English Vinglish - I

My Organization has a mentor-ship program. Senior consultants are encouraged to take under their wings one or two juniors and engage them in conversation about what they look for in their career and how they see themselves in the organization in the next few years.   I take to this activity enthusiastically.  Like the proverbial 7-year itch, many young people working in IT services, start worrying about where their career is headed after the initial euphoria of landing on the job is over. It happens anywhere during the first 3 to 7 years. Some are assailed by self-doubt while some others feel let down after having cultivated too high an expectation about what they could achieve.  Some are insecure that they are working on Technology platforms that are outdated and some others simply do not fancy themselves in a technical role and yearn for roles as Analysts and rue their lack of ‘domain experience’ that it entails. Almost invariably everybody yearns for ‘on-site opportunities’. They have seen their friends leave their jobs to do MBA and wonder if they had missed the bus.

In my opinion, it pays to be a long distance runner in the IT services industry. India is still stuck in the lower rungs of the IT food-chain mainly because we do not have quality manpower for which the faulty education system is largely to blame. To be precise what Indian companies generate is just 2-3% world revenue in IT.  So we are just children collecting sea shells on the beach while the whole ocean is ahead of us.  There is no dearth of opportunities for Indian IT industry and consequently to grow oneself in these Big IT companies.  Training programs happen across all technologies and specific suite of IT products/applications; Industry recognized certifications are many and associates are reimbursed exam fee upon clearing the exams.  It is better to check with the HR department if the Certification is eligible for reimbursement though; no use doing a certification in Ikebana or Origami and expect the company to reimburse the costs!

However, I invariably tell all my mentees to develop a skill that no Certification provides or even if there is one, no HR department would agree to reimburse: it is the skill of writing good English. 

I have emphasized ‘write’ for the following reasons:

•         Overseas clients take more serious note of the documents produced by the Project.
• .      They are more forgiving of inadequate oral  communication as they do concede that we are not native speakers of the English language.
•         Our education system does not equip us with adequate skills of writing in any language when we leave School _, as in my case, either in Tamil or in English. And it is not so  in most countries.

If there is one skill that a Program Manager is looking for in all associates being short-listed for on-site assignments, it is the proficiency in English language. I know of many a Program Manager  who is pushed to hire locals on contract at considerable cost just because they are unable to find consultants back home with adequate language skills.

Yet one module lead proudly announced one day that he does not care how his team members write so long as they convey what is required to be conveyed.

This is false bravado and will not stand in front of a client who is particular about the quality of the written material and is willing to take up with the Project Manager.  Besides, achieving clear expression is not the only goal: any written communication in unconventional grammar may run the risk of not being taken seriously. The fact that they exist means that It is essential that the conventions of the English language are followed even though they are based on tradition rather than logic.

I have not been brought up by Wren & Martin. Like most I  used to dread the word “grammar” and the image it invoked, of rigid and often arbitrary rules and the terrifying terminology that buttressed it.  I used to assume that once it sounded right to your own ears, it must be good enough.  But not any more. With so many resources on good writing practices available on Internet, anybody can make this transition.

Over the last few years, I have collected some samples from Project documents to illustrate the errors and unconventional usage in grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, syntax and structure, which I want to write about in subsequent posts.   I will not be using the exact sentences but re-worded samples to drive home the point.