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Sridhar Vembu praises China for breaking English barrier
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Sridhar Vembu has lauded China for not leaning on English. The business leader said he speaks with his engineers in Tamil to make the conversation easier.
Sridhar Vembu praises China for breaking English barrier
Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu has praised China for not leaning on the English language as a mode of communication. He disclosed conversing with his engineers in Tamil so that they don't feel bad about not being fluent in English.
In a recent post on social media platform X, Vembu wrote, “I am right now working with extremely capable engineers on some advanced tech and we converse in Tamil because that is what they are most comfortable with.”
He added, “I am (very!) slowly learning Hindi so I can work with engineers in Hindi too. There is a lot of R&D talent in India if we get rid of the English barrier and the social stigma of not knowing English well.”
The entrepreneur has recently stepped down from the CEO position and taken the role of a chief scientist at the Chennai-based cloud services company.
He shared an article claiming that after the pandemic, there has been a significant drop in interest among the Chinese people in learning English.
I am right now working with extremely capable engineers on some advanced tech and we converse in Tamil because that is what they are most comfortable with. I am (very!) slowly learning Hindi so I can work with engineers in Hindi too. There is a lot of R&D talent in India if we… https://t.co/3p9XwaEAeF
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) January 29, 2025
According to a report by The Economist the decreased interaction with other countries during the pandemic and the increase in hostility with English-speaking nations such as the UK and the USA, the Chinese preferred learning traditional subjects instead while using apps to do the translations for them.
Vembu said that the Chinese have inspired him.
"As we achieve more, Indians some day will lose this idea that English is a mark of sophistication or achievement. It is a useful language to know but since 95 percent of Indians are not fluent in English, it cannot and should not be a barrier to advancing in India," he remarked.
Several users on X supported the Zoho founder.
"Sir, trust me I just agree with you 100 times," an X user commented.
"I came from a very small city in North India and did my education. The first barrier I had to cross after coming to Delhi was English. It is not me but crores like me who come from a small town and are being shamed in Metros for not knowing English,” shared another user.
A third user wrote, "Almost pre-requisite that we have established in India for English is single biggest impediment to growth and innovation, so many people are just not considered for the job just because of lack of English skills. This hurts probably 90 percent population or more. English as a language is OK, but medium of education should be native, English should be used only when absolutely necessary."