Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu has praised China for not depending on English as a mode of communication. The business leader, who is based in the small village of Mathalamparai in Tamil Nadu, says he converses with his engineers in Tamil so that they don't feel bad about not knowing English.
Vembu shared an article on X that claimed that after the pandemic, there has been a significant drop in interest among the Chinese in learning the world's lingua franca--English. Due to the decreased interaction with other countries and the increase in hostility with English-speaking nations such as the UK and the USA, the Chinese preferred to focus their attention on learning traditional subjects instead while using efficient apps to do the translations for them, The Economist reported.
"I am right now working with extremely capable engineers on some advanced tech and we converse in Tamil because that is what they are most comfortable with," Vembu shared on X. "I am (very!) slowly learning Hindi so I can work with engineers in Hindi too. There is a lot of R&D talent in India if we get rid of the English barrier and the social stigma of not knowing English well."
He also said that the Chinese are a major source of inspiration for him.
"As we achieve more, Indians some day will lose this idea that English is a mark of sophistication or achievement. It is a useful language to know but since 95 percent of Indians are not fluent in English, it cannot and should not be a barrier to advancing in India," Vembu added.
Several users on X appeared to agree with him, although one highlighted the irony of the Zoho co-founder sharing the insight in English.
"Sir, trust me I just agree with you 100 times," wrote chartered accountant and X user Anshul Garg (@AnshulGarg1986). "I came from a very small city in North India and did my education The first barrier I had to cross after coming to Delhi was English. It is not me but crores like me who come from a small town and are being shamed in Metros for not knowing English."
Another user Manik Tyagi (@ManikTyagi) commented, "Almost pre-requisite that we have established in India for English is single biggest impediment to growth and innovation, so many people are just not considered for the job just because of lack of English skills. This hurts probably 90 percent population or more. English as a language is OK, but medium of education should be native, English should be used only when absolutely necessary."
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