English – killing local languages since the 11th century.
English is the most widely spoken language worldwide, with 1.5 billion speakers. In many parts of the world, the ability to speak English is seen as a marker of higher education. So, if you don’t speak the language well, some people may look down on you.
Take this parent in Malaysia, for instance.
Low Grade for English
Her daughter had received a low grade for her English subject in school, and the teacher added a comment, saying she “does not understand the language”.
This came as a shock to the student’s parent, Gwen Kaur, as her child was “well-versed in her spoken and written language” and had consistently scored “A” grades for her previous English examinations.
Kaur added that her daughter had also won many reading awards since her preschool years.
So, what was the problem then? Kaur had to find out.
Explained in an Ungrammatical Note
When Kaur asked her daughter’s teacher for an explanation, the teacher sent her a note justifying the grade and comment about “not understanding the language”.
There was just one problem with the note, though.
In case you can’t read it, here’s what the note says:
“I would like to explain more about my comment about the sentense ‘she has difficulty in understanding the language’. As you can understand, I no doubt to agree that Aranya can speak English well, but what I meant about the sentense is about English of knowledge not for communication. Communication English is different from knowledge English. Hope you can understand and acknowledge it. Thank you.
As you can see, her note is littered with grammatical and spelling errors.
Telling a parent that your student does not understand English using broken English is a bit like a doctor telling you to eat healthier while he eats a 40-piece chicken nugget set from McDonald’s in front of you.
Netizens React
Because irony is a dessert that everyone enjoys, Kaur’s post went viral, garnering over 400 likes and comments.
Many netizens, like Kaur, criticized the teacher, saying that he should be more proficient in the language considering he’s teaching it as a profession.
I’m just wondering how this teacher passed all her English exams and got her teaching certificate.
You can read Kaur’s full post on Facebook here.
So, ladies and gentlemen, remember: Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.