#English#Indlish

“Strong MTI in spoken English”, I saw this as the reason for rejection at an interview. I was still quite new in this company and we all know how terrible the struggle is for any new employee to understand company specific acronyms. We all curse these acronyms till we start using them ourselves – with absolute disregard to the next new employee.

Anyways, I decided to find out what “MTI” expanded to. So, I called the hiring manager and asked him. Oh, it means Mother Tongue Influence, he said. This guy was speaking English in Tamil. It was really tough on the ears!

Ok, that is understandable, I say. But, this person was well-qualified and he was articulate. His communication was fine and his grammar was fine, except for the usual “I did not able to do this”. Does this job require newsreader style English? Are you sure you need to be so harsh on his English pronunciation?

But, the business partners will struggle to understand him, retorted the hiring manager. I don’t think this guy can cut it with his terrible accent.

The conversation was going nowhere. So, I decided to keep mum. Secretly I was scared, he might criticize me for my Bengali accented English.

But that set me thinking. I remembered my French ex matrix manager -Zis is ze op fomme spek in Englesh biocouss aiye oblesh tou dou zate” ( This is the hope, for me to speak in English, because I am obliged to do that). Or the Spanish boss- Biktorr ass id all..ee is de prrroject maanagarr.(Victor has it all, he is the project manager), or even the Chinese reportee-Mo impoovemen needed, mo time in booidi buje, else no goo.(More improvement needed, more time in building the budget, else its not good). I remembered the Japanese business partner, the African colleague, the German auditor, the Filipino expense report desk person.

They all had strong MTI in their spoken English. Had they been born in India, they would not have been allowed a job! Their skills, qualifications, capability all would have remained untapped. Or even if they got a job, their growth would have been stymied.

English. English English! Impeccable, eloquent, syntactic English! The language of the elite, the benchmark of competency, the measure of self-worth.

For a country, that has 22 official languages listed in its Constitution and is home to 19,500 languages and dialects, it is a bit strange to comprehend India’s obsession with English.

Candidates get rejected in interviews on grounds of MTI in their spoken English. Good speakers need to master English grammar, pronunciation and diction to be called good. One’s leadership ability is questioned for lack of “communication ability” in the English language. So many highly talented people shy away from the limelight because they fear being mocked at for lack of fluency in English. Whether one is a cricketer or a chemistry teacher, an artist or a spiritual leader, in India, good English inspires respect!

Knowing English is surely important. About 20% of the world speaks English. It’s the language of international communication, the language of business, the language of the internet. But this mindless fixation on “good” English is another thing altogether. Is it a colonial hangover?

My Turkish colleague on his visit to India was surprised that we talk to fellow Indians in English, we talk to our children in English. I have heard parents brag that they speak English at home as they don’t want to “confuse” their children with multiple languages. A baby can learn 3-4 languages simultaneously, so why the worry!

English is not our mother tongue. The reason English is popular in India is because it is a common communication link for a country where the language changes every 50 miles. So long as we can communicate well, it should be fine. Why this overstress on fluency, diction and accent? Some MTI, some syntax errors, some mispronunciation should be fine, right?