Page 2 - English

Jaishankar seeks support to make English 3rd official language of SCO

Jaishankar said that India has initiated an unprecedented engagement with SCO observers and dialogue partners by inviting them to participate in more than 14 social-cultural events

Allow students to write exams in local languages: UGC to universities

The University Grants Commission has asked universities to allow students to write exams in local languages even if the course is offered in English medium, according to Chairman Jagadesh Kumar. It said that higher education institutions play an important role in preparing textbooks and supporting the teaching-learning process in the mother tongue/local languages. The commission stressed that it is necessary to strengthen these efforts and "promote such initiatives as writing textbooks in the mother tongue/local languages and encouraging their use in teaching, including translating standard books from other languages". "Therefore, the commission requests that students in your university be allowed to write the answers in local languages in examinations even if the programme is offered in English medium, and promote translation of original writing in local languages and use local language in the teaching-learning process at universities," it said.

'Need to pay attention to regional languages, no conflict with English'

Acclaimed Hindi writer and International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree feels that there is a need to pay attention to regional languages, which have no conflict with English as a medium of literature. She also emphasised on "direct translation" of various literary works into regional languages. "It is not a debate about English versus others. English is useful for historical reasons. We should not dislike the language. We have to make other languages stronger and must be paying attention to regional ones which are languishing," Shree told PTI at the Spanish pavilion in the 46th International Kolkata Book Fair on Saturday. The 66-year-old writer is the first Indian author to win the prestigious International Booker Prize for her Hindi novel 'Tomb of Sand', a family saga set in northern India about an 80-year-old woman who travels to Pakistan to confront the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of Partition and re-evaluates what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a ..

Rewriting the lit fest script

The criticism that Indian literature festivals prioritise English to the detriment of other languages has sparked off much soul-searching among curators

Here's how Oxford zeroes in on its word of the year as people vote for 2022

As OUP leaves the word of the year to a people's vote, here's how the process works

Language of this court is English, SC tells litigant who argued in Hindi

The Supreme Court on Friday told a litigant, who appeared in person and started arguing his case in Hindi, that the language of this court is English. A bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy provided petitioner Shankar Lal Sharma, who is an elderly man, with a legal-aid counsel after finding that he was not able to understand what the court was saying. As soon as his matter was called up, Sharma started arguing in Hindi, saying that his case has travelled to different courts, including the top court, but he has not got any relief from anywhere. "We have read the case file. This is a very convoluted matter, but we are not able to understand what you are saying," Justice Joseph told Sharma. "The language of this court is English. If you wish, we can provide you a lawyer who will argue your case," the judge said. Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, who was appearing in another court, rushed to the help of Sharma and translated to him what the bench was saying. After

Hindi official language, no intention to impose it on whole country: Centre

Describing English as a colonial language, she said, "Our intention is not to impose Hindi, but to promote regional languages along with Hindi and constrain the use of English

English gives Indians edge in global market but disparities stark: Report

Mok said among 112 non-English speaking countries, India and China are ranked side by side (48 and 49, respectively) in the EF English Proficiency Index

Internet firm Sulekha says will focus on ed-tech, Saas businesses

Company aims to have 125 million people using its English language learning app

FMGE 2022 exam date declared; step-by-step guide for registration process

FMGE 2022 exam date out. Candidates can check the official website for full schedule

MPSC state service prelims exam 2022 admit card released: Check details

In order to qualify MPSC state service prelims exam, the candidates are required to score a minimum of 33% marks

Students with high IELTS score fail to speak English in US; probe launched

The US authorities have asked Gujarat Police to launch an investigation on how some institutes are helping students to obtain high IELTS scores to get college admissions abroad

Delhi govt to start spoken English course across 50 centres: Kejriwal

Addressing an online press conference, Kejriwal said any person who has completed Class 12 and is between the age group of 18-35 years can be part of the programme.

Not in favour that lawyers who speak English get more cases, fees: Rijiju

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said regional and local languages should be promoted in proceedings at lower and high courts, while arguments and judgments in the Supreme Court can happen in English

The English question

The book cogently examines the politics over language in a global context

'Quockerwodger': Tharoor's latest head-scratcher; Here is what it means

'A useful addition to our political vocabulary!?' Tharoor added about the word he informed dates back to 1860

English continues to be the preferred language in competitive exams

Competitive exams are now being conducted in English, Hindi along with 11 other regional languages. However, English is still the first choice preferred by the Indian students.

English learning platform Freadom raises $2.5 mn from Capital A, others

Freadom equips children to learn to read in English in any country where it is an aspirational second language, via its recommendation engine.

'Allyship', added last month, is Dictionary.com's word of the year for 2021

Allyship, an old noun made new again, is Dictionary.com's word of the year.

Collins Dictionary picks NFT as word of the year after rise in its usage

The Oxford English Dictionary's publisher, meanwhile, recently chose vax as its word of the year