PLAN TO DEVELOP TELUGU LANGUAGE

N. Sasidhar
Present status of Telugu language among the world languages:
Telugu is one of the ancient surviving and matured language of the world. It ranks in the first
fifteen (15) spoken languages of the world. It is the highest spoken language south of line of
cancer (latitude 2! 2"# $$%) e&cluding 'uropean native languages. Telugu is a treasure of
classical literature compared to an( surviving 'uropean languages
Ta)le *1 shows the ranking of ma+or world languages. ,even Indian su) continent languages-
another si& (.) languages of /sia and seven 'uropean languages figure among the first 2$
languages of the world. Two thirds of world populations speak one of these languages as
mother tongue.
0anguages 1other
tongue
(millions)
2ank ,econd
language3
(millions)
Third
languages4
(millions)
2emarks
5hinese 1$$ 1 /sian
6indi 75$ 2 1$$ ,u) continent
,panish 7$$ to 7 'uropean
'nglish 8$ to 7 2$$ 1$$9 'uropean
:ortuguese 21$ 5 to " 'uropean
;engali 18< 5 to " 7$ ,u) continent
/ra)ic 18. 5 to " .$ /sian
2ussian 17" 8 11 'uropean
=apanese 1$ < /sian
:un+a)i 1$7 > 1$ to 11 ,u) continent
?erman 1$$ 1$ to 11 'uropean
Telugu 8..1 12 " ,u) continent
@orean "8 1 to 17 /sian
Aietnamese " 1 to17 /sian
1arathi "$ 15 to 18 <$ ,u) continent
Tamil .8 15 to 18 ,u) continent
Brench .5 15 to 18 1$< 'uropean
Turkish .5 15 to 18 /sian
Italian .2 1< to 2$ 'uropean
CrduD .1 1< to 2$ 1$$ > ,u) continent
3 1oderate familiarit( )eing a local ma+orit( language or link language or
compulsor( language taught in the high schools. 40ittle familiarit( to speak with
foreigners. 9 Includes 5hina E other than common wealth countries. D 0anguage is
an offshoot of 6indi with more adoption of :ersian and /ra)ic words. > 1ainl( in
:akistan.
TABLE 1: MAJOR LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD.
Geographic distribution of Telugu speaking people:
Telugu people living in AP: 8$F of Telugu people live in the state of /ndhra :radesh (/:) in
India. Gearl( 1$F of state population is non*Telugu speaking predominantl( of Crdu. /s a
federal state of India- 6indi is also taught in high schools as a compulsor( su)+ect. Hf late-
'nglish is gaining predominance over Telugu as a medium of education from nurser( stage.
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1an( of the 'nglish medium schools do not teach Telugu as a su)+ect. /lso it is not
compulsor( for the linguistic minorities to learn Telugu as a su)+ect in /:. Cnder freedom of
choosing a language su)+ect- man( Telugu students also opt for ,anskrit over Telugu since the
rudimentar( ,anskrit is prescri)ed in s(lla)us- which is far easier to score good marks against
the high level Telugu s(lla)us that includes classical poetr(. ,imilarl( linguistic minorit(
students prefer to learn a foreign language such as /ra)ic- Brench- 2ussian- etc. to score good
marks

Telugu people living outside AP but in India: Gearl( 15F of the Telugu speaking population
reside outside the state predominantl( in )oarder districts of /: and ma+or cities. Though the(
continue Telugu as their mother tongue- their medium of education is either in 'nglish or in
local ma+orit( language. Iue to wider spread of Telugu print media- wide coverage of Telugu
TA channels- modern communication facilities and Telugu cinema- these people are a)le to
maintain Telugu legac(.
Telugu people living outside India: Gearl( 5F of the Telugu speaking population resides
outside India. 8$F of these people are descendants of migrants during ;ritish rule to countries
like 1ala(sia- ;urma- ,outh /frica- ,ingapore- etc. The (ounger generations of these ethnic
Telugu people lost ha)it of reading and writing Telugu. The rest 2$F are the people who
migrated to other countries for emplo(ment and )usiness purpose after independence.
1a+orit( of these people are working as skilled and unskilled workers in 1iddle 'ast where
the official language is /ra)ic. 6ardl( one third of post independence era migrants are
residing in 'nglish speaking or common wealth countries. These Telugu people maintain the
legac( of Telugu with the help of modern communication technologies and freJuent cultural
e&changes.
