We love English (Part 2)
If we want to learn English well, we need three things 1) an interest and a passion to learn 2) English reading materials 3) the computer. I was educated both in the US and England, and I attended studies in India and Nepal (Tribhuvan University). English is the medium that I used since childhood. The writing on 'We Love English' was a part of a paper that I presented at a conference on September 26, 2004. Me and my friends, we gathered a number of ideas for the development of English. This is the second part of "We love English" programme and I (FM Chaudhury) am presenting the main ideas for the second part. The paper also mentions the similarity between the letters in English, French, and Arabic. When I teach pronunciation, I use English with the letters of the other language which may be Bengali, French, or whatever language is used in the region. The teachers who were on training eagerly wanted to attend the pronunciation and speech course that I developed. The paper also stressed the importance of reading. Selective reading is a technique of choosing good materials to read such as literature, classics, and good articles. There is too much information (saturation) and people are sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of information that is available. So, reading becomes a burden and people may lose interest. We have to choose some interesting and helpful materials to develop language skills. So, selective reading is an effective technique to encourage reading. I developed the selective reading list and also encourage others to develop a list of selective reading. The more we read the more we know. Reading also helps us to think in English, increase fluency and speed, and develop a wide range of vocabulary. I have been working in language development programmes since 1982. I have been visiting Bangladesh for a few years and observing the problems with language development. Writing is the most difficult task in language learning. In the evening I conduct a private creative writing programme mainly for Ordinary Level students. I sit down with a small group of students and demonstrate creative writing, newspaper editorials and letter pages. I visit colleges and develop the Basic English programme. Besides this I visit rural areas and I am involved in supervising and training teachers. Me and my friends we are interested in the dream of English as a common language and a language of international communication and peace.
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