How can we get the English off our backs?
According to the outgoing director of the British Council in Namibia, Patience Mahlalela, the Afrikaans language is responsible for the slow development of English in schools and the general public in the country.
“Too much Afrikaans is still spoken by everyone. This is very detrimental to the development of English as the official language in the country in general. But, as long as the political will is there and the willingness of the people persists, the English language will eventually take its rightful place as a communication tool.”
My question is, is it right that the British council seeks to promote English in a way that sees indigenous languages as a problem? An obstable in the way of English dominating everywhere and everything even more than it is already?
I don’t think it is right, and I think we should name it as it is: neo-colonialism.
Why should English, a world language with powerful financial, technological and military factors that favour it be promoted? When will British people begin to seek the promotion and survival of small languages instead of trying to stamp them out?
