Language and literacy
Till now I had no concrete idea about the meaning of illiterate. The other day at a public place somewhere in Houston, Texas, I happened to notice a person staring at a notice board trying desperately to figure out what the sign says.
The notice written in English was very simple and easy yet the fluent English speaking person could not figure it out. Though I come from a country where the rate of illiteracy is even higher than the United States and I had come across people a number of times back at home those who can not read or write, yet only this time I realized the real meaning of illiterate. As I was under the impression that all English speaking people must be literate.
I have no shame in admitting that the person I am referring to speaks much better English than I do as it is his mother tongue. It is in no way my intention to portray America where illiterate people live. America is considered the world leader yet it has people who are illiterate.
Probably Bangladesh is the only country in the world whose leaders are the worst deliverers in international forums in English language. This puts the nation to shame. I would rather request these leaders to follow our great national leader Bangabandhu or the Chinese leaders while delivering in International forums in their mother tongues instead of an alien language in which they do not excel and be proud of doing so.
We have to remember that the leaders represent the nation. There are many a people in Bangladesh who can deliver in English at par with any native English speaking leaders of the world, but they are not fortunate enough to represent the nation in such forums.
There cannot be any alternative to learning. The Holy Quran very correctly says "Learn from cradle to grave"
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