Seperate Telangana issue will burn till july 2010

• Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 10:15
• Astrology Predictions
• 4,174 views

As a weak jupiter is being aspected by debilitated mars, political disturbances will be seen in cities.
The latest issue arised is for seperate telangana state from andhra pradesh in india.
As jupiter is about to leave its debilitation sign capricorn in less than 2 weeks, this issue caused serious disturbances in this area and people are expecting a peaceful conclusion.
But even after jupiter moves into aquarius, it will be still viewed by debilitated mars and this will cause riots in cities and this issue will continue to burn government properties and revenue for next 8 months.
In last week of may 2010, mars will move into Leo but will directly aspect jupiter then and will continue this issue for next 6 weeks from there.
Also, in Andhra Pradesh’s horoscope, saturn has entered its moon sign in september 2009 and ever since it has seen many setbacks.
The state lost its CM in a helicopter crash, then it was followed by heavy floods which killed many.
The government’s strength was questioned and now the recent telangana issue.
However saturn will be transiting in Virgo till november 2011 and no issue will be totally solved till then as saturn is slow moving planet and gives any result only in installments.
Meanwhile, the state capital, Hyderabad will become a hub for international terrorism as government and police forces will be busy handling these issues.
There is also a possibility of government collapse and mid-term elections in 2011 when jupiter moves into Pisces and directly aspects saturn in Virgo.

2years to go…The world will come to an end.

published at: click here to view online at http://way2online.com

on December 23rd, 2009

December 21^st 2012, the date which is going on our minds as it is reaching nearer and nearer. That we all know that something is going to be happening on December 21^st 2012 which might takes us to the end of the world. But, is it really going to be the end of the world? If it so, what might be happen on that day? All these questions might be going in the minds of all at one time or the other.

Based on the ancient Mayan calendar which seems to be more accurate in terms of astrology was said that in the year of 2012, the Earth will experience disasters ranging from massive earthquakes and tsunamis to nuclear reactor meltdowns. Even there were great mathematicians, who claimed that they were able to point out the exact day and time that the world will end in the future, and that is on August 13th 2012, the final day of the Mayan calendar.

The Mayan Calendar is above all a prophetic calendar that may help us understand the past and foresee the future. It is a calendar of the Ages that describes how the progression of Heavens and Underworlds condition the human consciousness and thus the frames for our thoughts and actions with in a given Age.

What might be the real? Is it on December 21^st 2012 or on August 13th 2012? Who ever knows but both the scientific as well as religious beliefs are prevailing in the minds of the people on this issue. The science, technology and the scientists behind this are saying that the Hyperspace that contain our Universe is also showing signs that something strange is happening in our universe. Even it was said that the global and solar polar reversal peaks are coming with in three weeks of that day, December 21, 2012.But according to some scientists it is possible that another Universe is slowly starting to claim in our physical Universe. And according to religious beliefs they believe the earth will be destroyed or cleansed by the wrong-doers and those that believe in their God will be saved or brought to heaven.

The astronomer Philip Plait has stated very clearly that the Mayan calendar does not end in 2012 at all, that is like the odometer on your car, as each section of the odometer reaches 9 and then clicks over to 0, the next number to it starts a new cycle, so that when all the numbers again reach 0 all the way across the odometer – the last number will change from 1 to 2 and the new cycle starts all over again.

University of Florida anthropologist Susan Gillespie says that the 2012 phenomenon comes “from media and from other people making use of the Maya past to fulfill agendas that are really their own.”

Psychedelic drug booster Daniel Pinchbeck, “My feeling of 2012 is that we don’t know what is going to be .So rather than looking at it as a Doomsday, we can see it as an opportunity to evolve and become more creative and more intelligent as a species on the planet and use the skills and technical capacities we have to engage in a very deep work transformation”.

Evangely Phelps said that 2012, what is all the hype about? Why is 2012 dubbed as the year of when the world and everything on it will cease to exist? I am not sure why or how it started until now. According to the Mayan Calendar the world will come to an end and why would you say? I have done some investigating to hopefully prove the Mayans wrong. I have also discovered how some people of the American society are making this bigger than it really is. Personally, I don’t think anything is going to happen and life will go on but here is what I have found.

Doing some research, I have discovered that there were many different Mayan Calendars. Some were used for social, agricultural, commercial and administrative tasks but had a heavy religious element to them although our calendars today are only for social, agricultural and economic views – the religious part is not a priority in our calendar system.

The Mayans then combined two calendars to make one, The Calendar Round. The Calendar Round was based on thirteen and twenty base units. The purpose of this calendar was to make it a long term calendar that had 365 days in one solar year and would last for only 5126 years. The reason why the Calendar Round is so significant in the year 2012 is because the 5126 years ends on the date of December 21, 2012. This is where all the hype of the world ending is coming from, this one date of the Mayan Calendar Round. Another phenomenon that is making society more conscious of the date December 21, 2012 is the movie 2012.

According to the Hyderabad Computer Model, Magnetic Pole reversal happens which is a process where the North Pole and South Pole reverse their positions. When this happens, at some point of time Earth’s magnetic field reaches zero where the Earth’s Magnetic power will be weaken and Cosmic Radiation from Sun will increase many folds making radiation hazards like cancer and so on unavoidable can cause the serious problems which include immune system of all the creatures on the earth might be going to weak; the earth’s crust will going to see the volcanoes, earthquakes and landslides. However, in a simple word it is said that by 2012 earth may not be suitable for human society to live. If this model is true, the only way for us to survive will be to take our civilization well below the Earth’s crust or move to another planet.

With the growth of conspiracy-theories, the level of suspicion and disbelief has grown too. But if there is a good probability that something could happen in your lifetime, there is nothing wrong in preparing for it. Any natural disorder can be faced with a sharp mind and able body, as long as you get the right information ahead of time. Even though many theories and interpretations said about what they find, the only thing that’s certain about the end of the world is that no one can know and are sure that what will happen in the coming future. It may come just like death which is uncertain and we don’t know the time of it. But people undoubtedly continue to think about when this world will comes to an end.

Has it to go on and on. . . . . .

