05-06-2007, 07:45 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I repeat that people who talk about this are typically people who have already acquired the benefits of education in English. Those people probably had parents who spoke English, and their children too will have studied in English medium schools.
I do not mean to get personal, but please tell me that you are one exception in that neither of your parents spoke English and that your children are now in regional language schools as an example that proves that regional language education is equal to English medium education. I salute you for your ability to communicate and my respect for you would only grow if the above holds true for you, but I still think that you would be an exception rather than the rule. Things work in boring cliches, and not as rare exceptions.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But, that is precisely the problem, sengotuvel. Using us, your interlocutors on this thread, as examples for your argument eliminates a lot of other people who may serve as a more representative sample. The people on this thread are self-selected: we know English well enough to waste our time on the web arguing about irrelevant stuff. However, a Telugu medium student may only be interested in using English for business purposes, - for him it is the language of work.
I know atleast 5 people who studied in Telugu medium until SSC (one of them went on to complete his BSc in Telugu medium), all of whom except one are working as software engineers in the US, the one is a civil engr in Dubai. All have done very well in their fields. One of them is a manager in Microsoft. Now, if they had a choice, would they put their children in a Telugu medium school? I think NOT. However, their perceptions about Telugu medium are not as important to us as the objective fact that they have been successful in an area like software engineering, which depends a lot on communication.
That is objective fact - that the current economic conditions can support young people educated in the vernacular. But, ultimately, it does not matter. Perceptions matter. And when a Telugu medium student is perceived as little better than an uneducated farmer by his peers, and also finds that his chances of marriage are affected, he will decisively turn his backon his mother tongue.
I do not mean to get personal, but please tell me that you are one exception in that neither of your parents spoke English and that your children are now in regional language schools as an example that proves that regional language education is equal to English medium education. I salute you for your ability to communicate and my respect for you would only grow if the above holds true for you, but I still think that you would be an exception rather than the rule. Things work in boring cliches, and not as rare exceptions.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But, that is precisely the problem, sengotuvel. Using us, your interlocutors on this thread, as examples for your argument eliminates a lot of other people who may serve as a more representative sample. The people on this thread are self-selected: we know English well enough to waste our time on the web arguing about irrelevant stuff. However, a Telugu medium student may only be interested in using English for business purposes, - for him it is the language of work.
I know atleast 5 people who studied in Telugu medium until SSC (one of them went on to complete his BSc in Telugu medium), all of whom except one are working as software engineers in the US, the one is a civil engr in Dubai. All have done very well in their fields. One of them is a manager in Microsoft. Now, if they had a choice, would they put their children in a Telugu medium school? I think NOT. However, their perceptions about Telugu medium are not as important to us as the objective fact that they have been successful in an area like software engineering, which depends a lot on communication.
That is objective fact - that the current economic conditions can support young people educated in the vernacular. But, ultimately, it does not matter. Perceptions matter. And when a Telugu medium student is perceived as little better than an uneducated farmer by his peers, and also finds that his chances of marriage are affected, he will decisively turn his backon his mother tongue.