| Username |
Post |
| Biswo |
Posted
on 04-Feb-02 09:34 PM
So,now holy Moslem scripture Quran is in Nepali language too. As Kantipur reports
today.see:
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kantipur_html/kantipur_news1.htm#12
Madarsas in Terai used to force Nepali Moslems to study Farsi and Arabic under
the pretext of necessity to read Quran. I have nothing against Nepali Moslems
and their tradition, but it sounded to me little bit unnatural to push the poor
Moslem kids of Bara/Parsa this unsalable, unused language of middle east down
the throat for reading Quran. I mean, you can read Quran in Nepali or English.
Making these kids good in these language is of immediate benefit to them, we
know. By teaching Farsi/Arabic, and by not teaching them Math/English/Science,
old clerics are not doing justice to them.
*******---------------**********---------------------------*************
Another momentous decision was done by Nepal Bhasa department of Tribhuvan
University when they said Sanskrit would be taught in that department. This is
a slap to people like Padma Ratna who tried to delude Nepal-Bhasa people , and
turn them against this ancient language.
Every single great poets of Nepal Bhasa used Sanskrit profusely. Ranjana Lipi was
not an alternative to Sanskrit, it was a enhancement produced by innovative
Kathmanduites. Nepal bhasa was always indebted to Sanskrit for providing base
of grammars, and rich vocabulary to use. For their petty political interest, a few
leftists in Kathmandu tried to turn people against their heritage, but their bubble
of lies was bound to bust over time. I mean, come on dudes, you got to have
something else to politicize.
***************--------------**************--------------***************
Tomorrow Nepal will play against Bangladesh in U19 Semifinal Cricket. A live score
report will be featured in this site, for those who are interested, please, have a
look.
http://www-uk9.cricket.org/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2001-02/OTHERS+ICC/U19-WC2002/
It will be fun to monitor the result, I think. Don't blame me if this low key, low turn
out event will not be reported live there. They did report another semi-final live
there.
********************----------------------**************------------------
Some other ridiculous things:
A Nepali Congress investigation committee finds Bal Bahadur KC is wallowing
in corruption. Good. The report is being used by likes of Govinda Raj Joshi to oust
likes of Bal Bdr KC.Btw, dudes, do you think NC is gonna win next election if they
change six PM in this five years? I doubt very much.
Chandra Shekhar now says King Birendra was great , this , that, etc., see
yesterday's Kantipur editorial by Yuvaraj Ghimire for that. So, it is clear now that
every foreigner and Nepali is gonna say King Birendra really cared for Nepali
citizens, wanted the country to be rich etc etc. I know , I know, he was a nice
guy. But there got to be someone to take blame for our woes of last thirty years,
and despite his personable personality, the king shares some blame. I mean, come
on, if the king was thinking for almost two decades that autocracy could be mean
to develop Nepal, even after attending Harvard and Tokyo University,god bless
him and his ingenuity.He was a nice guy, but by protecting all corrupts, and by
shackling people for decades, he did a great injustice to Nepali in his first two
decades.
|
| Nepe |
Posted
on 05-Feb-02 02:21 PM
Fine commentaries, Biswoji. Predictably (here I am assuming I have established my signature as a pro-republican in this forum, at least Hahooguru will agree on this, ha-ha ) I am delighted to read the last piece which belongs to my all time favorite realm.
Here are my passing comments on Madarsas, Sanskrit and the subject I am struggling to understand.
1. I do not have a good knowledge about how Madasras in Terai are conducted, therefore I do not qualify to make any judgemental comment. However, my takes are:
a. From moral/ethical/political/philosophical point of view, it is wrong to impose on innocent children’s mind anything that is scientifically unsound or controversial (such as religion) as truth. So I oppose religious schools for children. For adults who are capable of making their own informed choices, I don’t mind if there are such schools out there. But I am not going to send my kids there.
b. It is wrong to deprive children of education which makes them competent and skilled in contemporary modern time. Biswo is right to say that if math/science/English are not taught, it is injustice.
c. Secular education for children is a responsibility of the state.
2. Regarding Sanskrit, teaching it at university level is fine. But making it compulsory at school level is, in my view, unnecessary. You can master Nepali language and Ranjana Lipi without memorizing ‘Pathati Pathata Pathatha Pratham Purush.. or Raama Raamau Raamaa Prathamaa.. and so on.