Is it not enough:

It has been paining my heart witnessing the unruly agitations for Telengana for some time and then for United Andhra for some time. Chidambaram’s II statement seems to have failed to control the politicians and agitators across the different regions of the state. Is it now the turn for Telengana to show how best they could stall the government in the state. It has altogether become a game of exhibition of the capacities of the politicians in organizing dharnas, bandhs, rastha rokos, fast unto deaths, closing down the educational institutions, etc. so as to stall the usual proceedings of the government and public life. The politicians seem to have no ear listening to the statement of Chidambaram. They have no time to think whether the Central government has any other best option. As it is the responsibility of the Central government to respect the views of all the citizens of India, I think, under greater pressure it has issued the statement under inevitable conditions. The statement has not denied Separate Telengana. He said that wide-ranging consultations would now be held and that the Centre will take "steps to involve all concerned in the process". Process is there and it is not ruled out. Only addition is that it involves all the concerned to come to consensus.

In fact, Neither the people of Andhra nor the people of Rayalaseema are against to the formation of Telengana. It is evident that no one was against to the TRS or for that matter of fact against TDP who supported for Telengana or against Congress who supported for Telengana during last election. They were hurt with the kind of language and kind of slogans used by KCR. Had KCR been under control with his language, probably there would not have been such a situation in Non-Telengana regions. It is no use in postmarting the past. Whatever happened is happened. It is time for bringing the state under peace. There should be something from the Central Government to control the situation. It doesn’t mean that Telengana would not be separated. It needs to be separated if at all the people of Telengana strongly feels for it. This should be done by wide range of discussions among the people of Telengana. Then comes the question of how to divide the state. How to solve the issues between the states. There should be no doubt among the people of either regions that one region is at loss due to separation. Issues of Water, power, debt and many more such things have to be resolved through talks.

Lets be cool and come to consensus:

Of course it may take time, or as some of us feel that the government is buying time for eluding the Telengana issue. Even if it is true, there is no meaning in further going for agitations. Let us sit and find solution at the earliest. Let us ask for the time bound program for completion of the said ‘process’.

It is time for us to remember that we live in the civilized world that too in India which preaches peace and non-violence. We are all wise people. Every problem will have a solution. Let us sincerely try to find out the solution with faith on each other.

Indian Institute Of Idiots

(Published in the Times of India on 19-12-2009)

Our education system creates a society of followers rather than change-embracing leaders

Chetan Bhagat

I avoid writing columns on the Indian education system as it is not good for my health. For days, my blood continues to boil, i have insomnia and i feel like hurting someone real bad. The Indian education system is a problem that can be fixed. It affects the country’s future, impacts almost every family, everyone knows about it and it is commercially viable to fix it. Still, nothing happens because of our great Indian culture of avoiding change at all costs. And because change means sticking out your neck and that, ironically, is something we are not taught to do.
Still, with a movie coming on the education system, which came about because of a book i wrote nearly six years ago, it is important to revisit the issues. Soon, all the media will talk about is the anatomy, diet and romantic chemistry of the main actors. While that makes insightful breakfast reading, it is also important to understand the main problems with our education system that need to be fixed or, rather, should have been fixed 10 years ago.
There are two main problems: one, the supply of good college seats and, two, the actual course content and intent behind education.
The first issue is about the supply of A-grade institutions vs the number of A-grade potential students. With one crore students taking the class XII exam each year, the top 10 per cent, the high potential population by any global standard, deserves a world-class institution. That means we need 10 lakh good, A-grade, branded college seats per year. Either the government provides them, or they work with private participants to make it happen. Until that is done, the scramble for seats will be worse than a peak hour Virar fast. No amount of well-meant advice to parents to go easy on kids, telling children to not take stress, will work. I’m sorry, if i have a child who i think is bright, i will fight to make sure he has a good college. If the number of seats is well below the required number, the fight is going to be bloody and ugly. And that is what happens every year.
What makes me most curious is: why doesn’t the government fix it? Real estate and faculty are often the biggest requirements in creating a university. The government has plenty of land. And any advertisement for government teaching jobs gets phenomenal responses. After this, there could be running costs. However, most parents are happy to pay reasonable amounts for college. With coaching classes charging crazy amounts, parents are already spending so much anyway. I understand Indians send $7 billion (over Rs 30,000 crore) as outward remittance for Indian students studying abroad. Part of that money would be diverted inwards if good colleges were available here. The government can actually make money if it runs universities, and add a lot more value to the country than, say, by running the embarassing Air India which flushes crores down the drain every day.
Why can’t Delhi University replicate itself, at four times the size, in the outskirts of Gurgaon? The existing professors will get more senior responsibilities, new teachers will get jobs and the area will develop. If we can have kilometre-long malls and statues that cost hundreds of crores, why not a university that will pay for itself? This is so obvious that the young generation will say: Duh!?
The education system’s second problem: the course content itself. What do we teach in school and college? And how much do you use it in daily life later? Ask yourself, has the world changed in the last 20 years? If yes, has our course content changed at the same pace? Has it even changed at all? Who are the people changing our course materials? Do they have real life corporate exposure?
I am not saying we study only to get a job (though many, many Indians actually do it with that main intention). However, even in the ‘quest for knowledge’ goal of education, our course materials fall short. We emphasise sticking to the course, testing endlessly how well the student has revised his lessons. We treat lessons as rules to be adhered to, and the better you conform, the more likely you are to score. I hated it personally, and i am sure millions do too but they have no choice. Innovation, imagination and creativity – crucial for the country as well as more likely to bring the best out of any student – have no place in our education system. In fact, we actually ensure we kill this spirit in the child as fast as possible. Because innovation by definition means challenging the existing way, and that is just not something good Indian kids who respect elders do.
The cycle perpetuates itself, and we continue to create a secondrate society of followers rather than change-embracing leaders. I have hope that the current generation will break this norm and start questioning the great Indian way. I have hope that the current HRD minister will acknowledge this problem and do something. I have hope that Indians will start questioning any politician they meet on what they are doing about the education system at every place possible. I have hope that people will realise that making new states is less important than making new state universities. Maybe i am right, maybe my hope is justified and maybe i will live to see the change. Or maybe i’ve got it all wrong, my optimism is misplaced and i am just, as they say, one of the Idiots.
The writer is a best-selling novelist.

