Indian education system is quite different from that of the foreign nations. The
curriculum in the western countries is known to be quite light and based on practical knowledge whereas in India the focus is on theoretical knowledge and acquiring marks
by hook or by crook.
Students are expected to mug up chapter after chapter and fetch good grades in the
class. The marking system in the Indian schools begins from the primary classes thereby
burdening little kids. The competition is growing by the day. Parents want their children
to outperform their peers and teachers want their class to do better than the other
classes.
They are so blinded by the urge of staying ahead in the competition that they do not
realize that they are pushing the children in the wrong direction. At an age when the
students should be given the chance to explore their interests and hone their creative
side, they are pressurized to follow a set curriculum and slog day and night to get good
marks.
Instead of making the students understand various concepts of mathematics, physics
and other subjects so that they can use them at different stages in their life, the focus is
on learning the chapters blindly, whether or not the concepts are understood; so that
one can get good marks. So, the very basis of the Indian education system is
inappropriate.
Dreams of millions and destinations of billions have been achieved only through one window called English.
No matter what was the position of the English and English centuries ago; but now it is not only a call, but also a demand for every individual’s up-skilling.
One can be a man- healthy, wealthy and wise; but one’s health suffers mental anguish, wealth suffers constancy, and wisdom to is crippled from somewhere; and the root cause of all the above-mentioned problems is nothing but, a seven lettered word- “ENGLISH”.
There are many- numerous institutions, thousands of online English learning platforms; and no doubt, millions and billions of books heaped; either in bookstalls or in some libraries.
Yet; the lion-like problem, of speaking English without any hesitation, is roaring within. You may be sitting in a godown of English learning resources. Yet the call annoys you. Most often, the sentences that you hear within are the following ones only:
- To whom should I talk in English?
- Who is there to correct me?
- If I speak, people will disgust me.
- People will call me- ‘Angrez’, ‘Firangi’ and some other swear words.
- Why do I speak before my friends and English teacher only?
- Why can I not speak at home or in my locality?
- What if I speak grammatically incorrect?
- What if my pronunciation is poor?
- Am I able to try my English in a mall, a cinema hall, or at a restaurant?
- Why can I not try my English at the places where I visit very often?
If not all, but some of the above-mentioned sentences must be torturing you, despite all your efforts.
So, let’s cast away all your worries and walk a few steps with me, it can take you to the destination that has always been a dream for you.
Do walk! Don’t run! And while walking, don’t forget the mile stones.
The following steps seem a little weird, will help you get a level of confidence in English speaking.
- Record: Mind it, here record does not mean keeping record of words and grammar rules.
Today every individual has a mobile and that mobile has a recorder. This facility is available even in the cheapest phone today. Make that recorder your friend, spend some time with it, talk to it, make it listen to something in your voice. So, ‘record’ and listen to yourself.
Oh! How nice it is to listen to one’s own voice! This practice alone can help you correct your own pronunciation and grammar. You can also try for sound modulations, intonation and tonal variations.
- Insert: You are right, it’s ‘insert’. But not that; that you see on your mobile screen, when there is no sim card in it.
For an individual, desirous of gaining fluency in English speaking, insert should mean only one thing- “Use at least one English word in every Hindi sentence”.
The game of insertion can be played well at any place, may it be an office, a mall, a cinema hall, or even a crowded road, where you have got to tell or ask something. Even an illiterate person won’t mind your insertion.
And this insertion will prepare a comfortable surroundings for your fluency. You won’t forget also, the words or phrases that you learn.
- Make a call: Wait! … Wait! You don’t have to make a call to any of your relatives, because no one is going to give ears to your problems, even for a minute or two.
If you are really craving that somebody should listen to your English carefully, and should let you know directly or indirectly that, your English is whether expressive or not. For this fulfillment, someday make a call to any customer care service and deliberately choose the English medium, and just keep on talking.
But be careful, this act must be well planned. I mean, confiscate a reason for the call, make it a product inquiry or complaint, network issues, or anything else that you can plan.
Prepare the whole story and just do it. As long as your call is not hung up before you finish your story, you come to know that your level of English is good enough to express something. Some more calls will make you frank in English.
- English visit: This can take you to another level of confidence and will open many ways for practicing English, you just have to alter the way you pay a visit to places like- restaurants, malls, and different types of offices.
The alteration that you have to make is to make it an ‘English visit’ by using English only. In the beginning, you can use some phrases and small sentences; and later, you can take it to a higher level. In the very practice, your listener would not know that you are just a novice and still, your work is done.
The above-mentioned practices can easily lead you to a world where you will be capable enough, to receive your call in English; and to prepare your own world of English where nobody, but only you speak English, and enjoy others’ Hindi with your English- whether a tuition master or a school principal, hardly matters. And, you will always get a kind of temptation for speaking a few words and some sentences in English.
