It was George Bernard Shaw who said, England and America are two countries divided by a common language. He must have said this in a lighter vein. The fact remains that it has often been referred to as a "global language", the lingua franca of the modern era.

It was once considered the exclusive cultural sign of native English speakers. It is no more so. It is rather a language that absorbs varying aspects of different cultures from all over the world. Otherwise how could you find words like lakh, crore etc. in that language? It has the capacity to assimilate and adopt. And, that is a healthy sign of growth. Today, approximately 400 million people speak English as their first language. If you combine the number of native and non-native speakers of this language, it is no doubt the most commonly spoken language in the world.

A working knowledge of English is required in several fields worldwide . Whatever be one's profession or occupation it is well nigh impossible to carry on without the queen's language. As a result, the number of people who speak English at least at a basic level will exceed a billion.

Our youngsters in their thousands are able to make a living abroad and remit home Dollars and Euros only because they are masters of or at least conversant with English.

Our own state, Tamil Nadu was until recently ignoring the need and the demand to teach English from the primary school level. Though late, they have woken up to the reality now. It is heartening that the Chennai Corporation has started a spoken English training Programme. The initial phase of that programme which began on January 10, concludes today (28 March). Over four thousand students in Class VI and VII from ten Corporation schools learnt the fundamentals of this great language. The classes are in the evening for ninety minutes everyday. The total investment for this course was to the tune of Rs forty lakhs.

Normally, the Corporation school students are considered poor in English. The authorities could not have thought of a better programme for the future of the students. One cannot expect wonders in a short while. However, if this programme is sustained, it will do a world of good to our poor students. The job market demands that our students are able to communicate well in English.

Well done, Chennai Corporation, it is indeed a good beginning.