Red roses, college blues

GOOD BYE TO ANDHRA PRADESH?

There has been, for few days, hot discussion on the end of the world in 2012. Unlike in the past, when there was a fear of Skylab, the people seem to be least worried about the potential danger that was hyped by the media.

I am sure that there can’t be an end to the earth in 2012. Of course I believe that there would be an end to everything. But not so soon as believed by Mayans. I am least worried and not thinking much on 2012.

But I am sure that something is happening to Andhra Pradesh. Who has to be blamed for the state of affairs that prevalent today. When people of Telengana demanded for separate state and when some how they have succeeded to accede central government to consider their wish, it would have been very dignified for the Andhra people and Rayalaseema people to accept it and sit down for settlement deed and helped the Telengana people to have their own state. In fact it is funny and crazy to demand for United Andhra when Telengana people have no wish and no inclination for it. All this would slowly raise aversion against the people of other region.

I incidentally have no strong sense of feeling or attachment to any of the three regions. Though I am presently residing in Telengana. I am a Kannadiga, born to the parents of Kannadigas in Rayalaseema. I have no relationships either in Rayalaseema and Telengana. As I was born in Rayalaseema as my father migrated to Rayalaseema from Chikkanayakana Halli, Tumkur District after his marriage. He settled in Vayalpad, Chittoor Dist. I was born their. I born as a Telugu kid. My mother tongue became Telugu. I did not know kannada then. I studied in Vayalpad till intermediate in Telugu medium. Then I went to Mysore for my graduation and did my B.A.Ed in Regional College of Education, Mysore. During this period I had worked for one year in Karimnagar as a teacher. Then I went to Pondicherry for doing my M.A. in Pondicherry University. After completion of my PG I have worked as a TGT on contract basis in APSWRS, Sagileru, Kadapa Dist. As soon as I completed my PG, I have applied for Junior Lecturer Post to the College Service Commission. I have written the written exam immediately one month after completion of my PG. I attended the Interview after one month. Then I went to Kadapa on contract job as a teacher. I got an appointment order after completion of one and half year of service as contract teacher. I left the school and went to Medak District in search of Gajwel as it is my place of first appointment. Then I was married to a girl from Mysore as all my relatives are from Karnataka, I have to get married to a girl apparently from Karnataka. So I married and served in Gajwel for 7 years. Then I requested for transfer to Gadwal. I was transferred to Maldakal, a nearby village to Gadwal, I have been here for 4 years. Can any body tell me If I should have strong sense of identity to any of the regions. Of course I have strong attachment to Telugu and with the people who speak Telugu.

When I was in Mysore, I know how happy I used to be, not only me my classmates from Andhra Pradesh, When we accidentally hear Telugu word when we go out for shopping. We used to talk to them and help them if necessary and some times bring them to our college and get them accommodation in our college guest house with false claim that they are our relatives. Just hearing a Telugu work would tickle our sensation and we felt very happy that we have seen our own people.

The same thing I experienced even in Pondicherry. In Karnataka it was very easy to get someone who talks Telugu, but in Pondicherry it would be very difficult to find a man talking Telugu. We used to go to Mahatma Gandhi Beach and would go close to any one who looks like a telugu person. I remember an instance when along with my friends Suresh and Suman were walking along the beach on one Sunday, Suddenly we heard some one talking in Telugu. We felt as if we have gone to our home town and went to them and talked to them and went with them to show all the important places in Pondicherry. They became very close. We never bothered to know whether he is from Telengana or from Rayalaseema or from Andhra.

Such was the life I had, with strong association to Telugu. It would have been better if divided in friendly atmosphere. But now I am sure that a student who is studying now either in Pondicherry or in Mysore would enquire as soon as he hears a telugu man about his region and would care least if the person happens to be not from his own region. The feeling of Telugu man, or Telugu pride would vanish soon.

I propose to be divided if necessary only politically and not culturally and linguistically. We should continue to be telugu people even if we are divided politically. We should continue to have respect for Telugu Talli. In fact it is not Andhra Talli or Rayala seema Talli. It is Telugu Talli. All the people from all the three regions speak Telugu. Let us have Telengana Talli, Andhra Talli, and Rayala seema Talli. But let us not kill Telugu Talli. If we refuse to respect Telugu Talli It is equal to suicide of Telugu People.

Let us continue to live even after 2012 in our regions as Telugu People with respect and love for those who speak Telugu.

How Telugu got its name?

The main languages spoken in Andhra Pradesh are Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, Banjara, and English followed by Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Oriya. Telugu is the principal and official language of the State. It was also referred to as `Tenugu' in the past. `Andhra' is the name given to it since the medieval times. Some argued that `Telugu' was a corruption of `Trilinga' (Sanskrit meaning three `lingas'). A general description of the land of the Telugus was made in the medieval times as `the land marked by three lingas of the three famous shrines of Draksharamam (East Godavari district), Kaleswaram (Karimnagar district) and Srisailam (Kurnool district). There are many theories in this regard. Let us examine some of them here.
Khandavalli Lakshmi Ranjanam
The word telugu probably comes from the word talaing . Since tala refers to head, talaings refers to leaders. Later this must have given rise to the words telungu and trilinga .
Godavarti Ramadasu
Some believe that the word telugu comes from the Sanskrit forms trilinga or trikalinga: Actually, the word kalinga itself is a Dravidian word. In Kui language, rice is called Kulinga. Since Kuis were mainly rice eaters, Aryans might have called them kulingas or kalingas.
Marepalli Ramachandra Shastri
In Gondi languahge, unga is form for plural. telu means white. Hence, telunga probably refers to people who are white in complexion.
Ganti Jogi Somayaji
The word ten refers to south in Proto-Dravidian. Hence tenungu refers to Southerners.
The evolution of Telugu can be traced through centuries in terms of its form as well as its function. Although culturally Telugu is close to its southern neighbours -- Tamil and Kannada -- genetically, it is closer to its northern neighbours -- Gondi, Konda, Kui, Kuvi, Pengo and Manda. There is evidence to show that these languages were freely borrowed from Telugu even from the prehistoric period whereas borrowing between Telugu and Tamil and Kannada has been mostly during the historic period, i.e., post-5th century B.C.

