Comments on: Learning to be marginal

By: Translation Guy » Language Study and the Death of Dreams

Translation Guy » Language Study and the Death of Dreams — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:37:22 +0000

[…] writes in her article Learning to be marginal, “As I learnt more about the English fever gripping some Asian countries, my collaborators […]

By: Magalie Desgrippes

Magalie Desgrippes — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:50:43 +0000

Thank you very much for this very interesting perspective. It reminds me of the difference between France and Switzerland. In Switzerland, most of the people do a apprentissship and find a well paid job after that, in France, most of the people stay at school, and have the possibility to study, but then they wont find a job, so they have to face that kind of disappointment people suffer from in rural India.

By: Fahmina Naz

Fahmina Naz — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:46:58 +0000

Hi Ingrid
thank you for this article. it reminds me the condition in my country. people here think that only learning to Speak English will bring opportunities at their door steps but that is not the case in the real world. In fact they waste a lot of time and energy. but i think this is happening because people are just following a trend of learning English blindly without realizing what they want to achieve through it. Learning English may open doors for you if you are clear about your goal.

thank you again

Fahmina (Karachi, Pakistan)

By: Motoko Sugano

Motoko Sugano — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:25:41 +0000

Thank you for posting this thought provoking article. I have been thinking about this issue since I read a while ago. I found the cases in rural India interesting. It is grave indeed if education gives disadvantages to students. While I do not agree with the idea that education should meet what is required in the job market — I sort of believe in humanities teaching –, we should be well aware that education sometimes alienates people from jobs, and maybe from their ideal self. I guess people have ability to live with their disappointment, but that is another issue. There are a lot to think about.

By: Ann Foreman

Ann Foreman — Tue, 31 May 2011 07:58:59 +0000

Hi Ingrid,
Have just posted a link to this on the TEachingEnglish facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil/posts/151789158223379 if you’d like to check there for comments.

Best,

Ann

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:13:12 +0000

In reply to Ingrid Piller. Thanks for your comment, Rebecca! I'm very curious about your male international students wanting to find a "Princess Charming":-) Can you tell us more?

By: oet course

oet course — Fri, 27 May 2011 22:02:29 +0000

As Jason west said people should concentrate in English. Particularly middle class & poor. why because English will play main role in their career, and they need to settle-down in their life.

By: jason west

jason west — Thu, 26 May 2011 22:14:17 +0000

Great article, very thought provoking. It saddens me that so many people have spent so much very hard earned money in attempts to learn English to a good level and have not achieved their goal. Whether it be poor and out if date teaching methods or the fact that English is an aspirational ‘luxury good’ that only a few gave been able to afford to master, there can be no doubt that a lot of learners do not have their expectations met. It is possible to help chronic long time struggling English learners, and it can be done incredibly affordable. My company did some audio case studies with learners using social media as a learning tool. If you go to our website you can hear what happened.

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:37:21 +0000

In reply to Rebecca. You are right, of course :-) I was just referring to Kimie's study, which was specifically with single Japanese women and which we've discussed extensively here on Language-on-the-Move. You can find one published version here.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 25 May 2011 11:39:46 +0000

“Prince Charming”? Were the students you spoke to overwhelmingly female? If so, then your use of the word “Prince” makes sense, but my experience with overseas students is that they are male and female – and the male students aren’t adverse to finding a “Princess Charming” (or whatever the equivalent to that is).

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Wed, 25 May 2011 07:36:41 +0000

Thanks, Ingrid, for this post! It reminded me of a small town in Myanmar I visited a few weeks ago. From what I heard from some locals, private English language schools are a booming business there, but only accessible to middle and upper middle class families. The students (or their parents) pay a lot of money to study English as they aspire to find work in the only thriving local industry, i.e., tourism. There is a sense of concern, though that as more locals acquire English proficiency, the value of English speaking skills may go down (resulting in less salary – we’ve already seen that in many countries including Japan and Korea). But they are bound to this job market – there doesn’t seem to be much incentive in creating other sustainable businesses.

By: Jean Cho

Jean Cho — Wed, 25 May 2011 04:59:04 +0000

What a fascinating story! Thanks millions for sharing this. It is very relevant to my studies 🙂