Amal Fabian | ഇൻ ദ് ഗാർഡൻ ഒഫ് ഗ്രാമർ' - കഥകളിലൂടെ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് വ്യാകരണം പഠിക്കാം | Binoy Krishnan

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00][music] Fabian English Fabian.

[00:00:33]Aml Fabian has 15 years of experience as an English language teacher and a corporate trainer with the British Council. He holds a certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages from University of Cambridge.

[00:00:51]University of Cambridge.

[00:01:11]English target audience.

[00:01:31]Hello, thank you for having me. Um the there is no need to be afraid of English. It is just one language like other languages. It's just another language. The target audience for my book is children. So 9 years old and up in the garden of grammar speaking language.

[00:02:08]So grammar is important. Many times now globally uh teachers are not teaching grammar uh and they're saying that there's no need for grammar but actually as a teacher and I also have international students the number one problem is grammar. Uh so if your foundations are not strong then it's very difficult to improve your uh language skills language skill audience graduation.

[00:02:57]English.

[00:03:01]Yes. So, English is important for almost everyone I think now because we're living in a globalized uh world. Uh so, it's not only talking to pe other people from India but also talking to other people from the world. Uh so the common language is English. So if you go to Japan, if you go to Germany, if you go to Brazil, you will be speaking in English. So that's why it's such an important language.

[00:03:28]English technically proficient English ofali sometimes it is called as manglish the issue is that when they are technically proficient then also the influence of the syntax syntax.

[00:03:46]Yes, this is a common issue with all languages. Uh I was teaching some students from Spain and they said the same thing. In their mind they have Spanish. So when they speak in English uh they find it difficult uh to use the grammar properly and also the vocabulary properly. There's no problem with that.

[00:04:05]It's always a process and we learn step by step. I have been an ILTS examiner and I've examined in Kerala in Kochin.

[00:04:15]What I noticed was two things. One, the sometimes the grammar could have been better. There is room for improvement in grammar. The second point is pronunciation. Sometimes in Kerala, the pronunciation is not uh very clear. Uh and this is something that can be uh improved.

[00:04:34]>> Sometimes the pronunciation is not clear. Can you explain it more? because pronunciation is there but I mean the the influence of malayalam the syntax of yes yes >> yes so in terms of pronunciation also sometimes for example uh now I don't know but before people instead of some pronunciation of some words for example onion people say onion for example so there are certain words which malalis mispronounce and this can be a problem when they go outside of Kerala because people may not understand uh what they are saying. Uh so I think if Maldis can work on their grammar and their pronunciation then they will improve a lot because what I noticed was in Kerala as you said there is a lot of emphasis on education. Malalis are educated Malalis are reading books are watching films uh from around the world also. So I think they just need to focus on these two areas and then they would see a great improvement in their English skills.

[00:05:40]>> Maybe this is a common problem of South Indians. I think like Malayalis Tamilians also speak like this when they pronounce it lo they say it's lack >> right yes >> can you explain it in this context >> so this is all about what we talked about mother tongue influence in the north also in Punjab or in the north India for example uh instead of saying sentence they say sentence they stress on the second syllable and this is all okay I don't see this as being a problem it's just something that we need to work on gradually and improve uh step by step.

[00:06:25]for fear of English opportunity for conversation in English.

[00:06:54]Right? So I noticed this in uh Kerala and other countries as well. Not only Kerala or India but other countries as well. People hesitate when they speak in English. Uh now we are living in a world where English is all around us. On YouTube you can watch uh English documentaries or series. You can watch the news in English. Uh if you have Netflix or Amazon you can watch programs in English. One other thing that you can do is you can use AI to help you. So you can have a conversation with Chad GPT in English. Uh so then if you for example if you have an interview you can ask Chad GPT to interview you. So there are many different ways now to practice English.

[00:07:34]>> In this book uh uh you have used a method of using stories. I mean the characters are letters. The P set to Q and K set to L and M set to J. This is the way this is the mode that you have used in this book to explain all this.

[00:07:51]Why uh did you select this model?

[00:07:54]>> So it it just came to my mind uh to use uh letters and I was reading a book at the time called letter perfect which is the history of letters. Uh and uh for example Q is the name of the main character and uh before Q meant monkey.

[00:08:13]So that's why I thought it would be a fun uh uh letter to have uh a fun name to have for the uh character.

[00:08:38]language.

[00:08:52]English What I've noticed is that when you become an adult, uh it becomes difficult to improve your English especially your grammar. The best time to learn English is when you are a student 9 years old, 10 years old, 11 years old that because there you can build your foundations and uh so this is an issue and uh maybe universities can do more but I feel that uh what's most important is that students at school learn their foundations and then that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

[00:09:35]So more number of English medium schools and English speaking uh schools should be here in states like Kerala.

[00:09:45]No it does not have to be English medium schools. Uh it can be in Malalam as well but the English teaching has to be strong. So that foundation has to be strong. Once the foundation is strong the children themselves will improve their English.

[00:09:59]>> How can it be possible? because you know the the characters of a government school even when there is an English medium is it possible for government schools to teach like this it is possible it's possible to teach like this and I know that in Kerala there's a lot of emphasis on innovative ways of teaching so this is possible also I understand in government schools there are many students so the teacher also has a lot of work to do it's difficult for the teacher to manage all those children and in that way AI can help So AI can be an assistant to the teacher and the children can practice with AI and after that they can practice with their classmates.

[00:10:38]>> So the reality is that in a state like Kerala you know uh government schools are there uh CBC schools are there, ICC schools are there the the way they consider English is totally different.

[00:10:51]Have you observed this and uh how you analyze this?

