x
![]()
One of the many questions that a teacher of any language faces, is: “Will it not be enough if I memorize a few ‘key’ words or sentences in this language, and manage my way ahead?” And the ‘key’ word that we catch here, ...
One of the many questions that a teacher of any language faces, is: “Will it not be enough if I memorize a few ‘key’ words or sentences in this language, and manage my way ahead?” And the ‘key’ word that we catch here, is a feeble ‘manage’.
Sorry; but memorizing a few words or sentences in a particular language can just about enable you to ‘manage’ your way ahead with it; in many cases and places, stumblingly, too.
It is a fact that it is not always possible for all of us to thoroughly master the language spoken at each and every place that we are required to visit or live in, for any period of time that we have to; but it is always better to know a language well enough, even if we are just planning to ‘manage’ our way ahead with it.
If I may share my personal experience with you: as a student of Class V, I had to shift to a place in Maharashtra, India, where Hindi was my Second Language and Marathi, my Third Language in school. I knew not a word – and I mean this literally – of either language. In order to attend school and classes and move up to the higher ones in due time, I simply HAD to secure at least the pass marks in both these Papers, and I could barely secure anything above ‘0’, given my lack of knowledge of both these languages! I remember how my neighbor would read my lessons, write out all the answers of all the questions she thought could be possible, and make me memorize them, for my class and exams. Luckily for me, I could read the words, but did not know how to pronounce them correctly. During classes, when our teacher would ask us to read out from the lessons or recite poems, I would just have to sit and stare and strain my ears to try and pick up the pronunciation of the words that I read, with great difficulty, in the lessons and poems. It was not possible for me to interrupt the class and request the teacher to clear my doubts, because I knew NOTHING and the teacher could not possibly stop her lessons to teach me, and me alone, the basics of a language.
During class tests and exams, I went through immense stress, as I desperately tried to understand the questions, if they were not the exact ones printed behind each chapter in our text books, or phrased exactly the way my neighbor had written them out for me. Then, I had to wonder which answer I had memorized would fit which question before me, on the Paper!
No; memorizing a few common phrases in any language cannot help much, if one is expected to stay at a place where that is the basic language used. Or even use the language regularly, or irregularly, for one particular purpose or more. Let us see, why.
Let us imagine I do not know English, but am ‘managing’ my way around with a few common words and phrases memorized and practised to near-perfection. When I use these words, I expect the person or people I am speaking to, to believe that I know the language. This can actually land me into difficult situations!
For example:
A young man who did not know English very well was trying to ‘manage’ his way around a very glamour-centric profession, with his limited stock of English words and phrases. As he made his way into the office of a very distinguished personality belonging to that field, by knocking at the door and asking a very well-rehearsed, “May I come in, please?” the busy gentleman at the other end of the table greeted him with a, “Certainly. Do have a seat. Pardon me; was I expecting you?” Our young man just stood, stared, and perspired profusely and embarrassedly. For he was prepared to hear none of the words or expressions that his host was employing! All he had expected was a standard, ‘Yes, please come in’ and ‘Please sit down’; and then, he had planned to continue in his mother tongue, since he knew that the person whom he had come to meet spoke that language, too! But now, he just could not fathom what ‘do have a seat’ meant; what he was supposed to ‘pardon’ the distinguished gentleman for; and what ‘was I expecting you?’ indicated!
At the other side of the table, the busy gentleman was wondering what had gone so suddenly wrong with this young man, who had made his entry with such confidence, and good English!
You see how confusing and embarrassing such situations can get? Yes; they are best avoided. It is much better to get to know a language better.
We might memorize just the right words and the phrases; but the occasions we expect to use them at might turn out to be entirely, or slightly different from what we had expected them to be like.
At a very glamorous function, the compere, who had evidently memorized and rehearsed her script well but seemed to know little of the language (English) beyond the lines she had learnt, invited a celebrity to the stage. On not finding her present at the venue, the compere commented before her audience, “Oh! I believe she is stuck-up!” A gasp of shock was heard from the audience, at these words. Many present there looked clearly offended, and a few just walked away. The compere, standing on the stage, simply stared blankly, wondering what had gone wrong, when all she had meant to convey to the spectators was that she believed that the lady’s arrival had been delayed by traffic - or, to put it the way she had tried to put it, the lady was ‘stuck’ in traffic!
But ‘stuck-up’ gives a completely different meaning! If only she had known better English, to know the difference!
There are certain terms that we do not use for certain people, or in certain situations. For example, when we speak to our elders or seniors, we usually use a language slightly more formal, as compared to the language we use while communicating with our peers.
A simple example:
A young boy had once pointed at a notebook and said to his teacher, “I want that book!” The teacher, understanding that he was not very accustomed to speaking in English and was, in all probability, repeating a sentence that he often used with his friends or while buying things at a market, corrected him with, “When speaking to anyone, especially your elders and seniors, the correct way to ask for anything is: ‘please may I have that…?’ And in this case, this is not a ‘book’ – it is a ‘notebook’. Last but not the least: it is rude to point at people – and things.” The child was lucky to have such an understanding teacher. Anyone else would have just labelled his behavior ‘extremely rude’ and no one would perhaps try to check how little he knew of English, or how unaware he was, of his ‘rude’ behavior!
Another young gentleman working at a reputed company had once invited his boss to dinner at his residence with, “Please be our guest, Sir. Let us show you our hostility, too!” He perhaps meant to express his desire to be a wonderful host to his boss; but ‘hostility’ was certainly not the word to use there!
Such mistakes are also known as Malapropisms; and when a person does not know a language well enough and tries to make do with a few words here and there, s/he is more likely to fall prey to this trap! These can cause serious misunderstandings, too.
It is very difficult for a person to feel or act confident about a language, when s/he does not know it well and has to ‘manage’ with just a few set words or expressions, in the midst of people who are experts in it.
Such a person finds it difficult to understand what the others are saying, and also respond to them adequately. There is the fear of falling short, or making errors. This can be truly detrimental to a person’s progress; the weight of lack of knowledge constantly making the journey ahead difficult.
It is always better, therefore, to learn a language – and more importantly, practise it well – before using it before and with people who know it better than us. Memorizing words and sentences and trying to make do with them anywhere and everywhere might not prove to be very useful.
In case of any language, for example, English, we need to learn it from people who know it extremely well.
We also need to practise what we learn, with people who can help us learn the language better. We can do so in a class, or through various language learning apps, or an app that is there only for practising spoken English and improving fluency.
True confidence and the best results can only be derived from authentic information and proper practice, when it comes to knowing a language.
Image credit: freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/people
MyPrivateTutor is an online marketplace for all kinds of tutoring and learning services. We provide a platform to help learners find home tutors, online tutors, expert trainers,tutorial centers, training institutes and online tutoring schools. Learners can also find local classes, workshops, online courses and tutorials on a huge variety of topics. We operate in 12 countries worldwide and our community of learners, teachers and training businesses numbers over 200,000. We provide an opportunity for individual tutors and tutoring businesses to promote and grow their business.
Tell us your learning requirements in detail and get immediate responses from qualified tutors and institutes near you.
Post Learning Requirement
