"All he is capable of is putting together a couple of English words and he thinks he can reign over all of us"
This is a complain I hear more often than I'm pleased to admit. Now as an English teacher you'd think it natural for me to be stressed by this sort of attitude , offended even, but that is not what bother me. If one is aware that in our current society, that being able to use English empowers its speaker, how is it that most individuals in the same society still struggle to use this imperial : colonial 'burden' to their advantage? Where does this said Anglophobia come from and why is it only limited to the learning of the language and not to walking around in suits? Why does the majority who live in our society still fail to harness whatever power this language presents to its user but be dominated by the few who use it?
Recently I've had the opportunity to teach adults and it surprises me how much they struggle to express themselves in this language that they claim to have studied for a decade or more. Many may prefer to blame a failed system or even the teachers and their teaching methods, which I do not claim to be entirely out of flaws, yet however I have come to find that perception or the lack of it plays a much bigger role in this language antagonism we witness today.
A popular belief against those who use English to express themselves is that they forget their roots and tend to live a Western lifestyle that does not become of our culture. It goes without saying that this belief also accompanies the notion that the said 'taboo' lifestyle endows its practitioner with a sense or superiority that he then uses to make the 'others' feel inferior. As entertaining as it will be to debate on the hypocrisy of such a statement, especially coming from a community that fails to define a human relationship outside a legal marriage as anything but vile and revolting; a concept forced onto us by our imperial conquers whose language most of us patriots seems to dearly despise , I need to stick to the topic for this round. Learning to use another man's language does not mean that the learner is obliged to embrace and indulge in the culture and lifestyle that may come with it. However it certainly broadens one's thinking as it opens doors to the lives and practises of the people who speak that language.
Since the language of the other man in question happens to be the language most widely used across the globe today, despite our concerns about how it may have come to be so, one needs to take a wise step back and carefully review ho he may use this for his advantage. It doesn't hurt to observe that most of the literature the world refers to in almost all fields alike is written in English, and if one who does not speak English finds himself intimidated by another who does , I believe this reason alone explains where the possibility may have been generated. After all knowledge is power; especially if the ignorant prefers to be so intentionally simply because he find the medium a hassle he would not rather deal with.It needs to be understood that the longer one fails to confront this challenge that in this case is English, the longer he is left powerless and vulnerable to be dominated by the ones who have mustered the courage to harness it and use it for their benefit. Making petty complains and muttering under one's breath of the injustice of it all, will not open any door that being illiterate in the particular language so far has not.
Pularae
