If someone criticises you for speaking wrong English, don't give a damn!!

@cupkitties it's a discussion forum and if a discussion is not making sense then you should inform it to the member.

@Zap, surely. By this I didn't mean that you mustn't learn the English language correctly. I will welcome anybody who can point out my errors (though none has done so, so far) and I will be happy to correct them. My point is there is no need to criticize somebody for making mistakes if English doesn't happen to be his first language. How many of us really care whether we are speaking our mother tongue correctly or not? Which one is more important? English is important. I will learn it and will try not to make mistakes while speaking or writing it. It is very important. But is it more important than my mother tongue?

@cupkitties, I agree with you. What's more, the focus should be on the content. Personally, I won't mind if someone points out my errors. It's because, I have learned English as a second language and it is possible that I may commit mistakes sometimes. Interestingly I have seen natives also making grammatical mistakes, both in speaking and writing, as we do while speaking our mother tongue at times...

It is in the guidelines in myLot not to criticize the English skills of another myLotter so I refrain unless asked on a particular point. If someone writes something I don't understand, I ask for clarification, but other than that, I make it a point not to say anything about another's English. Some of my ancestors spoke a language that is just about extinct—which I do not speak—so I understand the importance of keeping alive one's native tongue for everyday conversation and for literature.

@jaishankar, you got it right buddy! We Indians are fortunate in that our languages and customs are so rich and varied. This rich language English should be used as a means to dissipate our rich heritage. We must draw a line between learning and aping. But, though you say you are not so fluent in English, you write like an angel buddy...

@msiduri, Thank you for your sensible post.. It will be a privilege to learn from a native speaker. Please correct me if you find any expression unnatural or if it is ungrammatical.. I will welcome you to do that, as you are from the states.

@ritwik17c Dont be afraid to make mistakes with your English here in mylot ...this is a very forgiving site

Yes, I agree with you. We keep learning from each other. Please correct me if I make any mistakes. Or if my English sounds awkward or inappropriate!! I write carefully so as not to sound artificial, but as it is my second language, I am liable to make mistakes...

@MALUSE You have said it. Here in India, in the whole country--except the Hindi speaking belt--people under compulsion have to learn at least 2 more languages other than their mother tongue: Hindi (the national language) and English, as it is the language that opens up many career avenues and all! In my neighbourhood, people know at least 4 languages. Interestingly they struggle with English. But, I am sure, they will manage. Here we have a cosmopolitan environment. The worst affected area is the writing part, in most of the marginalised regional languages... In case of others, there are fools jumping on the 'English' wagon to speak their mother tongue less and less, and taking pride in it...

@ritwik17c how sad :( i hear such's goin' that direction'n many cultures'n languages. that 'lost art 'f speakin' true...

@crazyhorseladycx , I agree. To err is human. But the problem arises when we keep making mistakes, but our friends, relatives, all are deaf to them.. and none corrects them and we too are completely unaware about them.. like making mistakes in our mother tongues becomes our birth right and proud privilege.. in case of many people that happens.. they simply don't bother !!

@crazyhorseladycx sadly it is not in any popular discussion as well...!!

@ritwik17c I am HALF INDIAN and I can assure you that Indian English does have a rather unusual feel about it compared to British English. This is because of India's love affair with other English speaking countries like America that play a bigger influence. India has survived without English but their Education system is pretty poor. I know from experience having seen the school education and the state of play in classrooms, there. Your English seems fine to me though I am unsure about the word "wards." These are usually found in hospitals like dormitories where ill people sleep!

@crystalvisions , You have hit the bull's eye. The problem was not initially with the commoners, but now the problem is assuming a serious size. The problem, in fact, is with the policy makers. Govt. schools, where the vernacular is taught, are fast losing ground because of lack of patronage and proper facilities. On the other hand, even as the MNCs are opening and running big English medium public schools successfully (in terms of business and show), in every nook and cranny smaller entrepreneurs with limited resources have jumped on the wagon. This is a real matter of concern. Not that people are not willing to send their wards to vernacular medium schools. But they certainly are not ready to send their wards to less equipped schools, for which, in fact, public servants and the government are mainly responsible. I hope you will understand my point! May I ask a favour, by the way ? As I can see you are a native, please point out my grammatical errors and other expressions that sound artificial. Would you? (At least, in this comment!)

@crystalvisions Thank you for your response. How are you a Half Indian? Can you explain? I feel, you won't look at the problem as an outsider totally. As far as our education is concerned, once upon a time it was not so bad. But much damage was done by the Macaulayin Model of Education, when that was introduced. (Macaulayism is the conscious policy of liquidating indigenous culture through the planned substitution of the alien culture of a colonizing power via the education system.) Please see: Whatever good was remaining of the age old but a vibrant education system was jeopardized by the wrong policies of Indian governments year after year. Lord Macaulay said the following about India in 1835 in British Parliament (Please see: http://creative.sulekha.com/what-lord-macaulay-said-about-india-in-1835-every-indian-should-read-this_312173_blog): "I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation." (I am not sure of the real source. But these lines are much quoted) Despite many drawbacks, this Mac. Model has not been abolished. No doubt, English Education has benefited the Indians in many ways. But the cost that we paid is just too high. Our National Curriculum Framework-2005 has lofty guiding principles. But without a few very fundamental changes in the model that is being followed here, we are not going to see the results that NCF-2005 envisages. 'Ward' also means "a person, especially a child, who is legally put under the protection of a law court or a guardian" (Please see this: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ward). In Indian schools it is a fairly common word. But I don't know of a better alternative to mean a child (put under custody of a legal guardian). In India many people use it loosely to mean school going children, which may be wrong. I have probably made the same mistake here.

@Deepizzaguy, I like your reply 'Live and let live.' An apt one.

@Deepizzaguy, Are you away?

@ritwik17c I am here. Thank you for the kind comments.

@MALUSE I can't agree more...

My mother tongue is Assamese. (State language of Assam, country-India). About 13 million speakers use the language. This is also on decline presently...

@ritwik17c 13 millions is still a lot, but it is important to remain vigilant and to keep your mother tongue alive.

@sol_cee That's only desirable.. That will be fun learning