My Views On English Language

In fact, I feel it is better to have one word for everybody - 'you'. As you say, the respect or the lack of it comes in the way we express ourselves. Besides saying 'neengal' or 'aap' does not necessarily express 'respect'. One can use those pronouns and still be cursing the person in their hearts. Besides, respect is something we should give everybody irrespective of their age and gender. Basic respect as a human being is the birthright of all. Respect for their personality and behaviour has to be earned.

The IT culture is not disrespectful. I suppose the reason for the first name culture is to bring in a bit of informality in an otherwise stressful work atmosphere. First name is not disrespectful. You can't be disrespectful to your boss in your behaviour even if you call him by name. Besides if you feel uncomfortable, it is always possible to maintain a formality by addressing someone by Mr./Ms. XYZ.

Just my personal opinion.

 

@Caide

'You' is actually a formal usage in English. 'Thou' is the informal way which is considered old-fashioned, so it is almost never used. W.r.t to your colleagues, you can choose to address them with honorifics... Ms. X, Mr. Y or XYZ Sir, ABC maam depending on your work place. IMO, calling colleagues by names is in practice to encourage fair and equal treatment for all. There are two aspects to this situation: the language aspect and the cultural aspect. Our cultural expectations/practices when mixed with a foreign language causes the confusion. Treat them together or apart as per the situation/person to make it work.

Mother tongues are more popular outside of India I would say. People prefer English over other languages to coexist.

 

And English is quite confusing, the pronunciation, I mean. the U in BUT is pronounced quite differently from U in PUT. All European languages except English have equivalents of both Aap and Tum. English was a respectful language once but it got rid of its Thee and Thou and reduced everything to YOU and ceased to be respecter of people.

 

While talking to my DD When I pronounced Mitchelle Obama rhyming with Nickel she had a good laugh and said it should be Mishal Obama. Why the 'e' in the end which is silent. In 'philosophy' the letter p sounds like F. Strange are the ways of English but still it is the universal language of communication, which cannot be said about Tamil.

Agatha83

 

You know what I am getting reminded of:

Sorgamae Endralum Athu Nam Ooru Pola Varuma.
Athu Ennaadu Endralum Athu Nam Naatukkeedaaguma
Pala desam muzhudhum pesum mozhigal
Tamil pol inithidumaaa.....

haha....

I love all the languages J...be it Tamil, Telugu, English, French, Hindi....

Each language has its own melody.

As few of the posters had mentioned above, the MNC culture encourages you to address the person on first name basis. This is to ensure everybody gets a fair treatment. If you are uncomfortable, you can always address people as sir or ma'am.

In my team, I address people with the first names while my colleague uses the word sir to address them. Who is correct is the debate we keep having most of the times. It depends on how comfortable you are.

ME.....I love English.....inspite of India being a country with multiple languages, its only English which has united the country when it comes to languages! I can go to any state in this country and talk in English and get away with it.

But I am not demeaning the other languages...just that I am very comfortable in English. When I was growing up, my aunt used to talk with me in English only. Me and my DH converse in English only!

Me from two different states, he from two different states! (well I am counting the state you belong to and the state you were brought up in) so our common language has now become English!