The writer has taught Linguistics at Howard University, JNU and Ashoka University. She is the author, most recently, of Father Tongue, Motherland: The Birth of Languages in South Asia
The real value of our models is not that they tell us about our past, but that they help us to read the signs and understand when the outwardly healthy systems we live in might actually be in distress. They serve as a compass helping us to project ahead and anticipate the future
China, Japan, Korea and other modern countries manage very well with English as just another “subject”, useful for when they engage with the outside world. Their schools do teach English, but not in English medium. English isn’t their entry point into science
