The British are reviled for their colonising mentality much more than the Spaniards, despite the fact that they colonised many more countries than the British, but English has enriched and enlivened the world like no other language has. Today it is an aspirational language, especially with the advent of smartphones, except perhaps in China, which, while keeping pace with science and technology, loves insularity in all walks of life, including in its own internet and search engines. English is used as a mother tongue by approximately 400 million people in many countries around the world. However, thanks to its second language status, English is spoken by 1.8 billion people around the world. Therefore, English is the 3rd most spoken language after Chinese and Spanish. But they are not as widespread in their usage as English, which is recognised as an official language in 67 independent and 27 autonomous countries around the world.
English is the most popular language, in the mould of a lingua franca, due to historical factors like the British Empire's global reach and the post-WWII rise of the United States as a superpower, which made it the language of international business, science, and popular culture. This dominance is reinforced by its widespread use on the internet and its status as the most commonly taught second language worldwide. Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the British should be beholden to the Americans for making English more colourful and popular.
In fact, British playwright Bernard Shaw paid impish tribute to the Americans when he remarked that “England and America are two countries separated by a common language.” As an aside, it may be pointed out that the Americans not only dethroned British English but also their currency, the British pound, with their own greenback, or the US dollar. Be that as it may, the expansive reach of the British Empire established English as a language of administration and trade across vast regions of the world, including North America, India, Africa, and Australia. The internet originated in the United States, and English is the dominant language for content and communication online. This makes it a necessary tool for accessing and using a significant portion of the world's information and technology. American and British media, including movies, music, and television, have spread English-language content globally, increasing its visibility and appeal. English is the most commonly taught foreign language in over 100 countries, driven by its practical utility for education, business, and travel.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the founder of the Brahmo Samaj, was a strong proponent of the English language and Western education in India. He believed that English education was essential for the scientific and social enlightenment of the country and a superior alternative to the traditional education system of the time. He was on the dot. Perhaps he had the foresight to envision that in a multilingual society, English alone could be the link language.
To be sure, all regional languages, like French, Spanish, German, Tamil, Hindi and Urdu, to name a few, have a rich cultural heritage and enliven the cultural landscapes of the regions where they hold sway. But their reach and appeal are limited. The catholicity of the English language also has something to do with its open-arm welcome to importing words and phrases from other languages like German, French, Latin, Sanskrit (guru and pandit) and even Tamil (catamaran).
Germans, French and Chinese remain loyal to their native languages. But Germany’s phenomenal technological and commercial progress has something to do with its think-global-act-local linguistic policy. German educational and research institutions impart education in German, but when they interact with other nations and companies of other nations, they switch to English in a manner of fostering a Jekyll and Hyde personality to stay internationally relevant. The USA could become the land of immigrants thanks to its English and recognising and rewarding talent irrespective of the ethnicity of the person. The Chinese, perhaps due to their secretiveness in all walks of life, prefer to communicate in Mandarin among themselves but are not averse to English to hard-sell their products and services.
Back home, the upwardly mobile in India embrace English so as to be able to seek greener pastures. These are the ones who cause the much-bemoaned phenomenon of brain drain. Without the institutions of higher learning imparting education in English in India, their American dream would have remained unfulfilled. To be sure, when the greener pasture happens to be France or Germany, willy-nilly they have to learn French and German as well, but they don’t take it as a challenge or imposition.
The RSS and the BJP frequently criticise Thomas Babington Macaulay for laying the foundation of a "slavery mentality" and an "inferiority complex" in India through his colonial education policies. They argue that Macaulay's 1835 "Minute on Education" dismissed traditional Indian knowledge systems, philosophy, literature, and culture as inferior to Western learning, which in their worldview broke India's self-confidence and instilled a sense of shame regarding its own heritage, suggesting that anything "imported" was superior. Macaulay famously advocated for creating "a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect" to serve as intermediaries for the British rule. His detractors assert that this policy created a persistent "colonial mindset" that continues to influence modern Indian elites and bureaucracy, separating them from the broader Indian populace and native languages.
Their worldview is not entirely wrong, but we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. For our own betterment, growth, and prosperity, we must embrace English education.
S Murlidharan is a freelance columnist and writes on economics, business, legal and taxation issues.