Necessity of teaching in Telugu:
Gearl( 2 million children get enrolled in primar( schools in /: and one million students
attend 1$
th
standard (,,5) e&ams ever( (ear. The dropouts in high school education level are
nearl( 5$F. 1ost of these students give up education due to frustration and hardship the(
undergo in learning 'nglish and 6indi languages. Their parents )eing from poor sections and
not familiar with an( language other than their mother tongue (mostl( Telugu)- are also
helpless in understanding childrenKs pro)lems and come to the conclusion that the children are
not fit for education and educating them further is futile e&ercise. This will lead to under
education of children- which will effect their future career development and contri)ution to the
nation in terms of per capita productivit(.
In ,,5 e&amination nearl( 7$F of students fail in at least one su)+ect. Gearl( 8$F of these
unsuccessful children fail in 'nglish and another 5$F fail in 6indi also. Thus these languages
)ecome o)stacles in future career development of these students. The( need to spend another
(ear to clear these su)+ects- which is wastage of student (ears or discontinue education out of
frustration and hardship to +oin unskilled la)or force.
The students spend nearl( 7$F of their student life learning 'nglish constantl( to grasp
various science and arts su)+ects through out their education career. If this chunk of student
lifeL (ears were spent on learning science and arts su)+ects through their mother tongue- their
skills and standard of their professional su)+ects would enhance )( at least 1$$F- which will
enhance their future +o) skills. 6igher productivit( of the future workforce will lead to faster
prosperit( of the nation. Me come across people freJuentl( with graduation and post
graduation Jualifications facing difficult( in writing few lines of flawless simple 'nglish even
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after undergoing long period of education in 'nglish. Mhen highl( educated people face
language (e&pression) as the main )ottleneck rather than ideasLimaginationLcreativit(- their
time is wasted without optimum contri)ution to their profession.
Intelligence (IN) is defined as capacit( to learn. In an( geographical areaKs population- less
than 1$F are )lessed with high IN inherentl(. /nother 2$F of population is )lessed with the
a)ove average IN level. The high IN people can learn an( su)+ect or language to proficienc(
level as long as the( are motivated and consider their pursuit seriousl(. The ne&t 2$F
population can attain average standards in education career and )ecome managers L
supervisors in their pursuits L careers with long time e&posure and training process. The rest
"$F have limited learning skills and the( ultimatel( settle in the lower strata of economic
activit( for earning livelihood. ;eing ma+or chunk of the population- it is ver( important to
utiliOe the availa)le learning capa)ilit( of these ()elow average IN) people )( imparting
ma&imum professional skills such that their productivit( to the econom( is optimiOed.
If we do not teach education in their mother tongue and also force them to learn additional
languages ('nglish and 6indi)- their education period would )e unproductive in their career
development and settle for inferior +o)s- which the( do not deserve actuall(. :roper optimiOed
and focused education in their mother tongue is ver( essential to e&tract optimum productivit(
for the faster prosperit( of the nation. Increase in average productivit( of the population is the
inde& of an( nationKs development. Go countr( in this world has attained developed nation
status without educating its people in their mother tongue. 'uropean countries- =apan- @orea-
2ussia and 5hina are stark e&amples of this fact.
Ieveloped countries are permitting highl( skilled L educated people to work in their countries
due to shortage of these people there. Hur present education s(stem is serving these countries
perfectl( )( providing read( to use highl( skilled people with their mother tongue ('nglish)
proficienc( at the enormous cost of remaining studentKs professional development in India. If
these developed countries could source the people with reJuired skills from their citiOens- the(
would not allow an( foreigner to work in these countries- which is evident )( their
immigration policies in force.
Telugu people migrating to 'nglish speaking countries for emplo(ment- education and
)usiness purpose do not e&ceed 2$-$$$ per (ear (1F of students). 1ost of these people are
highl( educated who can learn the reJuired foreign language skills in reasona)le duration with
out the need of an( prior e&posure.
Telugu people migrating from /: to other states for emplo(ment- education and )usiness
purpose do not e&ceed $-$$$ per (ear. Hnl( $F of these people go to 6indi speaking or
6indi familiar states. 1ost of these people are highl( educated who can learn the local
language to the reJuired e&tent in short duration with out an( need of prior e&posure.
/s e&plained a)ove our present education s(stem ('nglish medium education) in /: is
affecting the professional careers of 2 million students ever( (ear for the sake of so called
)enefit to few thousand students who are actuall( migrating a)road or to other states. The state
is suffering from )oth wa(s )( not optimiOing the average professional skills of the people and
loosing talented people )( )rain drain to other nations.
