qraqq

Isstate of Ingrish in Sirii Lankaawa…………..

In complaints on October 4, 2007 at 11:16 am

Hehe…….I had to start with something like that……..well what is the iss…….i mean the state of English in Sri Lanka? Ahem…….(drumrollllll)……………………..bullSHIT.

That’s all I can say right now………I mean come on, it is bullshit, worse than bullshit, at least bullshit is made up of something solid :P , Ok where to start, well why don’t we isstart at the bigginnin [sic]? When the Gov introduced the Swabaasha only policy in the mid 9os, signalling the start of Sri Lanka’s mid life crisis, a very looooong crisis. The gov’s stubborn attitude to be as far away, and least like the British seemed to seep into the minds of these “”"patriots”"” as they’ve called themselves, what patriotic person would ensure the sure death of their “beloved” motherland? Was it to get more votes? More popularity among the uneducated masses out there? I’m sure those were the only reasons for them to discard the well established English language. I mean as everybody knows, that’s all politicians, especially in Sri Lanka do………..

So there it was…..the policy. Generations and generations of Sri Lankans were moulded in the Sinhala lang, went to Uni………..and got unemployed. Such a waste actually, because quite a number of Sri Lankans are exceptionally bright, and have immense potential……………but what happens when one is educated in a language only spoken within a small island of 65,610km? Let’s look at the problem of unemployment………..employment is created through business, any tom, dick and harry knows that…….to do business you have to interact a lot with all kinds of people, and some of these people speak different languages, but the most common of them is English. Plain and simple English. Communication is probably the most important tool in business both within and outside the organization. You might say that if a person without a good English knowledge can be placed within the organization in such a way that he has minimal contact with customers or clients. True, but what about the ‘communication within the organization’ part. Hows biz gonna be good when people don’t understand the next person their working with?

Among other things, TV news and other programmes done in English. Well I must say, there a few categories that I like to put them into (i’m talking about news anchors), 1. Totally not-pot, 2. Shape, 3. Good but with some shortcomings.

Totally not-pot…..not many people, at least the employers have got some sense at last

Shape…………..okaaaaaaaaaaaa………y but no class

Good but with some shortcomings….ahhhhh this is where I really wanted to comment……..I’m talking about MTV, well there pretty good in comparison with the isstandard, but still show that they are………….well………….Sri Lankan. The over-pronunciation of ssssssssssss, fumbling with quite common words like fauna (fowna – according to MTV) and here comes the biggy…………..it’s not briGAYdier, its brigadier, with a short and sharp ‘ga’.

W ell having said all that, I feel………………..useless. Yeah useless. I mean what’s the use in writing all this if no one takes action and does something about it? Please, somebody, anybody…………………………..be a patriot, not a ‘patriot’.

  1. This would almost be meaningful if it were to come from someone who could spell. As it is, this is a rather juvenile analysis of a grander social issue. Pity. It had potential.

  2. Thank you for the comment. For your information, I can spell, but it is my belief that a blog should consist of one’s personal views of the issue at hand and I just wrote what I thought. Like anyone else, I’d prefer to keep my thoughts and the way I talk on the blog unchanged as in the way I do in everyday life.
    But I have noticed, why haven’t you stated your real name………..?

  3. And qraqq is yours?

  4. My apologies. I didn’t realise you were so young. Let me rephrase my first comment: this is a very good juvenile analysis of a grave social issue :-)

  5. Yeah man……I’m just fourteen.here are some other Sri Lankan fourteen year-olds in the Sri Lankan blogsphere………….notice a difference?

  6. Well there not EXACTLY fourteen, but you know what I mean………….

  7. I hope you’re not putting yourself up on a pedestal because you’ve had opportunities they can only dream about

  8. Absolutely not……..I don’t think I would be able to do half of what these kids have done if I was in their position….I’m talking about the difference of the content. And no, I’m not putting myself up on a pedestal, I’m just blogging. I just think I’m a bit different from everybody in my age group, like I read a lot…….now I know there are kids even younger than me who read twice as many books…….but again I’m referring to the content…..show me another 14-year-old who’s interested in the life of Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and Lee Kuan Yew and have read their autobiographies My, Life, Long Walk to Freedom and the Singapore Story and From Third World To First: 1965, cover-to-cover.