Once we understand that there is no shame if we are not able to speak in English, our job of mastering the art of speaking in English is half done. Have you seen Christiano Ronaldo delivering a speech in English after a FIFA event? No. He is more keen on promoting his mother tongue before the world than glorifying a language which comes third in the list of highest spoken languages, after Mandarin ( Chinese) and Spanish. But in the nations once colonized by the British, there still exists a stigma attached to the inability of speaking in English, which is the remnant of the once British policy of imposing their culture on the natives of the land they had conquered.
The United States of America once got themselves free from the clutches of the colonial regime, brought significant changes in the language and very soon American English started having its unique form, quite different from the colonial English. Many other nations have not yet been able to come out of the hypnotism of colonialism and English there is still worshipped as a language of the classes as if its a tool to achieve superiority over others. Hindi, coming from India ranks 4th in the list of most spoken languages. Bengali, spoken in West Bengal and Bangladesh, ranks 7th in the list. Punjabi ( Lahnda) is the 10th rank holder in the list. All these three languages are basically from India. But how many of those speaking in Hindi, Bengali or Punjabi feel proud of their native language and are ready to promote it in the international arena? The same can not be said about the other European languages in the list ( Spanish- 2nd, Portuguese- 6th, Russian- 8th). The speakers in these languages are proud of their mother tongue and on the international fronts, they are more keen on speaking in their own language than promoting a language that does not belong to them.
The very idea of speaking at length about the place of English at the world scenario in the previous paragraph is aimed at clearing your mind of the thoughts of worshipping this language and make yourself more confident and comfortable in this course of learning spoken English in 15 days. Unless your mind is free of the fear of this language, you can never take this challenge. Linguists from all over the world are of the opinion that English is perhaps one of the easiest languages to learn and speak.
English is the mother tongue of 360 million people in the world and for nearly half a billion people, its a language only to be used for business, international relations or travel. People always look for the easier options in life and I bet if any other subject could have been learned at the same ease English can be learned, people would have been more inclined towards those languages only. I am sure now you are more confident about speaking in English.
And again I remind you- be proud of your native language. Unless you respect your own language, you can never learn an alien language and chances are very bleak that this article can be of any help for you. So feel proud of your language, boast of the rich cultural heritage associated with your own language and only then learn English as a tool to improve your social communication, business or whatever goal you may have.
The books I recommend for mastering Spoken English are enlisted below with their Amazon links
- Speak Better Write Better by Norman Lewis- https://amzn.to/2K3hbPs
- Think English Speak English by Julia Northbrook- https://amzn.to/2YdCYwz
- Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis-https://amzn.to/2GxDFFZ
- English Conversation Practice by Grant Taylor- https://amzn.to/319L3j3
To be continued…
Watch my video on the same topic
It will be very helpful for me.