a separate linguistic committee to create French words for English words that have invaded French. However, many countries know that resistance is futile and have learned to go with the flow. Japanese, for example has hundreds of English loan words that have been “Japanised” over the years. Did you also notice that demonstrators in countries where English is not spoken at all hold placards in English ? This is primarily for international consumption. They know that they can get the message across internationally only if they write slogans in English.
But all those who communicate in English must remember one unwritten rule – keep it simple. “What does your chronometer indicate?” is the same as “What time is it ?”. One hotel was famous for a signboard which proclaimed “it is prohibited to perambulate in this premises in the boots of ascension.” The translation – “walking here in hiking boots is banned.”
Thus the basic rule is to use the simplest possible word when several choices are available – if “fire” would do, do not use “conflagration.” This is the premise behind the highly successful Plain English Campaign, which campaigns for English-language documents that are free of gobbledygook, jargon and legalese.
If you have to refer to a dictionary while reading a document, you may lose interest and give up reading altogether, though e-books make it less of a hassle by having a pop-up dictionary. English must be accessible to everyone around the world and keeping things simple will help that objective.