Why India don't adopt English as its National

Language?
India has the 2nd largest number of English speakers in the world
(source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eng...)
It behaves us to devote attention to a consideration of a national language,
as we have done to that of the medium of instruction. If English is to become
a national language, it ought to be treated as a compulsor sub!ect. "an
English become the national language# $hat is the test of national
language #
(%) &or the o'cial class it should be eas to learn.
(2) (he religious, commercial and political activit throughout India should be
possible in that language.
()) It should be the speech of the ma!orit of the inhabitants of India.
(*) &or the whole of the countr it should be eas to learn.
(+) In considering the ,uestion, weight ought not to be put upon momentar
of short-lived conditions.
(he English language does not ful.ll an of the conditions above-named.
English is more di'cult to be learnt than an Indian language. /pon an
e0amination of the second condition, we .nd that until the public at large can
speak English, religious activit through that tongue is an impossibilit. 1nd a
spread of English to that e0tent among the masses seems also impossible.
English cannot satisf the third condition, because the ma!orit in India do not
speak it.(he fourth, too, cannot be satisf b English, because it is not an
eas language to learn for the whole of India.
"onsidering the last condition we observe that the position that English
occupies toda is momentar. (he permanent condition is that there will be
little necessit for English in national a2airs. It will certainl be re,uired for
imperial a2airs. &or that purpose its knowledge is a necessit. In our opinion,
it is unmanl even to think that English can become our national language.
(hen which is the language that satis.es all the .ve conditions # $e shall be
obliged to admit that 3indi satis.es all those conditions.
English as a National Foreign Language in
India
India has two national languages for central administrative purposes:
3indi and English. 3indi is the national, o'cial, and main link language
of India. English is an associate o'cial language. (he Indian
"onstitution also o'ciall approves twent-two regional languages for
o'cial purposes.
4enerall, English is used among Indians as a 5link6 language and it is
the .rst language for man well-educated Indians. It is also the second
language for man who speak more than one language in India. 1lso, it
is a linguistic bridge between the ma!or countries of the world and
India.
(he prevailing view seems to be that unless students learn English,
the can onl work in limited !obs. (hose who do not have basic
knowledge of English cannot obtain good ,ualit !obs. (he cannot
communicate e'cientl with others, and cannot have the bene.t of
India6s rich social and cultural life.
HOW HARD IS IT TO LEARN??
7ou8ll .nd man familiar words in English which are either 3indi or of
3indi origin. &or e0ample guru, !ungle, karma, oga, bungalow,
cheetah, looting, thug and avatar.
9n the other hand, 3indi also uses lots of English words. (he are read
and pronounced as the are in English, but are written in 3indi. &or
e0ample, is pronounced doctor and is pronounced station.
9ther English words that are used are hospital, railwa, train, ccle,
motor, bus, car, cricket, football, tennis, !udge, court. (herefore, if ou
want to sa (hat nice man is a tennis plaer/!udge/doctor,
Adantages o! a "other tongue #ased
edu$ation%
E0pand the reach of education. :an rural kids would have their
parents and relatives with no knowledge of English. &orcing an English
medium education can put them at a signi.cant disadvantage.
Improved learning outcomes during primar school. 1 few
researchers have shown that having a mother tongue education enable
the kids to easil grasp the course content as the are used to the
vocabular. ;age on <ti
Disadantages o! a &other tongue #ased
edu$ation%
;ainful shift in higher education: (he students will have a painful
shift at highschool or college when the are re,uired to learn
engineering, medical or accounting concepts in English. "ouple of m
roomates at college had (amil based education and had to su2er a lot
during the .rst two ears at college. 1lthough the were ver smart,
the had to keep translating all the concepts from (amil to English.
"onnecting with the rest of the world: :other tongue based
education promotes the mother tongue at the cost of the bridge
languages (in India it is 3indi and English) that would enable the
students to connect with the rest of the world. If the school doesn8t
e0pose them to English, the will .nd it ver hard in mastering the
language (as their parents and surroundings don8t).
4etting greater opportunities. In the highl =uid world we are in,
people need to be conversant with English. (he Europeans and
>apanese are at a disadvantage in this aspect.
'ON'L(SION
(his leads to the ,uestion - do Indians appreciate their own English#
/ltimatel, I think the do. It has been said that Indians have made
English into a native language with its own linguistic and cultural
ecologies and sociocultural conte0ts. : informants indicated that in
man was, Indian English is ver much their own. Its special functions
have engraved English into the cultural life of India, and it is ver much
a part of the e0perience of being Indian -- even if one does not speak
it. :an Indians feel that the use of English should be activel
encouraged because of the man advantages it confers - the greatest
of which is its universal character.