An English teacher writes...

Dear student,

Though you have been good at all subjects, your level of proficiency in English is not good. You cannot be blamed for it. The medium of instruction in the school is Tamil. You have never heard your teachers, classmates or friends converse in English. Many students of the school are first ­generation learners.

You did not have many opportunities to develop your English language and communication skills. You were asked to memorise answers to questions. There was no one to motivate you to learn English as a life skill or a survival skill.

I can visualise how your first week or month in the university/college is going to be. The transition from school to college is not going to be smooth. Your class will have students from various places and mostly from cities. You will be sitting amidst English­speaking students who will introduce themselves saying that they studied in XYZ CBSE school.

You may feel uncomfortable being in their company. Your professors may use only English in the classroom.

You may hear English everywhere on the campus. Everything they say in English may sound like gibberish to you and you may feel that you have been thrown into an alien world.

You may experience ‘angloshock’. You may think “others know English but I don’t know the language and so I am not part of the group.” Some of your professors and classmates, instead of empathising with you, may ridicule you for not responding to their questions in English and may pull you down.

You may have a dilemma whether to continue or discontinue your studies.

You could be on the verge of breaking down and your dream, on the verge of getting shattered.

Be passionate about learning English. This is the first step in the journey to mastering the language. If you have the desire to learn the language, no one can stop you from doing it.