Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “The Importance of English” Complete English Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The Importance of English

Nobody can deny the importance of English language in the present time as global language. It is clear that the English language has become more dominant around the world. In some countries it is used as the mother tongue and in other countries it is taught as second language in their schools. This makes English widespread. In addition, it is used for communication between people around the world, as well as, it is the language of modern times. On other hand, English is the language of science and technology. There is no doubt that, the English is language of communication between the people with different culture. It is also the languages of computers that help to communicate with the people around the world through Internet technology and e-mail.

Races, nationalities and countries speak English in both the hemispheres—Northern and Southern—especially in those non-European countries where the British sun never set once upon a time. Malcolm Muggeridge quipped that there are more speakers of English in India today than the whole population of Great Britain. In fact, the last surviving speaker of English in the world would be an Indian. The new generation which has taken patriotism for granted, looks forward to competing with advanced countries of the East and the West. English is a very prominent channel of communication in the fields of medicine, technology, architecture and business. They find that their own Irian language can only provide translated researches and it is not possible to keep pace with day-to-day advancements in the fields of research.

Today, in India, English is the link language of different semi-educated and educated groups. It is the language of opportunities. Most jobs require knowledge of English. In most of the interviews, a candidate is questioned in English as he might be required to work anywhere in our multilingual country or could even be posted in a foreign country. Apart from this, the languages listed in our Constitution are hardly in harmony with each other. The only recourse we can take it to team and master the English language thereby ignoring the largest spoken Mandarin.

If we look at the other side of the coin, we find a clamoring knot of ‘humanities’, persons who wish to feel the fresh wind blowing from windows of the world and would not know whether that would sweep them off their feel. Some of them hear of existentialism of Sartre, the art of Picasso and the poetic technique of Shakespeare and John Milton. Without having regards for their backgrounds, history and the original milieu to which they belonged, they wish to emulate them. They know the doyens of English through a first rate language. Sometimes, they write third rate imitation poetry or fiction which seeks to import the percolated umbrage of the works and art of foreign masters. The genius of Indian creative writing begins to be imitative. The roots that nurse wither away with time.

On the political front, however, English receives the most brutal attack. The Indian Constitution and the Parliament would have to be changed beyond recognition, if the key phrases and terms were to be deleted from the Constitution; there are typically English terms such as ‘liberty’ which are different from ‘freedom’. Perhaps, it would be grossly unreal to carry on the exercise. Yet English is being mauled by politicians and has been made to crawl, to amble, to be accorded a menial status by our educationists.

Educationists agree that English is a useful instrument of communication, but it must not be allowed to dwarf the local languages, they argue. The British Government would not have issued a directive for making English the most important language of India and even if it did, no one would have listened to their orders. All the same people feel that English is the most useful of all the languages so far as modern knowledge is concerned.

“The role played by Sanskrit in ancient India is being played by English in modern India,” said the late C. Rajagopalachari. Perhaps, he was a little too far-fetched in this comparison. Sanskrit sustained traditions of a great civilization of India while English does nothing to retain or maintain our ancient cultural heritage or our national pride. The rising numbers of students, teachers, businessmen, programmers, housewives and people from all walks of life are adopting English as their second language. They use it next only to their mother tongue. No one in India wants his language to get thwarted in its growth.

Who made English so popular, loved and cherished? The men of letters in English—Shakespeare, Johnson, Milton, Keats, Shelley. Yeats, Hardy. D.H. Lawrence, Bernard Shaw and T. S. Eliot are still revered for their invaluable contributions in the field of English literature. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was a great English scholar and orator. Even the British respected him. Further, Nirad C. Chaudhary, Ft K. Narayan, Kushwant Singh, Vikram Seth and Shobhaa De are regarded as doyens of English prose.

India’s languages need these catalytic contacts to keep pace with the times. However, that would require resources, creative conditions and high quality interactions of our native authors, poets and thinkers. We could create Shakespeare and Milton in India also. Our languages are also diverse smooth and quite rich. As Gandhiji said, they have to learn to practise the dharma of an artist to adopt that philosophy which sustains them, to be true to their innate nature, to practise reverence for values which are still vital and not to shut windows on the world. This is possible when they do not imitate. English alone of all linguistic instruments gives us the right access to the wealth of complex knowledge of the modern world. No one would be able to profit by throwing away this instrument.

Some Hindi fanatics’ attempt to drive out English altogether would be a suicidal blow to our development. English is a window on the world and our development is closely linked with our contacts with the outside world. International trade, conferences and reports of scientific and technological discoveries, communication, computers and diplomacy are mostly in English or they reach the non-English world with the help of English interpreters. Most of the scientific research is reported or translated into English.

The international hotel and tourism industries, airspeak (language of air terminals) and  seaspeak (language of the ships) is in English. All computer languages and programmes are in English. Internet also speaks, writes and prints in English.

One of the reasons why English has such worldwide currency is its long history of usage in the great British Empire, which had spanned continents. It has assimilated and absorbed words to denote numerous local flavours. English words have been stretched or extended to connote many meanings which are different from the original ones. Thus, the language is rich and has further been honed by understatements and a wide variety for figures of speech to convey subtle shades of intention. Through numerous puns, the language conveys strange, oddly disturbing and alluring meanings.

A pithy advertisement for biscuits says ‘Eat healthy, think better”! English has imbibed the capacity for retort and humour from its energetic race of native speakers. Even Gandhiji used it to full advantage. When told by Winston Churchill. the Prime Minister of England, “Gandhiji anyone seeing you could say India is passing through a famine!” Pat came Gandhiji’s answer, “They would know the reason for the famine if they saw you!”

In fact, it was the English language which enlightened our national leaders for their rights and put a force in them. Nehru, Gandhi and Aurobindo were educated in England. They were fluent enough to use English to voice their protest against British domination of India. The weapon the British gave them was used against the British!

However, the teaching of English language in India has not been universally successful. Many States in India have allowed examination systems to operate that are sans English particularly its grammar usage and subject. In many schools the teaching of English begins at Class VI.

Poorly trained teachers impart poor language skills. Our English has generally been very bookish, cliche, pompous and has hyperbolic expressions. In fact, it is incomprehensible to most of the foreigners. The government founded the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages at Hyderabad to lay down standards for the teaching of English. For excellent training in languages, teachers have been trained here. Indian English literature has now a place of its own in the world. It has been given a new shape by Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan. Ruskin Bond, Nirad C. Chaudhary, Arundhati Roy and Kushwant Singh among others. Whatever a few chauvinists might say, English has come to stay in our country.

It is quite clear that English has become a necessity today. We need it in different fields of life. It is this language which can bridge the gap between the nations, cultures and people. It is the language which should be learnt by all of us.