Apropos Frederick FN Noronha <[email protected]> of Mon, 23 Jul 2012 Dear FN, I joined this "debate" because you specifically mentioned my name in one of your posts. I came in hoping to broaden and deepen my understanding of the issue with the help of information and insights which I expected from you. But I am disappointed! You have provided nothing but imaginary bugbears, borrowed fears, half-baked assertions and plain balderdash. In sum, this "debate" has been, I am afraid, a colossal waste of time and band-width. And now you have brought in some more inanities, tagged with emoticons! Emoticons are also a means to absolve oneself of the responsibility for the statement made. You say, << At the end of the day (rather, each night) I have the uneasy task of teaching my son a language which the State decides is his "mother tongue" but which is as alien as Latin or Greek.>> The problem here is that you are trying to teach your son something that you have yourself not learnt, and do not know. Hiring professional help would have been the wise thing to do, both for your child and for you. << Your response to Point No 3 -- raising more questions to meet a discussion -- gives me the feeling that you are *pretending* to be asleep. I am definitely no expert in waking up those who pretend to be asleep...>> This whole "debate" has given the message, loud and clear, that you are talking in your sleep while *pretending* to be awake. I had asked you to substantiate your statement with details about the existence of Padribhas and Bamonbhas dialects in Goa. To the best of my knowledge, this info is not available anywhere. But if sources could be located, and a potential for sufficient data established, I could suggest this topic for a (M.Phil. or Ph.D.) dissertation. But you only threw up a non sequitur. I am really interested academically in this topic; and, therefore, would be obliged to anyone coming forward with some useful inputs. << I'm stuck at a more fundamental level. My point is how do I manage to wake him up when he prefers sleeping in bed to Sunday school and obligation>> I assure you that you are not the only parent who has this problem. But does this happen only on Sundays? If yes, the problem needs some analysis. The Sunday school lasts for an hour at the most, whilst the Weekday school lasts for at least four. The starting timings for either, I assume, are practically the same. Does it mean, therefore, that your child detests the shorter Sunday school in Romi Konkani more than he does the longer Weekday school in Devanagari Konkani? << As far as the Church books are concerned, these are, fortunately, in both the Romi and Devanagari scripts of Konkani.>> The books that you are talking about here ara Sunday school books. And when you say that they are "in both the Romi and Devanagari scripts OF Konkani" what you mean to say is "they are in Konkani written in both the Romi ani Devanagari scripts. " But are the dialects used in the two scripts different, i.e. Bardezi in Romi and Antruzi in Devanagari? Remember your statement: "Devanagari invariably gets linked to the Antruzi dialect, …………… Romi is mostly tied to Bardezi. " << From Romi Konkani, I'm translating to Romi English >> Why do you have to translate the Romi Konkani to Romi English? The reason is very simple. Your problem is neither the script nor the dialect; it is the *language*! You presume, rightly or wrongly, that the only language your child understands is English. Hence, you try to feed him Konkani with an English spoon; you transliterate the Devanagari Konkani using Anglicized Romi orthography and translate Romi Konkani into Romi English! I am inclined to agree, almost in toto, with the post of Jose Colaco <[email protected]> of the same date. But I think his point no. 3 has been misstated. With all due regard for Jose Colaco's expertise with the English language, I am afraid that it did not make sense in my not-so-perfect English. Sebastian Borges On Mon, 23 Jul 2012 Frederick FN Noronha <[email protected]> wrote: Dear Prof Borges, You have a number of points, but I'm sorry I cannot agree with you. At the end of the day (rather, each night) I have the uneasy task of teaching my son a language which the State decides is his "mother tongue" but which is as alien as Latin or Greek. Well, almost! Your response to Point No 3 -- raising more questions to meet a discussion -- gives me the feeling that you are *pretending* to be asleep. I am definitely no expert in waking up those who pretend to be asleep... As for your last point, about the Church using a different orthography and teaching such skills to my son, I'm stuck at a more fundamental level. My point is how do I manage to wake him up when he prefers sleeping in bed to Sunday school and obligation :-) As far as the Church books are concerned, these are, fortunately, in both the Romi and Devanagari scripts of Konkani. This makes it easier for me.>>From Romi Konkani, I'm translating to Romi English :-) Sooner or later, maybe in this generation itself, we might ultimately get the point across. In the end, Goa might have some of the best translators in the world. FN And on 23 Jul 2012 Jose Colaco <[email protected]> wrote: Whatever the merits of the terms Padribhas and Bamonbhas, I invite myself to concentrate on the following: 1: parents should have the right to educate their children in the medium of instruction (MOI) they (the parents) reasonably believe is the best for the economic future of their children. ( those who have NOT or do NOT have that responsibility and financial burden will NOT understand this). 2: some years ago, that (advantageous - as far as Goans in Goa were concerned) MOI was Portuguese. Tomorrow, it might still be Portuguese or Chinese, but today, it IS English. 3: those parents who wish to NOT provide their children with this communication head start should do so; that is their right. 4: those who have NO such emotional or financial responsibility for their own children, may still continue to emit natural gas; those who get sucked into such stratospheric arguments .... Well, what can one say except: All the best. 5: my personal take on this: All this highly-intelligent stuff aka Padribhas or Bamonbhas can #??#%. The smart Goans will speak Amchibhas at home and study in English. Thereafter, they will work hard, constantly upgrade themselves, work even harder and with honesty ..... and make their family and Goa proud of their achievements ...... Like Goans have done for the past 200 years, at least, the ignoramuses Having been noted. jcSebastian Borges
