We live in two universes, a universe of communication and a universe of things, with which science deals. We are always talking or constantly listening. When no one is around us, we talk to ourselves.
Words are the means by which our civilization is developed and passed on. Our language determines largely the character of our intelligence, our affection, and disloyalties. We live in words, are surrounded by them, and the only means we have to get outside of our own language so that we can even look at it is through the study of foreign languages.
No one can know fully the features of his own language, its. qualities and defects, without understanding another language. Through foreign study, a person perceives how conventional language is and becomes conscious of the mechanism of his own speech. Without the knowledge of a foreign language, we are just like a squirrel in his cage.
There are people who think that many philosophical, narrative and dramatic works can be handled in Urdu translation. But the simplest things are the most difficult to translate. The flavor of words, the associations of words, and emotions are difficult to communicate. In nearly every translation of a literary work, something is lost. It is never possible to enter fully the spirit of a nation except through its language. To depend on translations is like studying the colorless reproductions of paintings rather than originals.
The study of a foreign language allows us to escape from the atmosphere of the home, the village, and from the styles, fads, and fancies, not of a single space but of a single epoch. This is what we need, because we, the people of Pakistan, are backward in every respect. Eighty, percent of our population lives in villages. They live in mud houses with no ventilation whatsoever. Sanitation is unknown to them. They do not have refuse or manure pits. In order to uplift the masses, it is necessary for us to tell them the Western standards of progressive living. It is through the study of the English language that we can have access to Western culture.[the_ad id=”17141″]
It is a hard fact that books on modern sciences, such as chemistry, zoology, biology, political science, etc, are written in English. Almost all the terminology is in English. If we want to be abreast with the modern world, we have got to know these sciences and only the study of English will enable us to understand these sciences.
Please check out the paragraph about Early Marriage life in Pakistan.
The point need not be labored. We are living in one world. This small world is one in which all of us diplomats, businessmen, and scholars must live out our lives, and our children will live, more intimately than we with their contemporaries in other lands, Whether we discharge our world responsibilities well or poorly, ignorantly or understandingly, will be determined greatly by our ability to understand other peoplės and their ability to understand us. Only through the ability to use another language even modestly can one really become conscious of the full meaning of being a member of another nationality or cultural group. Last, but not least, nobody can deny that a foreign language. such as English, broadens our outlook and makes us understand this world well.
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