(My second attempt at this - the first disappeared in cyberspace)
Godfrey said:
"Please remember that Konkani is written in Kanada Malayalam Tulu Urdu script in other States so why not Roman atleast for the first 10 years?"
Goa has been part of India since 1961. Is this not long enough?
Why wait another 10 years?
Also, it is my belief and understanding that Konkani does not readily lend itself to the Roman script. There are sounds that cannot be relfected correctly in Roman script. It is an Indian language and the devnagiri script, which is phonetic, captures the sound nuances of Konkani and makes pronouncing the language easier.
My cousin who is well educated in English and fluent in oral Konkani has great difficulty reading Konkani in the the Roman script. She does not know the devnagiri script. So she has to get someone who is used to reading Konkani in the Roman script to read it to her.
I am of the opinion that Goans will be far better off if we learnt our language in the devnagiri script AND ALSO were fluent in the English language.
Godrey makes the point that the teaching of English in the school system is somewhat related to writing Konkani in the Roamn script. As far as the teaching of the English language and the writing of Konkani in the devnagiri script is concerned. These are two separate issues and are not related.
The teaching of English in school is related to the teaching of the English language. It, in no way, detracts from the teaching of Konkani in the devnagiri script.
Tim de Mello
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