The English Pedestal

            In the pedestal that rises beyond the Sky Tower, the Burj Khalifa, and anything rather extraordinarily tall, lies the exalted and praised English language. The PBS documentary A Story of English: An English Speaking World supports this phenomenon of English greatness by stating that half of the world’s telephones ring in English-speaking countries, that seventy-five percent of telegrams are in English, that half of the world’s ten thousand newspapers are in English... you can pretty much sense where this is going. This documentary was made in 1986 and yet it is pretty well-understood that English’s role as a key aspect of society has not decreased in the time that has elapsed since then.

            There are different types of English. There is the PBS English, the Public School English, etc. I have yet to know  how said types of English are meant to be capitalized so please excuse the massive ‘p’ and ‘e’ of the latter if it is incorrectly used (Ah, a great example of the mechanization and grammar of English put into action). When I heard the term “Private School English” I thought it was a joke. Seriously? There was a specific type of English used in the secluded, prison-like edifices of boarding schools? And it was such an occurrence that it is considered its own brand of English? Get this, research in Britain showed that “people using this accent are thought more intelligent, more trustworthy, even better looking.” All this brings to mind is the movie The Dead Poet Society with Robin Williams and the not-so-genetically-gifted students. But seriously, if it meant the fact that boarding schools give you education and ergo deem you more intelligent, that would make up at least a rational reasoning for their conjecture. But this argument towards Boarding School English, the one that supposedly makes you more attractive just because your r’s are silent and your t’s barely resonate, does not entice me in any way to agree with the build-up of the praise of the English language.

             English is classy. That’s basically what this documentary portrays throughout its multiple interviews. No English, no class. JK, I exaggerate. And yet a couple of interviews with some girls from India show that the reality of this is quite close. After the “era of decolonization, the empire left but the language stayed," says the narrator after the interviews are displayed. The British left their mark in India and a girl confronts this issue when she says that the British used to sell them the idea that English represents class and it is still an ideal in India today. One of the girls said that “every guy in today’s society wants a women speaks English. He wants to move her out in clubs, go to the movies and meet his friends.” Another one cleared this up by bluntly saying that “English is a prerequisite for wives.” English is socially desirable. Of course, the extent of English’s blanket covering up of the world changes depending on where that impact is. In India, as seen, it is a very important aspect of their culture and dictates how  a person is seen in society. In Africa, on the other hand, it is seen mostly as a link language that helps people be considered for jobs, seeing as it ‘links’ all the countries that obtain very different languages. It does not define you, per say, but it certainly helps open up your horizons in the business world and develop you as a person.

            California is one of the reasons English has spread to such crevices of the Earth’s surface. Its successful and world-enchanting movie and music dispersal have covered a lot of surface area in how much of the world is now speaking English and holding it in such a bright light. Great. Seriously. Good for English and good for the world to have at least one language connecting it all. But as I was searching the Internet I found this guy saying that “English truly is the number one language in the world, and you don't need to know any other languages. People who don't speak English are illiterate in global terms. Thus English-speaking nations are superior to all other nations on Earth,” and I found that so supercilious and gag-worthy. To think that a person that doesn’t know English is in a any way inferior to someone who does, to truly believe that, is repulsing. And for someone to say that you don’t need to know other languages is the most ignorant sentence to grace my ears. While some people know four languages that maybe don’t include English ( Still, four languages), you only know one, which actually makes them a little bit more “literate” than you. Sure, English should be known and it does help one succeed in the global perspective but it is not something that should dictate one’s persona so abysmally. 

The Story of English: An English Speaking World. William Cran. 1986.Documentary. PBS.1986.