My Journey with Languages
Nearly half of my life has been spent outside my home state of Odisha. My travels across India for education and work introduced me to various states, cultures, and languages. During my school and higher secondary years, I learned my native Odia, as well as English, Hindi, and Sanskrit.
While I can still read Odia with ease, my ability to write it neatly and quickly has diminished. Thankfully, we speak Odia at home, keeping the language a part of my everyday life. My children, who never studied in Odisha, didn't learn the language in school but can speak it fluently with us and our close friends and family.
I can still recognize and read Hindi, though my skills have declined. However, I speak Hindi well due to its regular use in my professional life and its presence in Bollywood films and TV shows. Sanskrit, on the other hand, has become difficult to read and understand because it is not used in daily life—a common situation for many Indians today.
Learning New Languages: A Personal Experience
Throughout my professional journey, I became quite proficient in local languages like Kannada and Bengali. I also acquired basic knowledge of Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam, enabling me to communicate effectively with locals. Furthermore, I had the chance to learn basic German while collaborating with a German multinational company.
My experiences illustrate that acquiring a new language is feasible at any age, provided there is a willingness to learn. The main purpose of a spoken language is to enable effective communication with native speakers, enhancing bonding and trust.
The Three-Language Policy and Its Controversy
The recent debate over the three-language policy in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 appears to be misguided. Although I have no political agenda, I wish to offer a logical view on language and its fundamental purpose.
The NEP 2020 requires that at least two of the languages taught should be native languages. However, in my experience, the only language I am proficient in is English. While maintaining native languages is crucial for cultural identity, my children, who studied outside Odisha, did not have the chance to learn Odia in school.
The need for higher education and professional careers often involves relocating from one's native state, complicating the study of native languages. The NEP 2020 and related policies should consider this issue. Unfortunately, there seems to be a political agenda to promote Hindi and Sanskrit nationwide, which may not be necessary or beneficial.
A More Rational Approach
Rather than requiring two native languages, NEP 2020 should mandate one native language and one foreign language in addition to English. Below are the top 7 most spoken languages globally, along with the number of speakers and the countries where they are primarily spoken:
Language | Number of Speakers | Countries |
English | 1.5 billion | USA, UK, Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, and many more |
Mandarin Chinese | 1.2 billion | China, Taiwan, Singapore |
Hindi | 616 million | India, Nepal |
Spanish | 569 million | Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and many more |
French | 312 million | France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, many African countries |
Arabic | 335 million | Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and many more |
Bengali | 284 million | Bangladesh, India |
I urge policymakers, educators, parents, and students to consider the benefits of learning additional languages alongside their native tongue. Multilingualism enhances cognitive skills, cultural awareness, and social interactions, benefiting both individuals and India's economic progress and global competitiveness.
In a connected world, proficiency in languages like English, Mandarin, Spanish, or French opens numerous professional opportunities. These languages are gateways to international markets, crucial in fields such as technology, business, and diplomacy, enhancing employability and cross-border collaboration.
Learning a new language deepens cultural understanding, which is essential in today's global society. It enriches personal experiences and equips young Indians to navigate international environments with empathy and adaptability, which are valuable workforce qualities.
Nationally, embracing multilingualism boosts India's global competitiveness. A multilingual workforce attracts foreign investment, enhances trade, and promotes tourism, which is key to economic growth. As India emerges globally, language learning fosters an innovative society.
I encourage stakeholders to support language learning initiatives, integrating courses into curricula, providing self-study resources, and creating programs celebrating linguistic diversity. Prioritizing language education empowers Indians to thrive globally, leading to a more prosperous future.
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Here are the relevant sections of the NEP 2020 (related to the Three Language Policy and Foreign Language)
4.12. As research clearly shows that children pick up languages extremely quickly between the ages of 2 and 8 and that multilingualism has great cognitive benefits to young students, children will be exposed to different languages early on (but with a particular emphasis on the mother tongue), starting from the Foundational Stage onwards. All languages will be taught in an enjoyable and interactive style, with plenty of interactive conversation, and with early reading and subsequent writing in the mother tongue in the early years, and with skills developed for reading and writing in other languages in Grade 3 and beyond. There will be a major effort from both the Central and State governments to invest in large numbers of language teachers in all regional languages around the country, and, in particular, for all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. States, especially States from different regions of India, may enter into bilateral agreements to hire teachers in large numbers from each other, to satisfy the three-language formula in their respective States and also to encourage the study of Indian languages across the country. Extensive use of technology will be made for teaching and learning of different languages and to popularize language learning.
