Wasim was born in a slum. His parents were almost illiterate, but his father could surprisingly read Bengali and English; and could also understand spoken English. Wasim got to know this when he asked his father the meaning of the country's Prime Minister's speech during a no-confidence-motion in the parliament. Wasim was possibly around 13 years old when this happened. His mother possibly never went to school, but she was the one who taught him the Hindi alphabet.
Wasim was admitted in a public school where he studied up to the matriculation. It was a Hindi medium school; and the teachers hailed from either Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. All the teachers had very strong mother tongue influence and regional influence. Wasim could understand this when he visited a different state for a few days He was mocked at every now and then, because he learnt what he listened. His pronunciation was too bad. Listening is speaking. However, Wasim improved very rapidly, and overcame the mother tongue influence, the regional influence, and the peer group influence.
He was a noble young man. He would not fight; nor was he naughty either. He was a lovely guy. He had no bad habits like stealing or lying etc. He wasn't too good nor too bad in studies, but learning the adopted mother tongue Hindi was a real job for the little guy. He had difficulty learning the use of the sounds i , ee, u, uu; and the gender bias. It is because the difference was too subtle for a child to understand. Moreover, since it was a Hindi medium school, English wasn't taught until the 6th standard. But he decided to learn English instead of Hindi; for the former did not have the similar issue.
Once he visited his maternal uncle's place and requested his cousin to teach him English. Wasim was around 10 years old or so and his cousin was 1 year older. His cousin tried to teach him, but Wasim wasn't satisfied. He resolved to learn the language on his own.
He started trying to understand and know the meaning of every word he came across. He tried to learn tense with the help of a book published in Uttar Pradesh. Perhaps it helped him a lot. He started watching English or Hollywood movies as and when possible. Although it was not considered to be a good thing for a minor to watch English movies at that time, Wasim was ready to face the consequences. It helped Wasim understand and learn English to a great extent by the time he passed the matriculation examination. His efforts for learning English continued to rise day by day. He took the English syllabus of the post matric two- year regular course as an opportunity to learnt as many textual and non- textual words as possible. He had a very simple rule: he would use the new words in the sentences of his own. He would imagine a real life situation where he could use all the new words he ever came across. He always kept a portable dictionary along with him at least while studying. He used it as a paper weight. He used it rigorously. The dictionary was also a good source of improving vocabulary. By the time he was about 17 years old, he could speak English fluently with very few or no mistakes. He started thinking and imagining in English. He tried to speak in English whenever and wherever possible. He started naming all the things around him. But nothing ever became like a pedantic affectation.
He wondered to find that he knew better than many others in the market. His confidence increased. He never ceased knowing the meaning of any unknown word. However, he never bothered to cram those words. He was not afraid to forget them. Possibly, God gave him a good memory. He started reading the editorial pages of the English newspapers. He continued to do it for years. He read several novels, but never forgot or failed to find the meaning of any unknown word as before. He tried to improve his grammar once again by reading the most original and most wonderful grammar book available in India. Wasim thought that all the other grammar books that he ever read as mere a copy of the Grand original grammar book.
Wasim also tried to speak with the foreigners who would come to the city as tourists. He never failed to talk to a foreigner whenever he had a chance. He did it just to check if foreigners understood him. Once a foreigner remarked, " Your English is better". Wasim never forgot that. Once he tried to speak with a French girl, but he found it too difficult even to understand the name of her country. The first foreigner he spoke with was, perhaps, from Denmark. He remembers he spoke with Americans, Yugoslavian, Dutches, Frenchs, and others. It was also an integral part of his learning English.
By the time he was studying his degree course, people, friends, teachers, and others started praising him for his very good English, but Wasim never stopped. He was still learning. Once he had to speak with the principal of a college; and one of his friends said,"Hey you must have scared the principal with your English". It was almost a jovial remark.
Wasim graduated at the age of 20; and tried to look for a job. He had been teaching since after his matriculation examination at the age of 15. He taught English to even students of English medium schools. He got a job in an American call centre. He wondered that the Americans understood him when he spoke like South Indians or Tamils; and they wouldn't understand him at all whenever he tried to copy their accent! Working there made him learn a lot of American expressions which are not common in Indian languages. He also learnt to pronounce words correctly, and the correct pronunciation of several American names.
He had to go to a different state far away from his home state. He spent around 3 years there. He kept learning English from all the possible sources. Many a times his friends would correct him; many times he would emulate others; many a times he got the opportunity of attending trainings to learn the language.
He visited London when he was around 27 years old. He did not find it difficult to communicate with people there during the short period of stay in the city.
In his thirties, he had a chance to deal with a few people with Post Graduate University degree in English language, and their teacher who was going through doctor of philosophy in English. Wasim found that all of them did not know English as much as he did. It was, perhaps, true.
He used various online applications, and websites to learn and improve his English. He was always in touch of a more knowledgeable other whom he would consult at the time of any confusion.
Wasim met very few people whom he considered knew better English than him. Wasim wasn't ever proud. He always considered himself to be a learner of English instead of anything else.
