Pakistani father uses new words to help build a bright future
“Fragile,” “hastily” and “adversity” are a few of the hundreds of words carefully written in Ishtiaq Hussein’s notebook.
A conscientious student, he asks a teacher to explain a word he does not understand and promptly jots it down in his brown book.
On the pages are words to satisfy his thirst for knowledge – “horrified,” “appropriate,” “imagine” – which are methodically written next to other words he comes across in daily use – “potatoes,” “eggs,” “coffee,” “tea”.
“I sometimes get words in a newspaper,” says Mr Hussein, 35, frowning in concentration to understand words he has copied in English alongside the Urdu meaning. “When my teacher is reading a difficult word, I keep it in the diary. The teacher writes on the board, I ask the meaning and write it.”
Starting out as a labourer with a building company 15 years ago, he saved money to take driving lessons and now ferries the senior management team to meetings across the country.
His belief that English will open doors runs so deep that he even speaks to his two young sons, aged 8 and 6, in the language when he calls home to Lahore.
“English is a must, Urdu is my basic language,” Mr Hussein says. “I try to use 20 per cent English when I talk to my children.”
After joining the reading programme in February, he convinced 15 friends to sign up. He now engages the senior managers in conversation while he drives, to improve his language skills.
“My boss is a British guy, so I speak English, I try to speak better English,” he says.
Learning English also helps Mr Hussein know where he will be driving to the next day, so he is aware of the route. Like most students, he lapses into his native language to convey important thoughts and ideas.
“I made sure my children studied in an English-medium school because without this language there is no option in life, there are no paths that will open up,” he says.
“They were excited to know I’m also learning English and are happy to speak to me in English on the phone.
“I feel good. I have explained to my family that for our improvement we have to take all opportunities we get to learn and speak English.”
His teacher, Chalapathi Srinivasan, a volunteer at SmartLife, wants Mr Hussein and other students to be self-assured enough to check their children’s schoolbooks and to chat with their teachers about their progress when they go back on holiday.
“They can stop asking questions like, ‘Have you passed the exam?’” Mr Srinivasan says. “Instead they can open textbooks and ask the children some questions. They can go and meet the class teacher because this will change the behaviour of their children.
“People like Ishtiaq, who are dedicated, say that they want to go back home and read their children’s schoolbooks. They want their children to know that they know English.”
Mr Srinivasan, director of an insurance company, began volunteering during the global downturn in 2008 when labourers lost jobs and he, along with friends, pitched in to pay airfares to get the workers home.
“My father used to say the biggest thing you can give anybody is education, and when we were kids we would take that very lightly,” he says. “I understand how important it is when I see these students who are very focused and come on their one day off to listen to us.”
Mr Hussein says he will continue to follow a simple formula that he hopes will help him continue to grow in his job.
“I get the chance to learn. I tell our family, ‘No education, no learning, no future’. If you have education, a better job is available for you.”
As a labourer, he saved money to take driving lessons and now ferries the senior management team to meetings across the country