JOKES

A Spoonful of Salt

submitted by Alan Maley, UK

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, all the guys were chasing after her. As for him, he felt so ordinary and nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised, but being polite, she agreed. They sat in a nice coffee shop, but he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and thought, please, let me go home.... when suddenly he asked the waiter. "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee."

Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red, but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously; why salt? Why not sugar?” He replied,”When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea and the taste of the salty sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have salty coffee, I think of my childhood, think of my hometown. I miss my hometown so much, and I miss my parents who are still living there".

Tears suddenly filled his eyes. She was deeply touched by his words. A man who can reveal his homesickness, must be a man who loves home, cares about home, feels the responsibility of home. Then she also started to speak, about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family….her life. And that was the beautiful beginning of their story. Later, after their marriage, every time she made coffee for him, she put a spoonful of salt in it as she knew that was how he liked it.

40 years later, he passed away, leaving her a letter which said:
“My dearest, please forgive me. My whole Life has been based on a lie. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time. I actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead. I never thought that would be the start of our life together! I wanted to tell you the truth many times in but I was too afraid to do that. Now I'm dying, I’m afraid of nothing so here is the truth: I don't like salty coffee – I hate the taste… But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life!”

 

Half Cup of Tea

submitted by Cynthia Beresford, UK

Jeremy, who was a very timid young man, had one or two little manias. One of these was that he never wanted more than half a cup of tea. Mostly, though, people were too thoughtless or too generous and they always seemed to fill his cup up.
This girl he met, the daughter of friend of his mother’s, she asked him:
“ Would you like a cup of tea?”
“ Just half , if you don’t mind”
She poured him exactly half a cup.
Over the next few weeks they got to know each other better and nine months on they got engaged.
When he had timidly given her the ring she asked:
“ What was it about me that……?”
He smiled: “I asked you for half a cup of tea and you gave me what I asked for”
She blushed: “It was a terrible moment, that was all I had left in the pot…… I felt awful.”

 

 

John Smith started the day…, found on the Internet by one of the HLT Readers

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 am.

While his coffee pot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG), he put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA).

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA), he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA), he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY), filled it with GAS (FROM SAUDI ARABIA) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his computer (made in MALAYSIA ), John decided to relax for a while.

He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL), poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA.

Now he’s hoping he can get help from the US President (MADE IN KENYA).

 

 

More Things That Infants Can Teach Us on the Subject of Love

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . ...

Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes.

***

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined See what you think:

***

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'

Rebecca- age 8

***

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'

Billy - age 4

***

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5

***

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6

***

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'

Terri - age 4

***

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7

***

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8

***

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

***

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

***

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7

***

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6

***

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8

***

'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'

Clare - age 6

***

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'

Elaine-age 5

***

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'

Chris - age 7

***

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'

Mary Ann - age 4

***

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'

Lauren - age 4

***

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)

Karen - age 7

***

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6

***

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8

***

And the final one is from a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard,
climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said,

'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

New Generation Vs. Old Generation.

THE MAJOR FACTORS THAT AFFECTING TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE RURAL STUDENTS

(A PAPER PRESENTED IN THE SEMINAR CONDUCTED BY ENGLISH TEACHERS FORM AT NAGARJUNASAGAR ON 7-11-2009 and 8-11-2009)

Teaching English involves four basic skills; Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Every English Teacher is aware of this fact. Yet most of the teachers ignore this and teach English like a science teacher. English is taught as a set of formulas and lists of vocabulary. Students are encouraged to memorize them though they are not understood by them. We know certainly that their memorization would not hemp them to acquire linguistic skills. Yet we do that. Why do we do that? Why is it done like that? Where is the problem? Can we change our strategies in teaching English? These are the questions that always been surrounding me.

I am trying to consolidate what has been there in my mind for all these years and present them before you so that I would get suggestions and solutions to my problems. I always felt that the theories that have been evolved for all these years on teaching English have ignored one thing that whether they would be feasible in the class room situation that are prevalent in rural areas in Telengana. The social background, the attitude towards learning, the economical background has not been dealt with in developing strategies and designing teaching material for these students. So far the experts in material production have an ideal class room in their mind while designing text book. So only I feel when it comes to the class room that we are dealing has failed to receive the text book with warmth and interest. It has always been received with a kind of aversion. The students go for made easies and test papers. I try to expose the problems I face in teaching English to my students.

I believe that the success of teaching English depends on three factors. They are 1) Teacher, 2) Student and 3) Examination. I don’t mean to say that there are only these three factors. There are in fact many factors that influence and sometimes affect the teaching of English. But I feel that these are the three factors which need our concern so as to improve the linguistic skills for our students.

TEACHER:

Teacher has major role in teaching language. As teachers of English we should never forget that we are teachers of language. Like any other language, English has to be taught. It can’t be taught through lecture method. Because acquiring language is a skill and we all agree with that. As any acquisition of skill requires practice, acquisition of English also requires practice. The English teacher ought to help the student practice the language. So there should be a dialogue between the student and the teacher. There can’t be one way dialogue so we can rule out the possibility of teaching English through lecture method. But unfortunately we still use the lecture method to teach language. Most of us not trained to teach English. We are being trained in our Post Graduation to appreciate literature. As students of literature we enjoy reading literature and also teaching literature. We teach our students how great and beautiful the poem is, how nice is the plot of the story, and how great is the characterization and what are the themes and motifs in the prescribed story. We have been doing that with great love of literature. Students also feel elated being able to understand the poem, story and the novel. In order to make our students understand better we teach all this in their mother tongue. We feel elated at the end of our teaching that we have done a great job. But that is not expected from us. We forget as soon as we read the poem of some great writer that we are language teachers. We become literature students. We go on explaining the beauty of the poem. There we are failing as an English Teacher. Our aim is to teach language, help the student to use English in his day to day life to communicate his ideas. We should enter the class with an aim to teach something that helps him to learn language and come out of the class with satisfaction that he has helped students to learn language. The poems, essays and stories should help generate situations to use language. So I request all the Lecturers in English to become teachers and also teachers of language.

STUDENT:

The students that we are teaching English have not been new to English. They have been learning English right from their III standard. They have been passing classes one after another taking a full academic year for each standard and at last came to us. But their standard in English still remained in the III standard. Who has to be blamed for this? Can we blame the student? No, certainly not. Can we blame the teacher who taught him all these years? No, certainly not. There has never been English teacher at primary or high school level until recent times. Very recently, the government has created a post called School Assistant in English. Earlier it was taught by a teacher who has learnt English as a second language in his graduation. His knowledge of English was limited to whatever that he has learnt in graduation as an II language. How can any one expect the best from him? So he taught out of compulsion and so the student passed all the classes and came to us without required input skills in language. The student in intermediate is required to read and understand poetry, prose and comprehend the passages. He is supposed to learn grammar, write letters and compositions. He came to us with not being able to read with not being able to write his name and with not being able to understand a simple and common sentence in English, with not being able to utter a simple word. We are here to teach him every thing in two years. Had we a magic wand, we could have probably taught every expected thing to him. Had he a super brain, probably he should have learnt every thing in these two years. Neither we have magic wands nor did he have super brain. So what is the student doing in these two years? What does he expect in the class room? How does he plan to learn English?

For a student learning English is to pass the exam. He never thinks that he is in the English class to learn language. He thinks that he is in the class room so that teacher gives him notes and he has to take it down and learn it by heart so that he would pass the exam. Of course not all the students think this way. If they think this way we would not have any problem. All of them would have passed and our business would have been easier. Only very few students those we grade them best would think this way. The others, they have no idea why they are in the class. They know only one thing they have passed 10^th class and came to intermediate and they should pass inter as they have passed 10^th class.

Those few students who we think are the best would expect their teacher to teach short-cut methods to answer the grammar questions. He expects the teacher to give him made easy material. He never bothers to understand the material. He steals our heart and becomes the best of our students by memorizing the material as it is. The teaching and learning language has been reduced to intellectual exercise with no practical application. Students are content with rote memorization of material that they don’t understand. Students are reduced to data banks without having a program to process the data. They are not learning a language. They are only memorizing words and idioms that they don’t know how to use.

THE EXAMINATION:

The examination was conducted to check whether the student has reached the expected level. But now a day the exam is not for the students. It has become an exam to the teacher. It has become a yard stick to test our sincerity. If the student fails, he would be given a chance to pass the exam in supplementary exam. But if we are unable to get the expected results we would immediately be suspended and if you are a contract lecturer you would be fired. Whatever the kind of student we are entrusted to us, we are supposed to get him pass. We are of course not expected to teach language, we are expected to succeed in the exam. May be for this reason the English question paper is designed in such a way that the student pass the exam.

I hope there would be no contradiction in accepting the fact that the English text book designed by English and Foreign Language University aims at improving the four basic skills of the language. The exam should be conducted to check whether the expected aims are achieved or not. But I don’t think we are doing that. Let me examine the question paper. The question paper is divided into three sections. The first section includes the paragraph questions, annotations and essay type questions. It consists of 40% of question paper. Here we are merely testing the memory of the student. The questions are asked repetitively. No question is asked to test the writing skills of the student. During valuation the examiners are asked to award marks for the content. Language and expression are least bothered about. Just if the student is able to write the answer in his own butter English, we are expected to award 40 to 50% of the marks. For annotations mere writer name and lesson name would fetch him 50% of marks. We are least bothered about the language. That is my point.

Then we have Section ‘B’. Here we have comprehension passages. They are supposed to test the reading skills of the student. The student ought to read the passage and understand it and then answer the questions. The answer itself should not be important. But the answer should convince the examiner that the student has understood the passage. We can tolerate grammatical mistakes here. Because here we are not testing his writing skills we are testing his reading skills. But usually we never find any grammatical mistake in the answers. Because the student just copies the answer from the passage just by searching the key word in the question. Only thing we do is read the answer and locate the correct phrase of the answer and underline it and award marks. The comprehension passages have become a source for the examiner to be more humane towards failing students.

The last section includes grammar and communication skills for the 1st year and Writing skills and communication skills for the 2^nd year. Grammar in the first year has been reduced to mathematical formulas. The same type of questions is asked repeatedly. The question paper doesn’t test application level grammar. The student who scores full marks in grammar would have done blunder grammatical mistakes in answering the questions in section ‘A’. The student fails to synchronize grammar with his linguistic skills. The grammar is taught as if it is a separate discipline. The student doesn’t know what is the purpose of active and passive voice, reported speech, question tags, degrees of comparison and simple compound and complex sentences. The same questions could be asked in different way so that the student needs to apply his knowledge of English. Recent DSC question paper could be best example. It was a very difficult question paper for the DSC aspirants because they are not direct questions. But most of the questions are based on the intermediate grammar. If the questions are challenging at least some of the students would learn the language.

Then we have letter writing, process writing, note-making and report writing. These questions would perfectly test the writing skills of the students. But are the examiners really testing the writing skills. Least is cared about these questions. The fastest valuation is done for these questions. We would not even care to read the full sentence. Here again we peruse the content and safely give away 50% of marks and turn the pages of the answer script in haste.

Then we have communication skills. I have many doubts in the questions. How are silent letters, missing letters, syllables and stress marking test the communication skills. Silent letters may test the reading skills I mean just reading out. Missing letters may test the spelling skills. Syllables, phonetic transcription and stress marking are supposed to be tested at higher level to the students who have already have mastered linguistic skills. But these questions seem to be included in the question paper only with a view to get better results in English.

Common Errors used to have 8% share in the question paper. It was reduced to 4%. There used to be parsing of the sentence. Long back we have removed it. Ultimately the question paper has assured the student that he doesn’t need to be more careful in learning English.

Through the revised question paper we have achieved great results. The passing percentage of the students has risen unbelievably. But remember it has diluted the standards of English. When this batch of students become primary teachers or school assistants how further it would dilute the standards of English, no one knows.

CONCLUSION:

You may feel that even I feel that my paper is very harsh. But remember truth is always harsh. I don’t say that I have been teaching differently from others. Even I am doing the same. My question is that can’t we change it. I strongly feel that no. Not that we are incapable. Our higher authorities are least bothered about the standards. We are pressurized for results. We are teaching to achieve results. The students are pressurized to pass the subject. We are encouraging them to memorize the material so that they would pass and bring no problems to us. The question paper is designed in such a way that the ultimate aim of getting results would become easier.

