A stranger was sitting beside me in the bus while I was going home. He was
speaking to someone on phone IN ENGLISH. His English exposed him as a non-native
speaker. That made me concentrate on what he was saying.
The stranger in English: “I’ve just come back
from the TOEFL exam; I think I did very well.” He pauses, “yes, I hope to”.” I
will go tomorrow”. “I know it is a very expensive exam, I don’t know why do they
take all that amount of money just to test our English!”. “Yes, exactly, they
don’t add to our proficiency.”
He continues, “Do you know if I scored more than 600 in
that exam, I could find better opportunities than just working as an instructor
or a call center agent.” A pause, “I can apply for a resident visa and live in
Canada or Australia.”
He looks listeninig to what the other party on the phone
was saying, then he continued, “I don’t regret all my previous years studying my
B.A. or my M.A., there is no need of my studies unless I speak English very
well. Speaking English is considered a certificate by itself nowadays.
The man appears to get weak in speaking; he
started to make some structural and semantic mistakes. Then he noticed me, and
thought that I realized he is not a native English speaker. So he
started finishing his call. “Honey, I have to go now, we can continue
after I return home, I will open my messenger at eleven. I really enjoyed
practicing speaking English with you. That is very helpful my dear.” “I love you
too”.
Then I realized that he is faking up the whole
conversation, just to improve his English. The question is “WHY”? Why knowing
“some language” is considered a qualification. I felt urged to open a
conversation with that guy. Of course I had to talk in my mother tongue so that
people around us wouldn’t recognize us.
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“hello”, I said
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The man looks surprised and suspicious.
“hi!”
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“May I have a little conversation with you?”
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Still looks suspicious, “ok”
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Where are you working in?
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I am a mathematician
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Mathematics, it is a beautiful language
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What do you mean?
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I have noticed you speaking in English, just to
improve your English, why?
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Because It is the trendy language, everyone should
speak in English
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It is beautiful to learn a language common by the
majority of people, to facilitate communication, but…..
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It is not about communication, it is about getting a
decent job
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Really!
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I work in a school, a mathematics teacher, with a
masters degree in mathematics, and a post-graduate diploma in teaching and
education, and I get paid a really funny salary.
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So you want to change your career?
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I search for jobs everywhere, only multinational
corporations pay you high salaries.
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You are right, I work in one
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You know why?
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No, please tell me.
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Simply because they are ruled by the leaders of the
world. By countries who divided the world’s fortune amongst themselves, and gave
you and me the remaining.
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These countries are ruled by one big country called
the U.S, which is simply leaded by corporations.
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Maybe you are right, back during imperialism; only
those who learn the language of the imperialist are those who could find
rewarding jobs by the ruling systems.
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Systems are found to search and find resources, and
them divide them on those who have power.
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But there are rules and laws. Those who work hard
are getting rewarded.
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You think. You can just look at all those who work
low-paid salaries, and see how much effort they exert at their jobs.
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So, it is not a matter of how much you work, or how
many certificates you have.
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Yes, it is simply, what is your nationality.
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That is racist.
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No it is not. Please go on with me
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Ok
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Who invented technology?
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The west
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Who get benefited from it?
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Well … everyone
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On the profit level
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I think the companies that sell such
technology
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Which are ….. ?
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Western companies
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Good
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But technologies benefit us as well.
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How?
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It makes our life easier, and it facilitates
communication between human beings, making the world one small village.
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The man laughs hysterically, “are you kidding me?”
that is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard.
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Sorry?
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First of all technology is a product you actually
don’t need, but you buy so that others becomes more powerful and more rich.
Simply, everything you have, anything you buy rather than those who satisfy your
basic needs, are junk you actually don’t need, but they make you think that you
need”
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That is so naïve of you, such corporations build
economies
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Economy is a game, not everyone wins in it. Only
those who set its rules win
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These companies help our countries become more rich
and powerful.
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Country? The country spends such money on three
things only: authority, people who have the right to dictate your life. And the
army, which have to always buy old technologies from those companies who paid
the money from the very beginning. And finally, on roads and bridges, to help
you got to your job in time.
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You said it, jobs. Without these companies there
will be no jobs.
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Dear, these are not called jobs, these are slavery,
they enslave you for money, just when you have you spend on trivia’s they sell
you. So finally, you work for free, just to increase their power. In fact they
give you nothing. Their jobs offer no security, nor authority, nor freedom.
Above all, they make you salesman, whose main target is to sell what your
fellows don’t need to increase their profit.
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What about communication? Thanks to transportation
you can go to anywhere in the world just in few hours, doesn’t that worthy the
money paid for?
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Be honest, how many times have you traveled abroad?
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Never
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Why?
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Shamefully looking, because I am a citizen from a
third world country
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What if you have a sign in your
passport that says A U.S. CITIZEN
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The whole world will be opened to me
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Is not that racism
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It is indeed
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The man stands up, my station has come, I just want
to add one more thing. You know that a native English speaker in my school
hundred times my salary without even having a certificate in any field? Just
because he is a native speaker. Just because he is born white.
