Martin Cutts, Research Director of the UK's Plain Language Commission,is of the view that Indian journalists have a key role in improving the use of English in the country "because newspaper and broadcast English sets the standard for most of the population."
In his foreword to Jyoti Sanyal's latest book - Indlish, Cutts gives piece of his mind to Indian English journalists.
He insists that our journalists should do four things:
One, dump the Victorian verbosity.
Two, "Regularly write about the incoherent language of the law, government officials and companies, and show how it damages the interests of consumers and businesses." How will that help? "Public derision is a powerful weapon," Cutts reminds the doubters.
Three, "Spend at least an hour a week reading quality dailies of the UK, imbibing their often fresh phrasing and clarity of expression." This must be easy, more frequently than Cutts suggests, with the help of the Net.
Lastly, abandon your love of cliché and "tap into those sources of vivid, precise description that exist in the creative writing of India's regional languages."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment