The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : ‘English key to empowered job market’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

‘English key to empowered job market’

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: English is not only India’s window to the world, today it is India’s virtual highway to the field of information technology and other markets, U.S. Consul-General in Chennai David Hopper said here on Tuesday.

Speaking at the inauguration of ‘Zealitt 2007’, an inter-collegiate English literary fest organised by Guru Shree Shantivijai Jain College for Women, he said English was the key to a much more empowered job market. “With the possible exception of the mass media, jobs in all modern sectors favour candidates with a good knowledge of English,” he said.

Emphasising the importance of the knowledge of English in today’s context, Mr. Hopper said it enabled participation in the globalised world and economy, and provided a window to important world cultures, literatures and ways of thinking. For Indians it made possible participation in the political and cultural affairs of the country. He said he was particularly pleased that a ‘spelling bee’ contest was part of the competitions to be held.

“Indians have a lot to gain from knowing English, and the world has a lot to gain from Indians knowing English,” he said. Highlighting the trends in international education and exchange programmes, Mr. Hopper said no overseas exposure was more meaningful and powerful than education. A total of 76,503 Indian students were currently studying in American colleges and universities, forming the largest single foreign group of students, he said.

‘Read more’

Speaking on the occasion, N. Ravi, Editor, The Hindu, said such events served to sharpen students’ communication skills, which were becoming critical in virtually every area. “Read more and more to improve your communication skills. Reading also fosters creativity,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of contests such as the ‘spelling bee’, Mr. Ravi said inbuilt dictionaries in computers increased the users’ dependency on such tools, just like how the advent of calculators made manual calculations uncommon and how people stopped remembering phone numbers after cellular phones became common.

Secretary of the college P. Gautam Vaid and principal M.K. Malathi were present on the occasion.

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