3. Bishow wrote-
>Chandra Shekhar now says King Birendra was
>great , this , that, etc., see yesterday's Kantipur
>editorial by Yuvaraj Ghimire for that. So, it is clear
>now that every foreigner and Nepali is gonna say
>King Birendra really cared for Nepali citizens,
>wanted the country to be rich etc etc. I know ,
>I know, he was a nice guy. But there got to be
>someone to take blame for our woes of last
>thirty years, and despite his personable
>personality, the king shares some blame.
>I mean, come on, if the king was thinking for
>almost two decades that autocracy could be
>mean to develop Nepal, even after attending
>Harvard and Tokyo University,god bless him
>and his ingenuity.He was a nice guy, but by
>protecting all corrupts, and by shackling
>people for decades, he did a great injustice
>to Nepali in his first two decades.
I commend Biswo’s audacity and guts to say things like that when all seem joining the bandwagon of what I don’t know what it is called. Anyway, I am glad to see that some people haven’t lost critical thinking amongst overwhelming crowd of people with safe game plan and cheap mentality. Great ! Biswo.
This context reminds me a similar commentary that appeared in TND long time ago. I am digging it out again and putting it here. It is an interesting read. Here it goes.
**************************************************************
The Nepal Digest - Feb 10, 1999 (26 Magh 2055 BkSm)
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 13:04:39 +0300
To: NEPAL@cs.niu.edu
From: deepak@bgumail.bgu.ac.il (Deepak Khandka)
Subject: Re:Confucius's teaching and the King's illness
Confucius's teaching and the King's illness
Confusing teaching on the King's illness
This is to comment on Rabindra Mishra's piece titled 'Confucius's teaching
and the King's illness' (source: People's Review) appeared on TND on Jan.
20, 1999.20
In a piece Mr. Mishra wrote to express his anger over the inadequate
information he and 'the loyal subjects of the King' received from the
palace about the health situation of the King, he says many interesting
things. He writes that the King is the only figure genuinely respected in
the country, there is a very high public support for the King at the
moment, Bhai-Bhardars and the palace officials were responsible for all the
'supposed' wrongdoing of the King during Panchayat era, etc.
Does the writer have a hidden intention to revive the autocratic rule of the
King again? Otherwise, what is the point of the writer in saying all these
when the King is not the ruler of the country but just the constitutional
figure head? Is the writer not aware that we now have democracy and the
democratic institutions in the country? The inadequacy of the information
on King's health situation does not affect the day to day running of the
country. Besides, it may well be King's private matters.
Since I do not know writer's other political views, I refrain from my
temptation to view him as a 'pseudo-sophisticated MANDALE'. However I would
like to attract his as well as reader's attention to his following arguments,
|
| Nepe |
Posted
on 05-Feb-02 02:23 PM
continued....
1) The King is respected
It is not the point. The point should be if the King respected or respects
the people. The King is respected by the common people anyway. It is a
matter of tradition, culture and psychology. When the King was an
autocratic ruler, it was the enormous power, wealth, luxury, class and the
heredity he carried, was the source of the respect. Now, it is everything
except the power. If the King becomes a beggar, like some ex-Rajas I heard
are in India today, I wonder what will be the situation of this respect.
If the writer meant to say that our King has gained the public respect since
the restoration of democracy because of his good behavior (like he did not
attempt to regain his lost power, he acted strictly according to the
constitution made by Nepali people), he is probably right. And thanks to
the constitutional sovereignty to the people that the King does not have
the power to abuse !
By stating that the King is the only figure in the country genuinely
respected, the writer seems connoting that the political leaders of the
country do not have public respect today. The writer is right on this. All
the political leaders of today are NALAYAK and it is a disappointing and
shameful situation for all of us. But the solution of this problem can not
be the King. It should be the people, always the people. We are entering
into the twenty-first century and there is no room for the absolute
monarchy in it.
2) Bhai-Bhardar were bad, not the King
This is a myth wide spread among the common people. Learned historians will
tell how much of it has the historical contribution and how much of it may
have been created and spread by the machinery of the palace. However, this
myth has been a wonderful blessing to the King. Not all the monarchs of the
world were fortunate to have such a blessing.
