Hi there! (to whom so ever is interested to read my blog)

I'm an English teacher in a High School in Kolasib, Mizoram (in North-east India), in a State which is considered to have the highest literacy rate in India and all the medium of language-of-teaching is conducted in English from Class Eight onwards.

I am at my wits end as to how to encourage my students to speak and converse in everyday English conversation among themselves - even suggesting talking to themselves in the mirror in the privacy of the bathroom or when others arent present (most dont have there own private-bedroom but share it with other sibling or the other), because the mother-tongue lingua is just so sufficient with the local citizen and that there is a tendency to laugh at one who tries to speake-out /practice his new found vocabulary (used, ofcourse, inappropriately to the situation) and be called a show-off or avoided as a 'nerd'. This is among the age group of especially 12 - 15, and above.

On the other hand, students (children of the said age) admire and do respect their elders who are fluent in speaking the English-language but just would not encourage each other to speake in English, except when they are forced to do so within the school-campus in hearing distance of the Teacher, as fines and such like punishments are sometimes imposed on them as last resorts to get them compelled to speak in English, to not much effect as they know that Teachers too are  compassionate to keep fineing them (for the burden falls on their parents) and the local Teachers themselves resort to conversing/communicating in the mother-tongue (to some exception of the English Teacher). Then again, the burden falls on the shoulder of the English Teacher to be the 'need not mentioned' overall in charge of the English-speaking schemes within the campus when most Subject-Teachers like in Science and Maths, even Moral Sciences Teachers, are not properly trained to atleast speake  in good-average-clear-well-pronounced English.

Reviewing what I have tapped till now, I have come to the conclusion that the present Teaching-staff should first be given proper English communication skills in expressing their subjects in easily understandable  terms by all students and making it a rule among Teachers to only communicate in English within the School campus, then only can we expect our students to themselves speak/converse in English, atleast within the School premises.

more to follow.....but your kind suggestions are most welcomed