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Methods to develop Telugu language at par with nglish:
Though ;ritish people left India long )ack- the dominance of 'nglish is still continuing in our
countr(. This ma( )e due to prominence of C,/ in international trade as well as engine of
science and technological development for last .$ (ears. 'nglish has attained the status of
international language. Iue to multi linguistic nature of our countr(- we continued to follow
the 'nglish education s(stem. The detrimental effects of 'nglish education could not )e
vividl( understood in the past due to rampant illiterac( and slow industrialiOation in the
countr(. Me were completel( under false illusion thinking that whatever achieved progress is
also mainl( due to our 'nglish education s(stem. Gow India produces 5$F of engineering
graduates of the whole world. /: itself produces 1$F of engineering graduates of the world.
It is surprising to know ,panish is also the official language of Cnited Gations. ,panish )eing
largest spoken language among its earl( mem)ers has )een selected as its official language.
Mhen 5hina and India emerge as economical and technological giants similar to present da(
C,/- 5hinese or Indian languages will compete for the status of international language.
Indian su) continent languages with commonness and more native speakers than 5hinese can
force their language as international language. Mithout developing our languages to the latest
needs- we cannot dream a)out the future golden era of our languages. /vaila)ilit( of computer
tools in a language is an essential feature in present da( world whatever its richness in
literature is. The following features should )e developed on priorit(.
1. There shall )e common script for all the Indian languages as their alpha)ets are almost
similar. This would facilitate one language people to read other languages and learn it
easil( whenever reJuired. It would )e eas( to learn other Indian languages due to
similarit( in sentence formation L s(nta& and at least 2$F common voca)ular(.
2. Indian languages have no silent alpha)ets in pronouncing words or word*to*word
specific pronunciation while reading same com)ination of alpha)ets. Indian language
pronunciation is uniJue for its alpha)ets in all applications. / relia)le computer tool to
t(pe L write the spoken language L voice can )e developed in Indian languages for
faster t(ping of these languages. This would eliminate the disadvantage in t(ping
Indian languages due to presence of compound alpha)ets.
. /n operating s(stem (H,) in all Indian languages should )e developed. It is not a great
or impossi)le task. H, programming is not in an( language other than its
nomenclature (la)els) in its output and input screens. The computer programming is
not written in 'nglish )ut in mathematical logics (numeric). H, are also availa)le in all
ma+or languages e&cept Indian languages )ecause Indians are not using their languages
and so developing H, in Indian languages is not commerciall( via)le. ,imilarl( an(
programming language L tools can )e made availa)le in an( language.
7. Mord processing language should )e developed in Indian languages for computer
usage. It should consist of language tools such as Pspell correctionK- Pgrammar
correctionK- thesaurus- dictionar(- help topic- etc. These are also availa)le in all ma+or
languages e&cept in Indian languages )ecause Indians are not using their languages and
so their little usage is not commerciall( via)le. /t the same time computeriOed
pu)lishing tools are availa)le in ma+or Indian languages since people read newspapers
and magaOines widel(. 2egional language papers and magaOines are more popular than
'nglish newspapers and magaOines.
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5. Hnline trans*literation of Indian languages in to ma+or world languages should )e
developed for mutual interaction. /ll the advanced nations have developed these
computer tools- which are e&tensivel( used )( its people.
.. / search engine in Telugu shall )e developed.
". ;ooks shall )e made availa)le to teach Indian languages in all ma+or languages of the
world.
Mhen we start using mother tongue in place of 'nglish- the commercial via)ilit( would come
automaticall( to develop various programming tools L packages for using and learning Telugu.
/lso foreigners start learning Telugu as per reJuirement.
!e"uired education and language policy in #ndhra Pradesh:
/s e&plained earlier- our present education polic( is imparting slow death to our mother
tongue- which is one of the ancient surviving languages of the world. :resent education polic(
is also retarding our economic prosperit( and serving the interests of foreign countries.
'arlier 'nglish proponents used to sa( that there were not adeJuate )ooks to educate the
people in Telugu medium. /lso the( used to argue it is not possi)le to translate scientific
words in to Telugu. /ll our science and arts graduates and postgraduates are not reading )ooks
written )( foreign authors. In fact the science and arts )ooks written in 'nglish )( Indian
authors are widel( read not onl( in India )ut also in man( common wealth countries. Mhen
talented Indian authors can write popular te&ts in a foreign language- it is o)vious that the(
can also write in Telugu if encouraged financiall(. :resent science E technolog( )ase in the
state is at par with an( developed countr(. Telugu translation of reJuired science- arts E
technolog( )ooks is not a pro)lem at all rather than the will power of /: government and
state people. /ll the scientific words nomenclature is not done in 'nglish with selection of
self*e&planator( terminolog(. The( are adopted from other languages such as ?reek- 0atin- etc
(as tradition) and also randoml( named. / prereJuisite of an( developed language is to
possess the modern science and technolog( knowledge for teaching its people. This is an
unending process in the evolution of an( language. ,o /: ?overnment should allot li)eral
funds to encourage authors to write science- arts- commerce- technolog(- administration and
management )ooks in Telugu till adeJuate content is achieved. /ttractive cash rewards and
awards for fulfilling ?overnment notified targets should )e implemented.