Dear Mr. Rabindra Mishra, we are not talking about a baby King. We are
talking about a college educated mature King. I can not imagine that our
King was unaware of the fact that he kept the Nepali people deprived of
democracy, human rights and sovereignty in a world of twentieth century. Or
has he not learnt about these concepts ? Mr. Mishra, you sound knowing a
lot about it, so please tell us. Poor Bhardar and secretaries, you did your
job to increase the life, wealth, power and influence of the King. And what
did you get in return? A chanting of death to you by public and its
justification by Rabindra Mishra and likes !
Mr. Mishra, before you put all the blames on the Bhardars and palace
secretaries, I would like you to pay attention to a line from a song of the
Hindi film 'Sharabi'-
Nasha sharab me hota to nachati bottle
(Should alcohol contain the intoxicity, the bottle would dance)
3) Keeping the public in dark about the palace shortens the life of a monarchy?
No. In fact, the opposite is true. If Mr. Mishra or any others are
interested to have this riddle solved, I will contribute it on TND next time.
Finally, I admit and apologize in advance for using a few strong
expression and sounding attacking your opinions, Mr. Mishra. I do not know
anything more about you. You are probably a man of intellect, reason and honesty.
With due respect and apology in advance,
-Deepak Khadka Ben Gurion University Sede Boker Israel
**************************************************************
Nepe
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 05-Feb-02 04:06 PM
Nepeji:
In most of the third world countries, popularity is a convenient veil behind which
dictators hide their malpractices. That's why I think we must treat these two
things separately. My attempt in the previous posting was to treat them as
discrete subjects.
I think the king was a nice guy. He was,mostly, very popular among his subjects
also. But that doesn't necessarily make him correct. He made a lot of mistakes,
and those mistakes should be identified. When evaluating him, we shouldn't get
carried away.I am not a supporter of republican agenda rightnow(as you know),
but that doesn't mean I want to condone everything previous kings did. They made
mistakes, and only by identifying such mistakes can we move forward. If we don't
identify mistakes, we won't learn from them.Mistakes should be identified, and
acknowledged, errants should be chastised, and any future aberrations should
be ruled out based on findings of such previous mistakes.
Re: your view on Sanskrit.
> But making it compulsory at school level is, in my view, unnecessary. You can
>master Nepali language and Ranjana Lipi without memorizing ‘Pathati Pathata
>Pathatha Pratham Purush.. or Raama Raamau Raamaa Prathamaa.. and so on.
(as an aside, I just read this report about grisly homicide of a Sanskrit teacher in
Lamjung. Please take a few minutes to read them!)
http://www.nepalihimal.com/magh16-30-2058/awaran-sichakmathi.htm
I think a smattering knowledge of Sanskrit language helps people to write good
language. I also partially reject the theory that Bahuns are the only one who
benefits from such provision in highschool. I mean, come on, there are no few
anti-Sanskrit dudes who theorize that Sanskrit is a dead language, and yet
argue that Bahuns get benefit of this language, because they 'use' Sanskrit in
home.With some adjustment, Sanskrit I think should be taught in highschool,
because that is where you learn languages fast.To me, this hullaballoo about
Sanskrit is unnecessary thing. If a Kirat (Swami Prapannacharya) can study
Sanskrit better than Bahuns and priestly Newars, where is this benefit thing
correctly fits?
What an irony, MR Babu Ram Bhattarai and Prachanda's articles are profused
with Sanskrit words, but they are the one who oppose Sanskrit loudly. I mean,
they should try Jharro(Tana Sharma's) in stead.
>I commend Biswo’s audacity and guts to say things like that when all seem joining
>the bandwagon of what I don’t know what it is called. Anyway, I am glad to see
>that some people haven’t lost critical thinking amongst overwhelming crowd of
>people with safe game plan and cheap mentality. Great ! Biswo.
Thanks, Nepeji.(I probably don't deserve such praise, btw.)
|
| Nepe |
Posted
on 05-Feb-02 11:12 PM
Biswoji,
You wrote-
>I am not a supporter of republican agenda right now (as you know),
Yes, I do.
> I think a smattering knowledge of Sanskrit language helps people to write good
>language.
