I was in college in Goa when this teenager was shot and killed by the Central Reserve Police Force, right by his house on the Borda (Margao) - Curtorim road. I clearly remember, visiting his family and attending his funeral, just two or three days before Christmas in 1986. This was a time, when Goa was going through a tumultous phase, to get recognition for Konkanni as its official state language.
While its a nice thing to have an official language and possibly, enforce its use in government correspondence and other cultural matters, I do not remain convinced that its beneficial to teach every subject in the first four grades in Konkanni. Imagine the shock this can create, when kids going into fifth grade, suddenly have to switch to English !!! I believe kids in Goa ought to learn Konkanni as just one of the languages. The rest of the subjects should be taught in English - just like the way, I went through schooling, when I was a kid and raised in Goa. The Konkanni medium schooling has created such a mess, that almost all well-to-do Goans, now send their kids to private schools, where they teach English medium right from get go. Ofcourse, Konkanni is also taught, but as one of the languages. This has created a situation where those parents who cannot afford to send their kids to private schools, are left to learn - ek ... dhon ... theen ... humprey Augutin ... Jim F. New York. -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "domnic fernandes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > These days, a lot is written on Konkani language on various Goan websites. > While our efforts are on to have the proposed amendment incorporated in > Clause 2 (c) of the Language Act of 1987 to read Konkani language means > Konkani language in Devanagari and Roman scripts, let us pay a tribute to > Florean Vaz, the first martyr of Konkani language. > > Here are the lyrics of the song UGDDAS FLOREAN VAZ-ACHO by Rock Dias which > takes us back to the day of Floreans martyrdom: >
