Bangladesh can show the way

When the Indian subcontinent was under the British rule students used to learn English, besides their respective mother tongue. An average student could write with confidence enough in both the languages.

But nowadays the stress is more in some parts of the subcontinent on how well one can speak English even though everyone is not expected to work in a BPO or call-centre.

Sometimes even a guardian is not ashamed if his ward is not at ease to write or speak in his mother tongue, as if that is the measure to gauge the latter's devotion to have mastery over English. Hopefully, that is not the case yet with Bangladesh.

Blessed is the person who learns two languages with equal stress on both. Not only that the knowledge of one helps him to understand better the other.

English is no longer the language of our masters as it was during the British days. But we need it, though not at the cost of our mother tongue. Let Bangladesh show the way in which this can be achieved by promoting learning of both English and Bangla simultaneously.