It might HELP, but it is not INDISPENSABLE. Learning Sanskrit grammar in school is of no use. So far as enriching Sanskrit originated vocabulary is concerned, it can be done as a part of Nepali language class.
However, if there is a purpose of preparing experts in Nepali language (presumably in college/university), this is entirely a different subject. In such a case, learning Sanskrit may be very valuable and perhaps indispensable.
> I also partially reject the theory that Bahuns are the only one who
>benefits from such provision in high school. I mean, come on, there are no few
>anti-Sanskrit dudes who theorize that Sanskrit is a dead language, and yet
>argue that Bahuns get benefit of this language, because they 'use' Sanskrit in
>home.
If there is indeed such theory, then, as far as I can imagine, it tells that Bahuns benefit from Sanskrit not directly but indirectly, not from its practical use but from presumed symbolical use to reiterate Bahun Supremacy, again assuming such things exist. Its mostly psychological thing, I guess.
>With some adjustment, Sanskrit I think should be taught in highschool,
>because that is where you learn languages fast.To me, this hullaballoo about
>Sanskrit is unnecessary thing. If a Kirat (Swami Prapannacharya) can study
>Sanskrit better than Bahuns and priestly Newars, where is this benefit thing
>correctly fits?
As I said before, for professionals related to the language, learning Sanskrit is necessary. Since only a small fraction of high school students are going to make Sanskrit originated languages as their profession, making Sanskrit compulsory in high school may be a waste. Perhaps putting it as an optional subject is an option to consider.
>What an irony, MR Babu Ram Bhattarai and Prachanda's articles are profused
>with Sanskrit words, but they are the one who oppose Sanskrit loudly. I mean,
>they should try Jharro(Tana Sharma's) instead.
I am sure Bhattarai and Dahal are not against Sanskrit language per se, but against the role it might/is playing to support/preserve feudal culture. For them, its like police and army of feudal culture which they want to destroy. In my view, death of a soldier is a big irony of our time. But it happens everyday. Who is to be blamed ? War, warrior or the thing they go in war for ?
>(as an aside, I just read this report about grisly homicide of a Sanskrit teacher in
>Lamjung. Please take a few minutes to read them!)
I am stunned to read it. A horrible act. It should be condemned by all. It seems we are going to witness more and more cruelty and barbarism in coming days, commited by Maoists as well as army and the police. The later is yet to find way to the press. This subject begs a lot of discussion. That’s for next time or thread.
>Thanks, Nepeji.(I probably don't deserve such praise, btw.)
Please don’t reject my praise. Honestly, I did not find anybody else to praise. That’s why I could not post in ‘Top ten respectable persons’ thread.
Nepe
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 06-Feb-02 11:37 AM
Nepeji:
>It might HELP, but it is not INDISPENSABLE. Learning Sanskrit grammar in school
>is of no use. So far as enriching Sanskrit originated vocabulary is concerned, it
>can be done as a part of Nepali language class.
I think Sanskrit is a very useful language to everybody who wants to write good
languages. I agree with you that it is not indispensable for highschool students.
I also agree with the fact that vocabulary enrichment can be done in Nepali class,
so Sanskrit is not necessary for that. But, given the fact most of the history of
region from India to China are scripted in Sanskrit, most of the languages in the
region comprising world's two of four eldest civilizations were based on Sanskrit,
gives credence to the fact that the more we affiliated ourselves with Sanskrit, the
better is for us.
I like the proposition of making Sanskrit OPTIONAL in highschool. Why only Sanskrit? Why not geography, history, Moral Science, Social science etc?
I am against forcing anything to students, let me be clear on this.
>If there is indeed such theory, then, as far as I can imagine, it tells that Bahuns
>benefit from Sanskrit not directly but indirectly, not from its practical use but
>from presumed symbolical use to reiterate Bahun Supremacy, again assuming
>such things exist. Its mostly psychological thing, I guess.
I think it is wrong to say that Bahuns benefit from the language and so the
language need to be checked. I mean, come on, should we stop English now?
should we stop French now?, from becoming lingo of international parleys and
journals. However we love our language, we need to accept one language ,
presumably the one where innovative technologies are scripted, as the language
of international communication.
