It is actually a sad thing to note that Pakistanis in essence lack an international outlook. In the global village we are just another nation who looks at everything from their own narrow perspective. One of the reason that comes to mind is the language barrier and little stress paid on learning one in Pakistani educational institutions. Language is a doorway to a new and different culture. Language is a plateform for information sharing. It is a way of expression. It is an effective way of cultural development and at the same time an effective tool for cultural development. We, as a Pakistani nation, do not interest ourselves with learning new and different languages. The result is that we end up knowing little concrete facts about the culture of the west that we so unintentionally admire all the time. Granted you can read translations and try and learn something about a society but that is a restricted form of learning. Granted that English is a global language and the importance of learning it must be emphasized. But we should not limit ourselves to just the colonial past. We must learn to look ahead and look in all directions.
One of the reasons the Pakistani lot looks towards UK and USA and to a little extent Australia for future ventures is that there is no language barriers in these countries. On the other hand our scope for venturing into 99% of other countries is greatly limited because we lack the knowledge of the languages they speak. As for example Spanish language is official language in 21 countries and approximately 322 to 400 million people in the world use it as their first language. Apart from Spain it is spoken in Argentine, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Paraguay, Venezuela and Brazil to name just a few. Similarly German is the official language in 11 countries apart from the European Union. It is spoken as a first language by 105 million people in the world. Similarly Chinese is spoken by 1.3 billion people in the world (one sixth of the world population) and is spoken in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Arabic is the language of the Holy Quran. We all read and cram the Holy Quran in Arabic with little or no knowledge of what we are reading. This language is the first language of 186 to 422 million people on earth. It is the official language in the middle eastern countries including Israel (I think). Persian is spoken by 72 million to 134 million people and is used in Iran, Afghanistan and most of central Asian countries. This language is important to us because most of our literature is in Persian language. We need to know our past to know our future.
Having said all this, a child can learn 8 different languages simultaneously while growing up. It is a sad state of affairs in our country that we lay little stress on learning other languages. However it is customery in most European countries to learn a second language if not more than that. We can argue that this requirement by these countries is dictated by the European structure but its advantages are evident nonetheless.
If we have to make our nation an effective and understanding part of the world community at large we have to impart our students with the knowledge of other languages, apart from English. When we are draining our brain to the west let us drain it to everyone and not just concentrate in one or two places. The benefits of such an immigration process will be many fold. There will be increased diversity in the way Pakistani immigrants tap into the world resources. There will be less concentration of Pakistani community in one country and thus lesser problems of crime and banishment that can be labelled onto such minority communities living in miserable conditions in the suburbs. We will be able to learn about new innovations in life from more than one source. Diversification of the source of knowledge is very important and a valuable asset that any person, community or a country can possess. Similarly we will be less dependent on the variations of immigration policies of one single country. But most importantly a Pakistani who wants to emigrate will have a broader choice to go and live and work and learn.
If our policy makers are too timid to make this decsion in favour of the nation then we must make individual efforts to look forward and learn. Let us not encapsulate ourselves in our own eggshells.
Technorati Tags: Pakistan, Language, English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Immigrant, US, UK, Australia
One of the reasons the Pakistani lot looks towards UK and USA and to a little extent Australia for future ventures is that there is no language barriers in these countries. On the other hand our scope for venturing into 99% of other countries is greatly limited because we lack the knowledge of the languages they speak. As for example Spanish language is official language in 21 countries and approximately 322 to 400 million people in the world use it as their first language. Apart from Spain it is spoken in Argentine, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Paraguay, Venezuela and Brazil to name just a few. Similarly German is the official language in 11 countries apart from the European Union. It is spoken as a first language by 105 million people in the world. Similarly Chinese is spoken by 1.3 billion people in the world (one sixth of the world population) and is spoken in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Arabic is the language of the Holy Quran. We all read and cram the Holy Quran in Arabic with little or no knowledge of what we are reading. This language is the first language of 186 to 422 million people on earth. It is the official language in the middle eastern countries including Israel (I think). Persian is spoken by 72 million to 134 million people and is used in Iran, Afghanistan and most of central Asian countries. This language is important to us because most of our literature is in Persian language. We need to know our past to know our future.
Having said all this, a child can learn 8 different languages simultaneously while growing up. It is a sad state of affairs in our country that we lay little stress on learning other languages. However it is customery in most European countries to learn a second language if not more than that. We can argue that this requirement by these countries is dictated by the European structure but its advantages are evident nonetheless.
If we have to make our nation an effective and understanding part of the world community at large we have to impart our students with the knowledge of other languages, apart from English. When we are draining our brain to the west let us drain it to everyone and not just concentrate in one or two places. The benefits of such an immigration process will be many fold. There will be increased diversity in the way Pakistani immigrants tap into the world resources. There will be less concentration of Pakistani community in one country and thus lesser problems of crime and banishment that can be labelled onto such minority communities living in miserable conditions in the suburbs. We will be able to learn about new innovations in life from more than one source. Diversification of the source of knowledge is very important and a valuable asset that any person, community or a country can possess. Similarly we will be less dependent on the variations of immigration policies of one single country. But most importantly a Pakistani who wants to emigrate will have a broader choice to go and live and work and learn.
If our policy makers are too timid to make this decsion in favour of the nation then we must make individual efforts to look forward and learn. Let us not encapsulate ourselves in our own eggshells.
Technorati Tags: Pakistan, Language, English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Immigrant, US, UK, Australia
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