Thursday, October 4, 2012

Forgetting English

I read recent blogposts of my blogger friends Mizohican and Kukui, and I was again amazed at the ease with which they write their posts in English, and of course their mastery of the language. I must admit I was a little envious.

It’s been two months since I quit my job and came home, which means I have been communicating in Mizo the whole time, except for the two weeks I spent in Guwahati where one has to communicate in Hindi and English.

Back in Hyderabad I had to use English five days of the week; and in the two days I was at home used Mizo and Hindi and English. I read English newspapers and books, watched English movies at home and at cinemas, and used English when I went shopping. My thoughts were in English, and my silent prayers were often a mix of Mizo and English. (God understands all languages and thoughts, right?)

Then I came home, and it felt good and easy to use one language all the time, with everyone, everywhere.  The newspapers are in Mizo, the TV programs are in Mizo, and there are numerous movies and serials (English, Hindi, Korean) dubbed in Mizo, but so far I haven’t watched any of them. Suddenly it seems there is no reason to use English anymore, unless your job requires it. But the thing is, except for the teaching profession there is hardly any job here which requires one to communicate in English. The only time I used English was when I went to the BSNL office and spoke to one official regarding the phone bill.

What I'm trying to say here is, I think I'm slowly forgetting English. I know, I know, it’s been only two months, but in these two months I couldn’t write a single blogpost in  English. I tried, yes, even started a few, but got stuck after a few sentences. It’s been about 300 words so far, and I'm already scratching my head searching for thoughts and words. Could it be that I've lost all inspiration, or have been too busy doing nothing?

20 comments:

  1. lol its all in the head, I bet you still think in English. Under the right circumstance, the right inspiration, the right situation you'll be right back in the game!

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  2. uiha, so now you know about the difficulty I had in facing that interview, aleh :D And uh, thanks for the compliment, hehe. And I too can't imagine you having difficulty in writing

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  3. Dr John: Thank you, and thanks for reading :)

    zakk_kima: Yes, I still think in English and pray silently in Minglish. I too hope that the right circumstance and inspiration will come soon, or maybe I have to create the circs. and look for inspiration, what say?

    Kuku: I remember you writing about that interview, and if it was me there would be a lot of "Englo..ihh.." :P

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  4. LOL.. now that you've come up with a good reason, may be my recent continuous updates is because I think, eat, pray in English, and the only time I use Mizo is either on Facebook or sms. When I was in Aizawl, like last year, I had 4 blog updates, and now it has come up to 20 updates already :D

    But then again, when at home, we have family to talk to, Mitthi in and Church to go, play with nieces and nephews, I guess we hardly get the time to sit in front of the computer. (btw, i blog update hi ka blogroll ah a in update miah lo)

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  5. hehehe... thanx though I don't deserve that. You should read Philo's blog. You'll forget everything you've learnt in English class :D Once I am done reading his post, I start counting from A, B, C, D, etc just to make sure I haven't forgotten the language. That guy is the Maestro of English vocabulary.

    Probably you're going through writer's block. :)

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  6. Mimi: And the other reason one cannot have regular updates while at home is because as soon as one opens the laptop one's nieces start banging their tiny fists on it, so sometimes it's much wiser to stay offline, except of course being on FB mobile :P

    Kima: I think I ought to pick up on my long forgotten reading and maybe get back in touch with the language.
    Yes I have visited Philo's blog quite a few times, and have been thoroughly intimidated every time.

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  7. May be your grey cells are getting ' A whiter shade of pale'. Joking.

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  8. Your 'forgetting english' story is equivalent to collection of my english stories; stories none other than few of my fb status... :-) ( tawng tial hmang ve khauh te'ng.. hehe).

    I blog hian min block a tum ngai si lo va, ka lo tek lut leh ringawt thin... :-O

    'Zanin chung chhawrthlapui eng zet chuan, lung a va'n tileng ngaih ngaih ve le'.., 'ka tuara'n vanpui a chim' tih ang te hi english-a ka ziah thiam hunah english blog a/c ka la siam ve ang.. :-D

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  9. daniel: Seriously, my grey cells are turning rotten and mildewed.

    Mahminga: Tawng tial hman ve zeuh zeuh te hi a tha ngai. Lo leng lut fo teh, tumah hi ka block lo ve.

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  10. haha.. Kima essay ziah thiam hmel tiraw :P
    I love reading Jerusha's and Calliopia's Canticles

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  11. Kima chu essay ziah a thiam alawm, a cow essay te kha a turu asin :P Jerusha leh Calliopia te pawh an ziak thiam, an blog an update peihlo lutuk aaaaa...

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    Replies
    1. Update ve leh zeuh thin hiiii! Hey, now you know why I grab every opportunity to write in English - and sucks to all those criticniks on Fb who like to crib about writing in Mizo if you're Mizo.

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    2. Now I know. Mizo tawng mafia will always be there, so the best we can do is just turn a deaf ear to their rants.

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  12. Nangin english i hman tamin nuam i ti a...thiam leh thiam lova nilenga tawng a ngaih changin keini kan sil urh thung a...mizotawng hman ve kan chak thung.

    I lo quit reng a ni maw...min van hrilh lo..haha. Nia i fb update leh blogger update ah khan i lungleng thin riau khan ka hria.

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    1. Nuam ka ti em em pawh a ni bik lo, hmanna tur awmlo lutuk hian min theihnghilh tir zo dawn takngial zawk alawm.

      Nia ka quit tih hi ka Wordpress blog ah khan ka ziak a, i lo hmu lo emawni...

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  13. I think you're going to be just fine!! You write impeccable, fantastic English and you don't lose that in just a few months. Your mind is still probably adjusting to the linguistic culture shock, methinks!

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