In one of my past postings, I cited the result of one of the international conference
on Sanskrit and computing science held in Louisiana in the last decade, which
provided some glaring examples of how the finding of Sanskrit in first milleniums
were repeated in the later part of second millenium in west. Formal language,
Binary Digits, etc were the concepts written in Sanskrit first, but due to our gross
neglect of this language,its relegation to a language learned by some privileged groups,its importance diminished gradually, and now we in Nepal are trying to
totally misrepresent it as priestly,dead and unuseful language.
>I am sure Bhattarai and Dahal are not against Sanskrit language per se, but
>against the role it might/is playing to support/preserve feudal culture. For them,
>its like police and army of feudal culture which they want to destroy. In my view,
>death of a soldier is a big irony of our time. But it happens everyday. Who is to
>be blamed ? War, warrior or the thing they go in war for ?
If the attacks focussed on Sanskrit teachers and highschools is any example, I don't see how Mr Bhattarais and his ragtag gang of rebels have any respect for
this language in any form. I mean, killing a Sanskrit teacher because Sanskrit was
used by Bahuns was the most silly thing. What next? Killing English teachers? After
all, English is the mother language of Yankees, and used by the imperialists of the
world!
I sincerely hope they will mend their way.The so called revolution has touched
the nadir of absurdity and relevance in Nepali politics.
|
| Nepe |
Posted
on 06-Feb-02 10:33 PM
Biswoji wrote-
>But, given the fact most of the history of region from India to
>China are scripted in Sanskrit, most of the languages in the
>region comprising world's two of four eldest civilizations
>were based on Sanskrit, gives credence to the fact that the
>more we affiliated ourselves with Sanskrit, the better is for us.
In addition, I am aware of one more logic given in favor of school that thinks Sanskrit is better for us- that it can serve as a source for inventing new phrases/ technical terms as need arises. We all are familiar with Sanskrit derived phrases/terms for modern scientific and technical terms we import from India. It was fun when I heard words like Roopabaahinnee (TV), Doorbhaash (Telephone), Abhiyantrikee (Engineering), Jaibapradhyaugikee (Biotechnology) and so on for the first time. Anyway, as now I am talking about presently dominant movement of Sanskritization of Hindi/Nepali, I am of the opinion that it is no good. It is better to use original (English) words. When the language of conversation and now TV/radio shows of Indians and Nepalese in Hingrezi/Nepangrezi (Hinglish/Nepalingish ?) is becoming fact of life, it looks ridiculous to Sanskritize Hindi/Nepali. Sanskritization movement at best is the reflection of our inferiority complex. We do not lose our identity/heritage/bla-bla-bla by using original English words when Nepali equivalent is absent or readily not available. Nobody is going to mistake us for English/American. I am confident about this.
Now to your argument that the history of our region is scripted in Sanskrit, so our affiliation to Sanskrit should be better for us, I think the argument is hypothetical. Granted all history of whole region is scripted in Sanskrit, granted all scripts of ancient knowledge (Veda, Upanishada, Brahman, Aayurveda, Purans, everything) are scripted in Sanskrit. So what ? A few scholars can learn Sanskrit and translate those books in Nepali for the rest of us. It is not necessary for everybody to learn Sanskrit to acquire that knowledge. You don’t need to go to do farming to get your meal. Your wallet and good resturants are good enough.
>If the attacks focussed on Sanskrit teachers and highschools
>is any example, I don't see how Mr Bhattarais and his ragtag
>gang of rebels have any respect for this language in any
>form. I mean, killing a Sanskrit teacher because Sanskrit
>was used by Bahuns was the most silly thing.
I agree. I just want to add that the murder does not appear to be solely linked to anti-Sanskrit cause. The news mentions the victim’s political affiliation to the ruling party and that Maoists suspected him as being ‘Suraki’. In any case it was a horrible crime. What concerns me more is how many of such innocent victims might have been sacrificed in this ongoing war, absurd for you and me, but everything for the warring parties, both Maoists rebels and the establishment.
>I sincerely hope they will mend their way. The so called
>revolution has touched the nadir of absurdity and relevance
>in Nepali politics.
Let’s hope so, not forgetting what kind of people are representing the establishment. If we let the blind lady to hold the string of the balance, we may see not much of a difference in the level of pans. But again, why would a blind lady hold the string of the balance at the first place ?
