SSC MEGA MODEL TEST – ENGLISH 1ST

21 February has been observed as Shaheed Dibosh every year throughout the country in remembrance of the martyrs of language movement of 1952. The occasion begins at the early hours of the day with mourning songs that recall the supreme sacrifices of our language martyrs. People wear black badges and go to the Shaheed Minar barefoot in procession, singing mourning songs. They place wreaths at the Minar. Many of them visit the graves of the martyrs at Azimpur graveyard and pray for them. They also attend various programmes organised in remembrance of the language martyrs.

The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on 17 November in 1999 proclaimed February 21 as the International Mother Language Day in recognition of the sacrifices of the martyrs for the rightful place of Bangla. The day is now annually observed worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

“Today there are many jobs where you need English. This is because the world has become smaller. Vast distances are shortened by speedy transport. We can talk to a person thousands of kilometres away on the phone or the Internet. So we can communicate with the whole world easily. English has made this communication easier.

 There are many countries in the world with many languages, but to communicate with them, you cannot speak all the languages. So you need a common language that you can use with more or less all the people in the world. English is that common language. You can talk to a Chinese toy maker, a French artist, an Arab ambassador or a Korean builder in one language —English.

English for us in Bangladesh is all the more important. As we have seen earlier, we are too many people in a small country. So if you learn English, you have the best opportunity to find a good job, both within and outside the country. And that is good news for millions of our unemployed youths.”

“But Miss, we learn English for 12 or 14 years, yet we do not find good jobs, “ says Rumi. She then tells the class about what happened to her brother. “Could you please tell us why?” Rumi asks.

“This is a very important question, Rumi. We should learn how to use English both orally and in writing for doing things as needed in our work, such as communicating with others at personal, social, national and international levels. But unfortunately, at the moment we are learning English mainly for our exams,” continues Miss Choudhury. “Remember, English can greatly help you become skilled workforce.”

“But where and how can we learn this kind of English, Miss?” asks Ratan. Ms Choudhury says, “We can learn this communicative English both in and outside the classroom. Side by side with your textbook, the radio, television, newspapers, magazines, computers and other supplementary materials will greatly help you. And during our classroom activities, we’ll see how we can learn this English.”