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Showing posts from December, 2011

Trust your Language, says Hywel Coleman

This is for those who think they can't climb the social ladder without the knowlege of English language -- Ask any upwardly-mobile Indian what he dreams for his child and the answer would be, “Education in an English medium school.” Many parents think that education in English will ensure better job prospects for their children, and thus offer economic stability and social status. However, Hywel Coleman, who has edited the book, Dreams and Realities: Developing Countries and the English Language , published by the British Council, says the findings indicate that studying the English language does not necessarily lead to development and progress. Coleman, who was in Pune recently for a tête-à-tête over this compilation of 16 papers on the English language, says the dream of achieving success by learning English is not guided by reality. Hence the words ‘dreams’ and ‘realities’ in the title. Fifteen countries — six in Asia (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sri Lank

A gifted reader

This is a story of Ajit Kunte, a cerebral palsy patient. He was quite fun and cheerful to talk to. I met him at the Ninth Pulotsav Tarunai festival. ---- His unaffected manners and cheerful demeanour succeed in taking attention away from his fists that are curled around crutches, which help him get up and walk a little unsteadily towards a chair — from where he reads out a story from Pu La Deshpande’s Maza Shatrupaksha . The occasion was the ninth ‘Pulotsav Tarunai’ held in memory of noted Marathi humourist, Pu La Deshpande, popularly known as Pu La. Twentyfive-year-old Ajit Kunte, who was struck by cerebral palsy at birth, has overcome his disability to memorise and speak clearly. After a series of operations, Ajit regained control over his limbs and vision. His love for the written word stems from when his parents used to read out books to him as a child. They would also play recordings of stories by Marathi writers like Pu La, V P Kale and D M Mirasdar, which further triggered his