Here I remember Tagore’s poem “Where the mind is without fear”. He offers prayer to God to let his country awake in the place where the mind is free and where the head is held high and so on. But we teachers have no freedom in our mind; our head is held down before higher authorities. Under these conditions we have no strategies of our own to improve the linguistic skills of the students but blindly like slaves following the orders of those who have no experience in teaching profession. So I feel we would continue with what we have been doing for many more years probably to the last day of our retirement.

C. G. LAKSHMI PRASAD,

J.L.in English,

Government Junior College,

Maldakal, Mahaboobnagar Dist.

China gifted Pakistan uranium for 2 bombs Pak Nuke Scientist A Q Khan Spills The Beans

Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

Washington: China's dirty little secret of nuclear proliferation to Pakistan, including virtually giving Islamabad two nuclear weapons on a platter while the US remained oblivious and smug, has exploded in Washington. Embarrassingly for US president Barack Obama, the disclosures come on the eve of his much-anticipated visit to Beijing.
In a letter that Khan sent to British journalist Simon Henderson, parts of which have already been made public with the latest dribble coming out ahead of Obama's visit to China next week, the Pakistani metallurgist reveals the secret.
In 1976, Pakistan's then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto approached China's supreme leader chairman Mao in his quest for the nuclear bomb. By this time, Bhutto had already invited expat Pakistani scientists, including Khan, to return home to help make the bomb to ensure that the country was never again humiliated by India the way it happened in 1971.
"Chinese experts started coming regularly to learn the whole technology" from Pakistan and Pakistani experts were dispatched to Hanzhong in central China, where they helped "put up a centrifuge plant," Khan said.
After winning Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's approval, Khan and three others flew aboard a US made Pakistani C-130 to Urumqi. Khan says they enjoyed barbecued lamb while waiting for the Chinese military to pack the small uranium bricks into lead-lined boxes, 10 single-kilogram ingots to a box for a total of 50 kgs of highly enriched uranium, for the flight back to Islamabad. "The Chinese gave us drawings of the nuclear weapon, gave us 50 kgs enriched uranium."
By Khan's account, Pakistan did not initially use the Chinese fissile material and kept it in storage till 1985 because they had made a "few bombs"with their own material. The Pakistanis then asked Beijing if it wanted its nuclear material back. After a few days, Khan says the Chinese wrote back "that the HEU loaned earlier was now to be considered as a gift... in gratitude" for Pakistani help. The Pakistanis promptly used the Chinese material to fabricate hemispheres for two weapons and added them to Pakistan's arsenal.
"The speed of our work and our achievements surprised our worst enemies and adversaries and the West stood helplessly by to see a Third World nation mastering the most advanced nuclear technology in the shortest possible span of time," he boasts in a separate 11-page narrative.
Pak rejects report of uranium supply
Pakistan on Friday angrily rejected a US newspaper report that China provided the nuclear-armed Muslim state with weapons grade uranium for two bombs in 1982. A spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected the allegations in a Washington Post article as "baseless." "Pakistan strongly rejects the assertions in the article that is evidently timed to malign Pakistan and China," the spokesman said in a statement. AFP

- Times of India (14-11-2009)

Criminals as corporators? It’s your vote

Almost All Major Parties Have Candidates With Links To Crime
Mahesh Buddi | TNN

Hyderabad: It’s the first elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). But the familiar breed — candidates with criminal background — are at play again for the Nov. 23 polls. Of the total 1,310 candidates, at least 40 have criminal records.
Within the Hyderabad police commissionerate alone, of the 800 contenstants, 28 with criminal antecedents have been fielded by all major political parties. Similarly, of the 501 candidates from Cyberabad, at least a dozen have a criminal record, according to cops.
The list includes even four history-sheeters and the charges against most range from murder, attempt to murder, communal violence, extortion, criminal intimidation, assault on a public servant, rioting and trespass to minor ones like mischief.
For instance, MIM’s Rehamatnagar ward (Yousufguda) candidate Chinna Srisailam has a 20-year-old history sheet in Jubilee Hills police station with about 25 cases to his credit, including attempt to murder. “He is involved in all kinds of criminal offences but not yet convicted,” a cop said.
Yadav’s son Naveen (MIM candidate from Yousufguda ward) too has a few poll-related cases against him in the same police station as his father. There are more in the MIM list, including Samad Bin Abbas (Uppuguda), Yousuf Naquas Badi (Laitabagh), Murtuza Ali Khan (Chawni in Reinbazar area), Mir Zulfiqr Ali (Hussainialam) and Mohammed Ghouse (Shalibanda). And in keeping with fair representation to women in all categories, MIM has even fielded Farah Khan — aka “Lady Don” — from Maula Ali. She has a colourful history sheet against her in Saidabad police station.
The TDP list includes Chandrayangutta historysheeter Mohammemd Chand (Lalithabagh) charged with assault and criminal intimidation and Raju Singh (Mangalhat), who has a history sheet in Tapachabutra police station and has been charged with murder during communal clashes in 2003. Among others, Chinnaboina Rajender (Aliabad, Old City) is a former history sheeter of Shalibanda police station and Singireddy Srinivas Reddy (Saidabad) has several cases against him in Saidabad police station.
Among the candidates put up by the MBT, Saleh Bin Ahmed (Barkas) has several cases in Chadrayangutta police station, Amzadullakhan Khaled (Azapura) has cases in Dabeerpura and Chaderghat, while Hani Bin Mubaraq (Talabkatta) has cases in Bhavani Nagar.
There are no history sheeters contesting from North, East and Central Zones of the city police limits but there are 10 candidates of various parties against whom various election-related cases are registered. 10 GHMC candidates face poll-related charges
There are 10 candidates in the GHMC poll fray belonging to varius parties who are facing election-related cases. For instance, Lavanya (ward number 171 in Old Bowenpally) has cases against her for threatening people to vote for her party in the previous elections. Similar charges exist against Independent candidates P Mohan Rao (ward number 142 in Chilakalguda) and Mohammed Yousafuddin (ward number 121 in Old Bowenpally). Among such candidates fielded by the BJP are Jitendra Yadav and Ramu Yadav from Azampura area, Joshi (Gunfoundry ward), Mahaveer Prasad Thakur (Jiyaguda) and J Sahdev Yadav (Kurmaguda). All of them have cases registered for disobedience of an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant under section 188 of the IPC. CPI’s Shankar Naik (IS Sadan ward) has cases against him for staging protests and dharnas. The Independent’s category too includes history-sheeters. B R Sadanad Mudiraj (Aliabad ward) has a history sheet in Chatrinaka police station and cases against him include offences related to communal violence and also a murder in 1996. At present there are some property related cases registered against him, the police said. TNN

(from Time of India Dated 14-11-2009)

ఇప్పుడు MS Office 2007 తెలుగులో..