'nglish- as medium of education shall )e stopped immediatel( up to fifth standard in primar(
schools. 'ver( (ear- one successive standardL class should )e stopped in 'nglish medium
education. Thus 'nglish as medium of instruction should )e phased out graduall( from the
schools and universities over ne&t 12 (ears.
'nglish su)+ect should not )e included in an( course. ,tudents can onl( learn 'nglish
voluntaril( as a foreign language.
There should )e proportionate +o) selection for 'nglish and Telugu medium educations in the
state.
/ll the competitive e&aminations shall )e made availa)le in Telugu at national level. The
selection shall )e proportionate to state population and also in the ratio of Telugu and 'nglish
medium students in the state.
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:roficienc( in 'nglish shall not )e selection criteria in an( competitive e&amination conducted
)( an( institute or compan(- which are in receipt of government funding in cash or kind.
Institutes of national e&cellence such as IITs- /II1,- etc shall not )e teaching schools for
graduation and post graduation levels. The( should give up these tasks and transform in to
state of the art research institutions. GITs and state universities will completel( take over the
responsi)ilit( of teaching reJuirements in local languages.
'nglish shall )e a)ruptl( discontinued as official language and all computer tools in 'nglish
shall )e removed from usage graduall( and replaced )( tools in Telugu in a three (ears period.
6indi should )e taught as an optional su)+ect on voluntar( )asis and there should not )e an(
minimum L fail marks for passing this su)+ect.
/ll linguistic minorities in the state should either stud( in their mother tongue or Telugu.
Telugu shall )e taught up to 12
th
standard compulsoril( as language su)+ect in all schools of
the state.
/n autonomous institute should )e entrusted to achieve this important task. 5ommitted and
capa)le people should )e given the responsi)ilit(. The government with a target of time )ound
implimentation should give sufficient funds- which will not e&ceed 2s 1$$ croresL(ear in a 12
(ears period. Telugu people should also come forward to participate in this no)le task )(
contri)uting their skills and knowledge voluntaril(. :olitical consensus could )e achieved for
the cause of Telugu language )( involving all ma+or political parties in this task.
QQQQ
This paper was written in the (ear 2$$"
References:
(/ction plan for full
development of Telugu language)R
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F'$F;$F;8F'$F;$F/'F'$F;1F81F'$F;$F/8*F'$F;$F/8F'$F;$F/7*
F'$F;$F;5F'$F;$F;BF'$F;$F<5F'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F;8F'$F;$F/'
F'$F;1F81*F'$F;$F;8F'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F/"F'$F;$F;B
F'$F;$F82F'$F;$F</F'$F;1F81*F'$F;$F<5F'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F;$*
F'$F;$F/BF'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F</F'$F;$F;$F'$F;$F/*F'$F;$F//*
F'$F;$F;$F'$F;$F/F'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F;2F'$F;$F;BF'$F;$F<5
SS ( 0et us emulate 'nglish language development SS )
httpRLLwww.scri)d.comLdocL5<1$27<<LF'$F;$F8.F'$F;$F82F'$F;$F<"*
F'$F;$F;2*F'$F;$F/IF'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F;"*F'$F;$F//
F'$F;1F81F'$F;$F;$F'$F;1F8;F'$F;$F<"F'$F;$F/7F'$F;$F;B
F'$F;$F/8F'$F;$F/8F'$F;1F81F'$F;$F<5F'$F;$F;$F'$F;$F;B
F'$F;$F/.*F'$F;$F/.F'$F;$F;'F'$F;$F82
1(ths a)out 'nglish languageR
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httpRLLarticles.timesofindia.indiatimes.comL2$$"*11*1"Ledit*pageL2"<<7.8"T1Tenglish*
productivit(*drive*growth
httpRLLwww.scri)d.comLdocL5<1$2521L1(ths*/)out*'nglish
Bor a)ove essa(s see also httpRLLgroups.google.comLgroupLTeluguseva
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