Disclaimer:
The above story is utterly fictional, and has no direct or indirect relation with any person or entity_ dead or alive. Any similarity may be considered as a coincidence.
Wasim was admitted in a public school where he studied up to the matriculation. It was a Hindi medium school; and the teachers hailed from either Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. All the teachers had very strong mother tongue influence and regional influence. Wasim could understand this when he visited a different state for a few days He was mocked at every now and then, because he learnt what he listened. His pronunciation was too bad. Listening is speaking. However, Wasim improved very rapidly, and overcame the mother tongue influence, the regional influence, and the peer group influence.
He was a noble young man. He would not fight; nor was he naughty either. He was a lovely guy. He had no bad habits like stealing or lying etc. He wasn't too good nor too bad in studies, but learning the adopted mother tongue Hindi was a real job for the little guy. He had difficulty learning the use of the sounds i , ee, u, uu; and the gender bias. It is because the difference was too subtle for a child to understand. Moreover, since it was a Hindi medium school, English wasn't taught until the 6th standard. But he decided to learn English instead of Hindi; for the former did not have the similar issue.
Once he visited his maternal uncle's place and requested his cousin to teach him English. Wasim was around 10 years old or so and his cousin was 1 year older. His cousin tried to teach him, but Wasim wasn't satisfied. He resolved to learn the language on his own.
He started trying to understand and know the meaning of every word he came across. He tried to learn tense with the help of a book published in Uttar Pradesh. Perhaps it helped him a lot. He started watching English or Hollywood movies as and when possible. Although it was not considered to be a good thing for a minor to watch English movies at that time, Wasim was ready to face the consequences. It helped Wasim understand and learn English to a great extent by the time he passed the matriculation examination. His efforts for learning English continued to rise day by day. He took the English syllabus of the post matric two- year regular course as an opportunity to learnt as many textual and non- textual words as possible. He had a very simple rule: he would use the new words in the sentences of his own. He would imagine a real life situation where he could use all the new words he ever came across. He always kept a portable dictionary along with him at least while studying. He used it as a paper weight. He used it rigorously. The dictionary was also a good source of improving vocabulary. By the time he was about 17 years old, he could speak English fluently with very few or no mistakes. He started thinking and imagining in English. He tried to speak in English whenever and wherever possible. He started naming all the things around him. But nothing ever became like a pedantic affectation.
He wondered to find that he knew better than many others in the market. His confidence increased. He never ceased knowing the meaning of any unknown word. However, he never bothered to cram those words. He was not afraid to forget them. Possibly, God gave him a good memory. He started reading the editorial pages of the English newspapers. He continued to do it for years. He read several novels, but never forgot or failed to find the meaning of any unknown word as before. He tried to improve his grammar once again by reading the most original and most wonderful grammar book available in India. Wasim thought that all the other grammar books that he ever read as mere a copy of the Grand original grammar book.
Wasim also tried to speak with the foreigners who would come to the city as tourists. He never failed to talk to a foreigner whenever he had a chance. He did it just to check if foreigners understood him. Once a foreigner remarked, " Your English is better". Wasim never forgot that. Once he tried to speak with a French girl, but he found it too difficult even to understand the name of her country. The first foreigner he spoke with was, perhaps, from Denmark. He remembers he spoke with Americans, Yugoslavian, Dutches, Frenchs, and others. It was also an integral part of his learning English.
By the time he was studying his degree course, people, friends, teachers, and others started praising him for his very good English, but Wasim never stopped. He was still learning. Once he had to speak with the principal of a college; and one of his friends said,"Hey you must have scared the principal with your English". It was almost a jovial remark.
Wasim graduated at the age of 20; and tried to look for a job. He had been teaching since after his matriculation examination at the age of 15. He taught English to even students of English medium schools. He got a job in an American call centre. He wondered that the Americans understood him when he spoke like South Indians or Tamils; and they wouldn't understand him at all whenever he tried to copy their accent! Working there made him learn a lot of American expressions which are not common in Indian languages. He also learnt to pronounce words correctly, and the correct pronunciation of several American names.
He had to go to a different state far away from his home state. He spent around 3 years there. He kept learning English from all the possible sources. Many a times his friends would correct him; many times he would emulate others; many a times he got the opportunity of attending trainings to learn the language.
He visited London when he was around 27 years old. He did not find it difficult to communicate with people there during the short period of stay in the city.
In his thirties, he had a chance to deal with a few people with Post Graduate University degree in English language, and their teacher who was going through doctor of philosophy in English. Wasim found that all of them did not know English as much as he did. It was, perhaps, true.
He used various online applications, and websites to learn and improve his English. He was always in touch of a more knowledgeable other whom he would consult at the time of any confusion.
Wasim met very few people whom he considered knew better English than him. Wasim wasn't ever proud. He always considered himself to be a learner of English instead of anything else.
Disclaimer:
The above story is utterly fictional, and has no direct or indirect relation with any person or entity_ dead or alive. Any similarity may be considered as a coincidence.
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