Learn as many languages as possible: MU VC
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 05 2022: Learning languages including English may open new career opportunities for students and broaden their horizons, said Manipur University Vice Chancellor Professor Naorem Lokendra.

He said this in a National seminar on the topic "NEP 2020 and Higher Education through Indian Languages" held at the Manipur University Court Hall today.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (Department of Higher Education), Ministry of Education, Government of India and Department of Library and Information Science, Manipur University.

Speaking at the seminar as president.

Professor N Lokendra said students should be encouraged to learn languages other than their mother tongue.

Be it local dialects or English or other foreign languages, learning more languages will earn them more knowledge and exposure, he said.

Language has become a 'skill component' and persons with knowledge of more languages are being given preference in many job sectors.

English as a globalised language has become a medium for communication globally.

As such, English is an important language students should learn.

English as a language is also an important medium of communication not only in foreign countries, but also in metropolitan cities of India.

However, he said that there are still many English technical terminologies that need proper or complete translation in Manipuri language.

There are many English to Manipuri dictionaries of different scholars in Manipur.

There is also a need for these dictionaries to be revised and checked for ensuring that the glossaries of words are indeed translated more accurately.

Scholars and experts should revise the English to Manipuri language translations of scientific and technical terminologies contained in the dictionaries to further improve them, he said.

In the last 10/15 years, the National Translation Mission had taken up various works to record in texts, the ancient history, culture and civilization norms of different tribes and castes.

Also, some colonial scholars had started examining and studying ancient texts of ethnic communities of Assam and Manipur in the 19th century.

However, the colonial scholars were not studying the ancient texts to build a knowledge base centre of culture and history.

The objective of the colonial scholars was to keep the Indian sub-continent under their control for administrative and economic gains.

As such, their studies were very limited, he said.

Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education Chairman Girish Nath Jha and MU Professor N Aruna Devi also attended the event as chief guest and special guest respectively.

Professors of different Universities gave presentations on different topics in the technical session.

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