Nepe
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 08-Feb-02 04:42 PM
>It was fun when I heard words like Roopabaahinnee (TV), Doorbhaash
>(Telephone), Abhiyantrikee (Engineering), Jaibapradhyaugikee (Biotechnology)
>and so on for the first time. Anyway, as now I am talking about presently
>dominant movement of Sanskritization of Hindi/Nepali, I am of the opinion that it
>is no good. It is better to use original (English) words.
Nepeji:
I agree with the fact that a few people can learn sanskrit and translate it for
others. I know quite a few computer science professors/philosophy professors
who participated in this Sanskrit/Computer Science related conference held in
Louisiana last decade. If the participation in such conference is any clue, Nepali
won't be in the forefront of gaining from Sanskrit, because no Nepali was there.
As always, Indians will almost exclusively benefit from that too. And some
Germans and Americans. Our smart people, at least now, don't study Sanskrit.
Now as for the weird translation of English to Sanskrit, you are right that they
sound weird. But , it may also be a reason of wrong non-user-friendly translation.
I mean, Chinese use their own language to say Radio, TV, Telephone, Rail and
all those things. It doesn't sound weird to me, or to any Chinese.
I don't advocate making language tough. The words that the people accept are
the part of language.A peek through Brihat Nepali Shabdakosh reveals that TV,
Water, Radio etc are all entered there as Nepali words.
It is ,afterall, always comfortable to live in the castle somebody else has made for
himself. However, the solution is to make our own small and beautiful home. The
earlier we can wean ourselves away (not forcefully, but naturally) the better it is
for our overall creativity and satisfaction.
My two cents only.
|
| Gandhi |
Posted
on 08-Feb-02 05:49 PM
I have been missing most interesting GBNC threads for a long time. This discussion between Biswoji and Nepeji is very interesting to me. Once I started reading, I forgot about my exams next Monday. Though I am reluctant to write my own views ...... keep the good flow.
|
| Nepe |
Posted
on 09-Feb-02 03:17 PM
Biswoji wrote-
>Now as for the weird translation of English to Sanskrit,
>you are right that they sound weird. But , it may also
>be a reason of wrong non-user-friendly translation.
>I mean, Chinese use their own language to say Radio,
>TV, Telephone, Rail and all those things. It doesn't
>sound weird to me, or to any Chinese.
>I don't advocate making language tough. The words
>that the people accept are the part of language.A
>peek through Brihat Nepali Shabdakosh reveals that
>TV, Water, Radio etc are all entered there as Nepali
>words.
I am not uncomfortable with the weird translation of English to Sanskrit, but rather with the whole idea of translation/invention/creation of Sanskrit equivalence of every technological term. Can we ever catch/keep up with advances in the field of science and technology happening so fast that we see everyday new terms coming out ? I don’t think we can. We will need a large number of experts who are ever vigilant, up-to-date (actually up-to-hour or up-to-minute) and expert in multiple disciplines. Even this will not be sufficient. Then comes training/informing the public. Then comes popular acceptance and etc etc. So the practical question is- is this a worthy/pragmatic/economical/wise thing to do ?
I do not know what Chinese are doing. If they have translated/created a few common technological words into Chinese, that’s fine. However, if they are up to translating everything into Chinese, I am not sure if that is helpful to Chinese dream of becoming a world power in future. Sinofication of technology, if they indeed have it as a policy, may be a legacy of Mao. At Mao’s time such thing may have a favorable political implication, but I do hope present reforming and ambitious China do not see much of a value in it.
Now back to our own country, even if we somehow succeed to develop an usable and competitive technological language in NepaliSanskrit, what is it gonna serve ?
Are we going to have more qualified experts because our students will learn faster in their native language than if they do in foreign language ? (more creativity ?)
Is it an act of preserving/promoting our identity ? (pride, satisfaction ?)
In my B.Sc. class in Nepal, I had a friend who had studied science (I.Sc. level) in Hindi. I witnessed how hard it was for him to switch to English in B.Sc. So, I don’t think we actually facilitate learning or produce more competent student by exclusive use of native language. Actually we do the opposite in the real world we have.
