VOA标准英语2008年-Millions of Indians Rush to Learn English

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
05 June 2008

India's English-speaking population has helped fuel its growing economy. However, only a fraction of the country's billion-plus people are fluent in the language. Now, amid an economic boom, tens of thousands of people are trying to learn English, in the hope of climbing the economic as well as social ladder. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.
　

Weekend crowds at 27th India International Trade Fair in New Delhi, 18 Nov 2007

After she got married, Munesh Yadav, came to live in Delhi. But she encountered a problem: her husband's friends spoke¹ English and she did not know the language.

"I came from Alwar and there was no need to English. So I could not speak anything. And, when I used to go somewhere, I felt very bad. So my husband also said to me that 'you should go somewhere to learn English,'" she said.

Twenty-two-year-old Brashpal Singh has come to Delhi from another small town, in the hope of pursuing a postgraduate² course in business administration. But his lack of knowledge of English is putting a brake on his ambitions. He is unable to make his presence felt in grueling group discussions held to select students.

"Some, some, some sentence I don't understand. So I don't discuss them, and English is not very good, so I don't, I don't answer of them. But I have more knowledge for them, if I speak in Hindi, so I was best," he said.

Both Yadav and Singh have enrolled⁴ at an institute in Delhi which teaches English.

They are among thousands of young Indians flocking to join academies which have mushroomed in big and small cities to improve proficiency⁵ in English.

Some of these youngsters aspire⁶ to enroll³ at colleges where studies are conducted in English. Others want to get jobs in a flourishing economy that has opened up new opportunities. Still others want to be familiar with the language spoken in the drawing rooms of the upper middle class.

Millions of people in India speak fluent English and have given the country a huge competitive advantage in a globalized economy. But it is estimated that they add up to just five percent of the population.

Now, the others want to catch up.

Six years ago, Vikram Bajaj opened the Inlingua institute, in a central Delhi area, to teach English. Bajaj says corporate⁷ India is dominated by English-speaking people.

"The talk really in boardrooms and in the senior management is in English. And, that naturally sets the tone down the line. Everyone is expected to conform to that by making presentations in English, by writing e-mails and letters in English. And, of course, the bigger reality being that with globalization the customer today is international. He is not an Indian," said Bajaj.

Indeed, knowledge of English has become imperative⁸ for those aspiring⁹ for a stake in the country's boom.

Virtually every industry wants English-speaking employees as it expands, whether it is call centers which service Western clients, newly-opened shopping malls, airlines, hotels or educational institutions.

Many of these industries have opened up their own training centers to hone the English language skills of their employees.

But Bajaj says these industries only hire people who have some skill in the language. Institutes like his, on the other hand, cater¹⁰ to people who have very little knowledge of English. He says his students are mostly between 17 and 25 years of age, who have just finished school or college, and are often unemployed¹¹.

"Such people become rejects of the system, as it were. It is these people who come to us, because they realize they cannot even get into the training establishment, leave alone get a job," said Bajaj.

That is why Sunita Ranjan, a young housewife, came to the Inlingua institute.

"English language is necessary getting job like teacher, teachership. I find it, it is necessary, speak in English," said Ranjan.

The rush to learn English has its flip¹² side. A popular Indian magazine, Outlook, has called it a source of anxiety for many and cited recent cases of suicides by four students unable to cope with their English textbooks.

Still others say call it a remnant of British rule and colonization¹³. And, there have been persistent¹⁴ calls from nationalist politicians for more emphasis on regional languages in schools and administration.

But, for those rushing to join the ranks of those who speak English, the debate is irrelevant¹⁵.

A sociologist¹⁶ in Delhi University, Mala Kapoor Shankar Das, says knowledge of English is not only the route to economic success, but also to social acceptance.

"It does have a certain amount of up-market value. So people also who are moving up in status feel that, if they have learnt English, it gives them little more recognition or little more esteem," said Shankar Das.

Munish Yadav could not agree more. She says she is more socially at ease after a six-month stint¹⁷ of going through the intricacies of English grammar.

"I feel very good when I speak with my neighbors and my friends, I feel very good," she said.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 postgraduate   

adj.大学毕业后的，大学研究院的；n.研究生

参考例句：

• I didn't put down that I had postgraduate degree.我没有写上我有硕士学位。
• After college,Mary hopes to do postgraduate work in law school.大学毕业后， 玛丽想在法学院从事研究工作。

3 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

4 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

6 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

9 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

10 cater   

vi.(for/to)满足，迎合；(for)提供饮食及服务

参考例句：

• I expect he will be able to cater for your particular needs.我预计他能满足你的特殊需要。
• Most schools cater for children of different abilities.大多数学校能够满足具有不同天资的儿童的需要。

11 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

12 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

13 colonization   

殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖

参考例句：

• Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
• These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。

14 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

15 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

16 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

17 stint   

v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事

参考例句：

• He lavished money on his children without stint.他在孩子们身上花钱毫不吝惜。
• We hope that you will not stint your criticism.我们希望您不吝指教。