నేటి ప్రపంచంలో కంప్యూటర్లతో పని చేయడం ఫ్యాషన్ మరియు నిత్యావసరం అయిపోయింది. భారతదేశంలో గత 15-20 సంవత్సరాలుగా ఇది భాగమైపోయింది. అయినప్పటికీ, ఇంగ్లీష్ భాషా అవరోధం మూలంగా భారతదేశ జనాభాలో అధిక శాతం ప్రజలు కంప్యూటర్లను ఉపయోగించడంలో శిక్షణను పొందలేకపోతున్నారు.

ఇటీవల వరకు, ఈ భాషా అవరోధం వల్ల ఎక్కువగా భారతదేశంలోని గ్రామీణ ప్రజలు మరియు పట్టణాల్లో స్వల్ప శాతం ప్రజలు కంప్యూటర్లను ఉపయోగించలేకపోయారు.అయితే ఇకపై అలా ఉండదు. ఎందుకంటే... ప్రపంచంలోనే అతిపెద్ద సాఫ్ట్‌వేర్ కంపెనీ, Microsoft, కంప్యూటర్లను ప్రజలకు దగ్గర చేసే ఒక సరిక్రొత్త ఆలోచనతో ముందుకు వచ్చింది.

Microsoft ఇప్పుడు అన్ని ప్రముఖ భారతీయ భాషల్లో భాషా ఇంటర్‌ఫేస్ ప్యాక్‌లను అందిస్తోంది, దీనితో ప్రతి సామాన్యుడు కంప్యూటర్‌ను ఉపయోగించవచ్చు. భాషా ఇంటర్‌ఫేస్ ప్యాక్‌లు లేదా సంక్షిప్తంగా LIPలను ఇన్‌స్టాల్ చేయడం మరియు ఉపయోగించడం చాలా సులభం. ఈ సాఫ్ట్‌వేర్ మీరు కంప్యూటర్లను చూసే విధానాన్ని మార్చేస్తుంది.

ఇక్కడ నుండి ప్యాక్‌ను డౌన్‌లోడ్ చేసి.exe పై క్లిక్ చేయడం ద్వారా ఇన్‌స్టాల్ చేయండి. దీన్ని ఇన్‌స్టాల్ చేసేందుకు మీరు మీ కంప్యూటర్‌లో Microsoft Office 2007 ఇంగ్లీష్ వెర్షన్‌ను కలిగి ఉండాలి. కొన్ని సెకన్లలో, మీ కంప్యూటర్ మీ స్వంత భాషలో మీకు కనిపిస్తుంది.

డాక్యుమెంటేషన్, ఇమెయిల్, ప్రెజెంటేషన్‌ను సిద్ధం చేయడం లేదా ఇటీవల మీకు కష్టంగా అనిపించిన దేనినైనా ఇప్పుడు సులభంగా అర్థం చేసుకోవచ్చు మరియు ఇప్పుడు ఇది మీ స్వంత భాషలో ఉన్నందున, దాని గురించి మీరు పూర్తిగా అర్థం చేసుకోగలిగినందున ధైర్యంగా నేర్చుకోవచ్చు.
కాబట్టి, దీన్ని ఉపయోగించి చూడండి... ఇది మీ జీవితాన్ని మార్చివేస్తుంది!

Down Load Link is given under:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/B/9/3B9B5206-740A-4A75-8ABE-6ACCD1105FD1/LanguageInterfacePack.exe

Wish You a happy Diwali.

NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS FROM INDIA

Nobel Prize winners from India are with due respect enlisted below, these are great people from India who showed the world the untapped potential India has, even though it may not have facilities and luxuries at par with the likes of USA,Britain and other big social economies but the talent, hard work and skill here is unfathomed. VENKATRAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN Born in 1952 in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, he is a U.S. citizen. Indian origin senior scientist at the MRC Laborartory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2009 along with two others. The Nobel Committee announced on Wednesday that the Tamil Nadu born Ramakrishnan shares the Nobel Prize with Thomas E Steitz (US) and Ada E Yonath (Israel) for their “studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”. Ramakrishnan graduated in B.Sc. in Physics from Baroda University in 1971 and did Ph.D. in Physics in 1976 from Ohio University.“This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry awards Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A Steitz and Ada E Yonath for having showed what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at the atomic level,” the Nobel committee said. All three have used a method called X-ray crystallography to map the position for each and every one of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome, it said. “This year’s three Laureates have all generated 3D models that show how different antibiotics bind to the ribosome. These models are now used by scientists to develop new antibiotics, directly assisting the saving of lives and decreasing humanity’s suffering,” the citation said. AMARTYA SEN (b-1933) : Prof. Amartya Sen is the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics for the year 1998, becoming the first Asian to have been honored with the award. The Santiniketan-born economist who is a pioneer in Welfare Economics has to his credit several books and papers on aspects of welfare and development. An economist with a difference, Prof. Sen is a humanist. He has distinguished himself with his outstanding writings on famine, poverty, democracy, gender and social issues. The ‘impossibility theorem’ suggested earlier by Kenneth Arrow states that it was not possible to aggregate individual choices into a satisfactory choice for society as a whole. Prof. Sen showed mathematically that societies could find ways to alleviate such a poor outcome. SUBRAMANIAN CHANDRASHEKAR (1910-1995) : The Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983 was awarded to Dr S. Chandrashekar, an Indian-born astrophysicist. Educated in Presidency College, Chennai, Dr. Chandrashekar happened to be the nephew of his Nobel forbear, Sir C.V. Raman. He later migrated to the United States where he authored several books on Astrophysics and Stellar Dynamics. He developed a theory on white dwarf stars which posts a limit of mass of dwarf stars known also as Chandrashekar Limit. His theory explains the final stages of stellar evolution. MOTHER TERESA (1910-1997) : The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Mother Teresa in 1979. Albanian parentage, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born at Skopje, now in Yogoslavia. She joined the Irish order of the Sisters of Loretto at Dublin in 1928 and came to Kolkata in 1929 as a missionary, only to find the misery of the abandoned and the destitute. Concern for the poor and the sick prompted her to found a new congregation, Missionaries of Charity. Having become an Indian citizen, Mother Teresa served the cause of dying destitute’s, lepers and drug addicts, through Nirmal Hriday (meaning Pure Heart), the main centre of her activity. Her selfless service and unique devotion, not only to helpless fellow-Indians but also to the cause of world peace, earned her and India the first Nobel Peace Prize. HARGOBIND KHORANA (b. 1922) : Hargobind Khorana was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968. Of Indian origin, Dr Khorana was born in Raipur, Punjab (now in Pakistan). He took his doctoral degree in Chemistry from Liverpool University and joined the University of Wisconsin as a Faculty Member in 1960. His major breakthrough in the field of Medicine—interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis—fetched him the Nobel Prize. CHANDRASHEKAR VENKATARAMAN (1888-1970) : India’s first Nobel Prize for Physics was claimed in 1930 by the renowned physicist Sir C.V. Raman. Born at Thiruvanaikkaval near iruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, Raman studied at Presidency College, Chennai. Later, he served as Professor of Physics at Calcutta University. Recipient of many honors and awards, including the title of ‘Sir’, Sir C.V. Raman received the Nobel Prize for an important optics research, in which he discovered that diffused light contained rays of other wavelengths—what is now popularly known as Raman Effect. His theory discovered in 1928 explains the change in the frequency of light passing through a transparent medium. RABINDRANATH TAGORE (1861-1941) : Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian ever to receive a Nobel Prize. Popularly known as Gurudev, India’s Poet Laureate Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 in Kolkata. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his work Geetanjali, a collection of poems, in 1913. Tagore wrote many love lyrics. Geetanjali and Sadhana are among his important works. The poet, dramatist and novelist is also the author of India’s National Anthem. In 1901 he founded the famous Santiniketan which later came to be known as Vishwabharati University.

Teaching English in Schools and Junior Colleges in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Every English Teacher in Andhra Pradesh as any one else across the world is well aware of the fact that Teaching English involves four basic skills; Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Yet most of the teachers neglect the basic aims of teaching English. Some times I feel that they forget that their aim is teaching English. They teach English like a science teacher or an arts teacher who are interested in teaching concepts. Like other teachers involved in teaching concepts, the English teacher is involved in teaching poems, stories, morals, characters, literary terms etc. I don’t say that all the teachers are doing that. But confidently I can say that majority of them are doing it.

It is all because of the confusion among the English Teachers. The English Teacher has been enjoying English Literature and appreciating it till he takes up teaching English as his profession. Of course, he has been trained to be English teacher, thoroughly trained as to how to teach English language. He has got even good grades in English methodology and as well as in practical classes in internship. But as soon as he becomes teacher of English, his longing for literature once again takes him under its clutches. He forgets as soon as he starts teaching Shelly’s poem the aims of teaching English. He happily goes on teaching appreciating the poem totally ignoring for what reason the poem is prescribed. He makes class more enjoyable by explaining the comedy and wit in R. K. Narayan’s story prescribed as a prose piece. He makes class more informative while teaching of an essay which may be of computers.

In Andhra Pradesh, where English is a major problem for rural students, teachers are compelled to use translation method. So the teachers make the English class like a Telugu Class or a moral class. They go on translating the poem, prose and a story into Telugu and go on appreciating the poetic beauty or literary values involved in them. All this is done in their mother tongue Telugu. So there is no listening of English in the class room. As there is no listening, there can be no speaking. Then if we consider reading. Of course, reading is totally given new meaning. Reading is the reading of English text without comprehension. The student who is able to read aloud and fluently, without a pass he is appreciated by the teacher. Then what is the plight of writing. Writing is also given new meaning. Students are never asked to write about something of their own. They are given notes with question and answers. They are encouraged to by heart word by word. Then they are asked the questions. Students would write what they have already by hearted. He is given full marks, cent percent, who has best vomited it.

Is it possible for a student to learn English under the methodology that is practiced by the English teachers. No. In fact every one knows it. But they don’t want to change their methodology. Than saying don’t want to it is apt to say – they are unable to. Yes they are unable to change their ways. Due to privatization in education in Andhra Pradesh, the students and parents expect marks than stuff. So the teachers are interested in helping their students get maximum marks. What is the use of teaching basic skills. Are the question papers are testing these four skills. Then why should a teacher be more worried of skills.

Then what are we testing the students by conducting examinations in English. We ask paragraph questions, essay type questions, short answer type questions and annotations involving knowledge, understanding and inference. So we are actually testing the literature part of the lessons that are prescribed. These questions alone consists 40% of the question paper. Then there will be comprehension passages for 10% of the total marks. These comprehension passages are the source for the teacher to pass the below average students. The teacher never cares to ask questions on the passages given to test whether the student has really comprehended the given passage. Whatever answer he writes, he is given marks. The student just repeat the same sentence that was there in the passage as an answer. He is given marks for that.

Then of course, 50% of the question paper is either on grammar or on writing skills. Grammar of course is given due importance by the teachers. But the problem of the grammar teaching is that it is taught in isolation, taking it away from the language. It is taught like mathematics, involving formulas and principles. Though the English Teacher in Andhra Pradesh teaches Grammar well, it doesn’t help the students improve his language, but only helps to get good marks.

So only the Telugu rural students are very poor in English language.

Your comments are invited for I feel that this aspect of the problem of teaching English is totally neglected.