Regarding need of identity issue, what can be better example than Israel ? Identity is their life and death question. A friend of mine who lived in Israel says they have not adopted a purist approach regarding their language. While they have Hebrew words for very limited technological words, they use almost all original technological words with slight modification to suite their tongue (I guess). Example: Bee-oh-tek-no-lo-gia (Biotechnology), Te-le-vi-zia (TV), Te-le-fon (Telephone), Po-li-ty (Politics), Ro-man-ty (Romantic), ma-the-ma-ti-ka (math), plu-s (plus), me-nus (minus). If Israel is any example, we should not worry about degrading our identity by not resorting to Sanskrit.
English is not a foreign language any more. It is the world language. The more we affiliate with it the more we become competent to make our country a prosperous one. Only prosperity can bring creativity and satisfaction.
To Gandhiji, thanks for your encouragement. Will love to hear your views too.
Nepe
|
| Biswo |
Posted
on 10-Feb-02 06:11 PM
>I do not know what Chinese are doing. If they have translated/created a few
>common technological words into Chinese, that’s fine. However, if they are up to
>translating everything into Chinese, I am not sure if that is helpful to Chinese
>dream of becoming a world power in future.
I think there is a national committee of scientists who decide how to
translate new techie words.They recognize that most of the students will probably
never read foreign language, yet they may have to master the technical things. So
they have all curricula set in Chinese language.(sure,they have same algebra!)
So, a lot of Chinese can become technicians just by relying on Chinese language.
But for the selected few, who go to foreign countries, who have potential to write
papers for foreign journals, English is encouraged. New undergrads are not given
graduation certification unless they possess a certain level of English proficiency.
However, I don't see any reason for 'Sinofication' of tech words to be
impediment for further development of China. Contrary to our believes, knowledge
of technology in one's own language is actually very helpful for most of the
students. China leads a lot of other countries in hardware production.(I wish
I could give a definite link here!), and most of the Chinese engineers can't say
'Chip' in english for 'pian'. I have seen a lot of Chinese students in US who go to
their Chinese seniors and ask technical things to be clarified in Chinese language.
Believe me, I have never seen any Chinese saying Television in stead of dianshiji.
China may fail in future, or change her present emphasis on having everything in
Chinese, esp since their new group of officers are being trained in Harvard and
Wharton Schools. But I think a lot of people benefit from having native
language translation for a lot of techie words. We have been so enured to English
words(Latin , French etc) that we can't see it clearly.
|
| Nepe |
Posted
on 13-Feb-02 12:47 PM
>China may fail in future, or change her present emphasis
>on having everything in Chinese, esp since their new group
>of officers are being trained in Harvard and Wharton
>Schools. But I think a lot of people benefit from having native
>language translation for a lot of techie words. We have
>been so enured to English words(Latin , French etc)
>that we can't see it clearly.
Here is my quick and crude view.
The net advantage of having native techie is the question here. China is itself a huge market, so it might make sense to produce techie professionals trained exclusively in native language and hence developing native techie language too. But the case of Nepal is different. We can not go very far if we prepare our future depended upon domestic market only. Like Israel does, we should vision that future Nepal will be producing internationally competent professional and products for international markets. We should not attach our fate, future and dream with sole India. Like China, India can afford producing professionals and products for domestic market, but Nepal can not and should not. The farther away we go from Sanskrit and the closer we come to English, the more likely that we are preparing a prosperous future independent of the fate of India. India is no hope for us. But the global market is. We should think of being specialist in the products, marketing of which is independent of land transportation and is for global consumption- skills, high value products , things like that.
We have spent too much time resigning our fate to be attached with India. Lets dream something now.
I have a dream …..
Nepe
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 13-Feb-02 01:27 PM
Nepeji:
I think we are not talking the same thing.
My point is :
1. People learn quickly in their native language.
2. If , to take your point, Sanskrit can be learned by a few people and translated in
Nepali for mass consumption, so can be English.
3. Countries like China have their own terms for techie terms. We feel odd to say
DrutaLauhagamini for train, but Chinese feel easy to say 'huoche' for train. So,
we may be adopting English words either because our translation is poor, or
because ,just like everything else belonging to west, we were/are in awe with
these western dictions.
I have no problem with tech study in English. My major point, to go to top, is
Sanskrit shouldn't be unnecessarily descriminated because it has its merit.
Have a good day.
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