The Assumed Superiority of English

Why do many people who speak English fluently assume they are smarter ...🤔

They don't know it's just another language, among ten thousands ? 

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  Paranthaman Sriramulu yes, they equate knowledge with language proficiency. Forgetting knowledge can acquired via different languages, even without speaking...

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  Nikhil Seri More than just English, it's a European vs Indian thing. Gujarati or Bengali is as foreign to a Telugu speaker as French or Latin. However, when one gets the option to learn a foreign language they choose European ones.
  
  Additionally, there was a significant period in Indian past where progress in scientific field has been stalled. Europeans/Americans pioneered in these areas. So all inventions have European names or tastes. So all the equipment that we use in our daily life will find it's origins in these foreign lands. We cannot just translate these things to Indian languages, we have to use the original European given names. Hence, the disappearance of Indian words from our daily conversations.

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    Aparna Krishnan Nikhil Seri they feel a superior caste if they can speak English.
    
    This is real casteism !

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    Paranthaman Sriramulu Yes, this is real casteism. Who ever knew English got close with English invaders. They started dominating rest. Slowly everything become ENGLISH..

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  Manohar Kamath Well many reasons but they are treated with awe even today. Also as stated earlier here, we access most higher education in english.

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    Aparna Krishnan Manohar Kamath others treat then with awe. They are themselves also in awe of themselves !!

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  Monika Sethuraman It's not just another language. Ppl toil day and night to master it to get employment or even understand the text book. It's a skill acquired . One can be proud of such accomplishment. Than merely being proud of being born into a particular group.

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    Aparna Krishnan Monika Sethuraman it's a greater skill that another language 🤔
    
    And those who are born into upper class families where English is the default. And who did not need to slave for it. They are less 'proud' 🤔 ?

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  Meenakshi Negi Maybe it’s a psychological idea inserted by social conditioning which has not met its match through questioning validity.

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    Aparna Krishnan Meenakshi Negi yes. Mindlessness. Also called stupidity, in simpler terms.

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  Manan Bindal जब नाश मनुज पर छाता है
  पहले विवेक मर जाता है

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  Vipin Sharma The language spoken by the most powerful country in the world is respected worldwide, but in India, it is mainly due to the British rule, the language of the rulers relegated the languages of the natives to a second grade.

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  Komakkambedu Himakiran It's a huge enabler, economically and socially, so they flaunt it.

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    Aparna Krishnan Komakkambedu Himakiran and that it is such, and other languages are not, is what needs to be challenged, and corrected ?

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    Komakkambedu Himakiran Yes. That's why it's very important to decentralise the economy. It enables local knowledge systems, practices, trade and that's done best in local languages.

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    Komakkambedu Himakiran The vitality of Tamil in terms of being able to compete and stand up to Hindi or English is because of the local economy factor. Unfortunately we are losing ground there too with this globalised economy.

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  Vidya Subramanian The best part is the copy of accent as well!!!

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    Manohar Kamath Vidya Subramanian yes. Among English speakers there is a social ranking based on accent and vocabulary.... In some social circles th accent matters more than the content.
    My neighbor's 6 yr old daughter speaks with an American accent (she has never visited the US) and the whole housing society is so in awe and admiration... Every kid wants her brand of English.

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    Aparna Krishnan Manohar Kamath I doubt if the elite of any country is more enslaved and dumb that ours !

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    Vidya Subramanian Aparna Krishnan no... No doubts

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  Mark Johnston Perhaps learning the language subtly alters the mind in ways that encourage such silly delusions ;)

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    Aparna Krishnan Mark Johnston who knows ! It's fit material for a doctorate thesis or two.

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  Sivapriya Krishnan Yes. The vestiges of the Raj! Its a world disorder! 😄😄

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  Rama Murthy I wish some one talks to them back in French :)

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  Nitesh Kothari Aparna Ji, I always don't know how get on to english conversation while speaking then again realise and try to come to Hindi.
  How can I refrain myself from english?

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    Aparna Krishnan Nitesh Kothari our schooling has destroyed us. The way back is not easy.
    
    Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy, writes in The Dance of Shiva,
    “It is hard to realize, how completely the continuity of Indian life has been severed. A single generation of English education suffices to break the threads of tradition and to create a nondescript and superficial being deprived of all roots—a sort of intellectual pariah who does not belong to the East or the West.”

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