I hope those people who made snide remarks about Selma's family speaking in English are reading this on Goanet. If, their remarks continued even after being aware that she were a topped in her English classes -- then that says even more about how we have been colonizing our own minds. This problem is largely prevalent in Goans who have a disdain towards their mother tongue, which is remarkably less prevalent among other Indian communities -- in the last three generations. This point is only applicable to those who disowned the language, and not to those who cannot speak it as in the children. Leave the children alone. Perhaps for Goans as in having allowed ourselves to be so ingratiated towards things Inglez, its just that harder to wrap ones brains around more than two languages -- English and the basic Hindi that we so artfully speak with a limited vocabulary.
I also feel that for many the way up is via English, whatever its depth and their personal vicissitudes, that does not allow them the space which others may have gained or mastered over a couple of generations. So people do English or for that matter Konkani for various reasons that we may only surmise upon. My mother has a fourth sted education, so forget English, although she often said, Hindint ulloinaka, Inglexint ulloiat. Its just that she say things differently, meaning that, what she saw was the rank and file of the BPT work force around us in the BPT colony. My father was an engine driver (note not an engineer as in other English speaking countries); the others were call boys, greasers, coal-men, ash-men, diesel engine drivers, steam engine drivers, meachanics, etc., who larger spoke in Hindi in all ints inflections, including Urdu, Marathi, Kannada, Haryanvi and the few Goan households that spoke largely in English and Konkani besides speaking in other languages. Some of them worked towards getting their children into better schools where English was taught. In some families its not just English, but also other quantitative measures that matter -- the four poster bed, the number of children, how well they can dance, the brides trouseau with the loud lingerie -- earlier it was also whether they were doctors or engineers or chief engineers that mattered. So talk about crosses -- well we all have our own. venantius kyoto, japan > From: Carvalho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Goanet] Fined for speaking Konkani > > > We were the only family in our circle of friends in Dubai, who spoke > Konkani in the house. We were the butt of jokes and snide remarks but for > some reason Mum stuck to her guns and made us speak Konkani. Despite this, I > repeatedly topped the class in English, while those Goans who spoke English > in the house ate crow. I think, my English is okay, no man? :-) > > selma > >
