Students of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) had a wittiest virtual ride on Friday when German language expert Prof. V Ganeshan sensitized them on intricacies of communication in English in his novel style.
Delivering his talk on “Communication in English and its Dimensions”, the former Vice Chancellor of EFL University spoke at length on why and how to learn English.
Prof Ganeshan began with a note that the purpose of a teacher was to make students think. “I feel confident talking to young generation. I am 70 years young, speaking to 20 years old students.”
“English is a global language spoken by about two billion people”, he said while adding that “it is the language of businesses and a dominant language of sciences as well.”
Addressing to the students who hesitated to confess they knew good English, he advised them to shrug off inferiority complex and talk English with confidence, as it would improve their self-confidence.
“Open your mouth and start speaking,” Prof. Ganeshan told the students at the Sayyid Hamid Library Auditorium while arguing why it was necessary to speak up to learn any language.
Referring to a tech savvy young generation, he suggested using media to improve English – from listening to reading and watching.
He said a language learner needs to identify his language needs and strengths. Learners with strong visualization ability must focus on watching a lot of videos, while those with strong auditory ability need to focus on listening a lot.
He also warned the language learners to be careful in cross-cultural communication, as body language, speech act, and other things change from culture to culture. “Use appropriate words, expressions and gestures,” he advised.
In addition, Prof. Ganeshan humorously claimed that Hyderabadi is the world’s easiest language to learn.
“You need only a few words to have a conversation for hours. You can easily converse in Hyderabad with just Hao, Kaiko, Lite Lelo, Jaarun, Aisich, Thair Jao and Nakko,” noted the Nizam College alumnus.