Is it necessary to know GOOD English?

I came across this discussion with Indian author Chetan Bhagat on NDTV. One of the topics they discussed was whether is it necessary to know English or good English to make a mark in your professional and personal life? English an important language in India for decades. This might be mainly because of our colonial history, but English commands a special status in Indian society. A person able to speak and write English fluently is often considered a scholar and intelligent. Many people from India assume an English-speaking person is an intellectual. I learned to speak and write English very late in my life, my entire primary education was in Marathi, and even though in college the medium of instruction was English no one really spoke in English. I was first exposed to spoken English when I joined for my PhD at the National Chemical Laboratory where people from all over India were there so Marathi was not an option as a language of communication with everyone, and from there onward I am constantly surrounded by people speaking in English. One can easily understand by reading my blog posts, comments, tweets, or Facebook posts that English is not my native language, but I am very comfortable with communicating in English as it allows me to connect with people all over the world. At the same time, I am also aware that my English skills are not that GOOD in a conventional sense, but the question is, is it necessary to know GOOD English?

Having a command of any language is great, I really admire everyone who has an impressive command of any language. This skill gives that person the power to put their thoughts in a very articulative way, they become masters in the craft of playing with words. Reading wonderfully worded articles and books is an amazing experience. A beautiful combination of words mesmerizes us, it leaves a deep impact on our minds. That is why there are not many successful professional writers. But is it necessary to know good English or any other language to express your thoughts in that language? I personally don't think so, we need some medium to express our ideas and thoughts, and language is one of those mediums. The purpose of any language is to allow us to express our thoughts in a manner that others can understand. If we can do that, then we all are smart and effective users of that language. I admire the talent of people who are masters of expressing their thoughts in beautiful manure, I will keep on trying to learn that craft but not being a master in that shouldn't stop me from sharing my views. As it is not only the right of people with a great voice to sing a song, it is not a rule that only people with good command of that language should write in it. We all can express our thoughts in whatever language we feel comfortable with. I see many people hesitate to communicate with others just because they think their language skills are not good enough, I always encourage them to at least give it a try and see how easy it is to express and connect with people, you just have to get over that hesitation and be honest with your expression. Just get over that initial hesitation and start communicating in whatever language you are comfortable with, after all, thoughts and ideas matter not the language in which they are communicated. If you want to say something, say it, the language doesn't matter, people will relate to it if the thought is genuine. Good luck.  

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Dialogues with Chetan Bhagat