4.13. The three-language formula will continue to be implemented while keeping in mind the Constitutional provisions, aspirations of the people, regions, and the Union, and the need to promote multilingualism as well as promote national unity. However, there will be a greater flexibility in the three-language formula, and no language will be imposed on any State. The three languages learned by children will be the choices of States, regions, and of course the students themselves, so long as at least two of the three languages are native to India. In particular, students who wish to change one or more of the three languages they are studying may do so in Grade 6 or 7, as long as they are able to demonstrate basic proficiency in three languages (including one language of India at the literature level) by the end of secondary school.
4.17. The importance, relevance, and beauty of the classical languages and literature of India also cannot be overlooked. Sanskrit, while also an important modern language mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, possesses a classical literature that is greater in volume than that of Latin and Greek put together, containing vast treasures of mathematics, philosophy, grammar, music, politics, medicine, architecture, metallurgy, drama, poetry, storytelling, and more (known as ‘Sanskrit Knowledge Systems’), written by people of various religions as well as non-religious people, and by people from all walks of life and a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds over thousands of years. Sanskrit will thus be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula. It will be taught in ways that are interesting and experiential as well as contemporarily relevant, including through the use of Sanskrit Knowledge Systems, and in particular through phonetics and pronunciation. Sanskrit textbooks at the foundational and middle school level may be written in Simple Standard Sanskrit (SSS) to teach Sanskrit through Sanskrit (STS) and make its study truly enjoyable.
4.20. In addition to high quality offerings in Indian languages and English, foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level, for students to learn about the cultures of the world and to enrich their global knowledge and mobility according to their own interests and aspirations.
22.8. A number of initiatives to foster languages, arts, and culture in school children have been discussed in Chapter 4, which include a greater emphasis on music, arts, and crafts throughout all levels of school; early implementation of the three-language formula to promote multilingualism; teaching in the home/local language wherever possible; conducting more experiential language learning; the hiring of outstanding local artists, writers, crafts persons, and other experts as master instructors in various subjects of local expertise; accurate inclusion of traditional Indian knowledge including tribal and other local knowledge throughout into the curriculum, across humanities, sciences, arts, crafts, and sports, whenever relevant; and a much greater flexibility in the curriculum, especially in secondary schools and in higher education, so that students can choose the ideal balance among courses for themselves to develop their own creative, artistic, cultural, and academic paths.
22.14. India will also urgently expand its translation and interpretation efforts in order to make high-quality learning materials and other important written and spoken material available to the public in various Indian and foreign languages. For this, an Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation (IITI) will be established. Such an institute would provide a truly important service for the country, as well as employ numerous multilingual language and subject experts, and experts in translation and interpretation, which will help to promote all Indian languages. The IITI shall also make extensive use of technology to aid in its translation and interpretation efforts. The IITI could naturally grow with time, and be housed in multiple locations including in HEIs to facilitate collaborations with other research departments as demand and the number of qualified candidates grows.
22.15. Due to its vast and significant contributions and literature across genres and subjects, its cultural significance, and its scientific nature, rather than being restricted to single-stream Sanskrit Pathshalas and Universities, Sanskrit will be mainstreamed with strong offerings in school - including as one of the language options in the three-language formula - as well as in higher education. It will be taught not in isolation, but in interesting and innovative ways, and connected to other contemporary and relevant subjects such as mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, linguistics, dramatics, yoga, etc. Thus, in consonance with the rest of this policy, Sanskrit Universities too will move towards becoming large multidisciplinary institutions of higher learning. Departments of Sanskrit that conduct teaching and outstanding interdisciplinary research on Sanskrit and Sanskrit Knowledge Systems will be established/strengthened across the new multidisciplinary higher education system. Sanskrit will become a natural part of a holistic multidisciplinary higher education if a student so chooses. Sanskrit teachers in large numbers will be professionalized across the country in mission mode through the offering of 4-year integrated multidisciplinary B.Ed. dual degrees in education and Sanskrit.
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