[00:10:56]>> So I haven't observed that they consider it different. I think what you mean is the approach to English language learning is different. Uh yes. So it's different and this has to change because for example if you're going to make English a boring subject, if you're going to make grammar especially a boring subject, then the children will not learn. Many children will not learn.

[00:11:17]Then the problem is when they become adults, they suddenly find out that they need to learn English to get a good IS band score or to get an interview uh to clear an interview. uh by that time it's very difficult to improve their English.

[00:11:32]So as I said before the best time to learn is when uh they are young and also English should be taught in a way that is fun and engaging.

[00:11:41]>> Have you noticed uh an incident in which our Raji Sabha MP aim visited Karnaga and when reporter asked a question in English and he was struggling to say answer in English that became a huge troll all over India. It was noticed uh very much and it was a great stroll and it was politically used for humiliating this MP and also in one another incident uh the higher education minister of Kerala Rindu she was also uh she she was also have gone had gone through the same situation for her English. So how can we develop the uh society like this like they are speaking English fluently and without hesitation.

[00:12:27]>> Right? First of all, I'd like to say that if someone doesn't speak English well, it's not a problem. We should not make fun of them. Uh because English like I said is just another language. Uh so if you find it difficult to speak in English or if you if uh you say something which is not clear, it's okay.

[00:12:46]I I don't think we should make it into an issue. In India, we seem to equate good education with good English and this is not the case. This is not true.

[00:12:58]And in many other countries also, people are fluent in their own languages and these are all developed countries. So there's no need to put English onto that pedestal. uh but as a society it's good for us to learn English because then we will be um uh more able to communicate with people from outside and like I said we should not treat English as a very difficult subject we should approach it in a more playful manner and we should not be afraid of making mistakes even if you make mistakes it's okay as long as we can learn from those mistakes >> see this book how the students should go through this book what is the academical way that that they wanted to read this.

[00:13:42]>> So I I know that uh when when many people hear the word grammar, they become tense uh and uh they don't want to uh talk about grammar. Uh this is the exact opposite of what I want to do.

[00:13:57]That's why I created this story. So what I would tell students is when reading the book, don't worry about the grammar.

[00:14:05]just read the story and you will learn some grammar along the way and you can always go back to the book later on to read it again.

[00:14:15]One one simple question and you should answer uh this question uh like is it good for a person uh shaming him for not knowing English and how can we face this situation?

[00:14:31]That's exactly what I said when you referred to those ministers, right? It I believe it's completely wrong to make fun of somebody um if they don't speak English because we have to think about it. Why is it that they don't speak English? Well, they don't speak English well because they didn't have that opportunity to learn English when they were a child. So, it's not their fault.

[00:14:54]uh so we should uh not shame people for uh their accent or for making grammatical errors. Uh what's most important in English or any other language is that there's communication.

[00:15:07]So if you have an open mind and if you're able to understand the person that's all that matters.

[00:15:12]>> How can we use AI?

[00:15:16]So like I said one way to do it is we can ask uh we can tell AI that we are conducting or we have to uh appear for an interview. So for example, if I have to appear for an interview in the uh hotel sector, I can tell AI I am uh 21 years old and I am going to appear uh for an interview with the hotel and I want to be in the customer service uh department. Please ask me some questions. Then AI can ask you some questions and you can respond to those questions. That's one way. Uh the second way is if you have written an essay you can ask AI to correct it for grammar. So you can say AI this is my essay uh please check for any grammatical errors.

[00:16:06]What you should not do for AI or with AI is you should not uh take something from AI and claim that it's your own. So you should not ask AI to write your essay and then submit it in your school or college or uh write a ask AI to write a report and submit it uh at work because if you do that then you are not using your brain and you are doing a disservice to your brain and also there may be many mistakes in that uh report or essay that you're handing over.

[00:16:42]Probably what happens here is if there is uh an option like AI to get an essay, I will give my content. This is what I wanted. So please give me an essay to submit in the class.

[00:17:27]So like what I was saying when it comes to AI uh do not become overly dependent on AI because here's the problem. If you write an essay for school using AI, no problem. You may get your marks. college as well, no problem. When you join a company uh and you uh get help from AI, again, no problem. You can manage. But as you become older and as you become uh as you rise in the corporate ladder, you need to think for yourself. You need to express yourself. You need to express complex thoughts. You need to uh talk about some sensitive issues. And then if you have not been developing your language skills, if you have not been developing your critical thinking skills, you will find it difficult to express yourself at that point. So that's why it's important to always use your brains.

[00:18:19]>> In case of a book, when we use this book to study grammar, there are also the same situation. I think uh when we when we are trying to study grammar from a book, it's very difficult if we don't have a basic information or basic language knowledge. what you say about this?

[00:18:34]>> That's right. So if your grammar is weak then it becomes difficult like you said even to read it becomes difficult uh even to listen. So even if you're listening to a program and you may understand the words but if your grammar is weak then you may not be able to understand the full meaning. So that is the importance of uh grammar. Uh it's like the blueprint of the language. Uh so it's important to have a good foundation in grammar. I'm not saying that you have to become a a professor in grammar or in English literature but it's good to have a strong foundation in grammar and this would help you uh for the rest of your life.

[00:19:12]>> So what you do is is if you if possible you read one page a day is it >> from my book?

[00:19:20]>> Yes from India.

[00:19:21]>> No one one page even you could read one chapter a day that would be fine as well. And also uh it will be good if you have a reading habit also. Right.

[00:19:32]>> That's very true. Reading habit is very important. I know that in Kerala there are many uh readers and that's a very good thing. And you can read in English, you can read in Mallayalam, you can read in another language. It's all fine. When you are reading in English specifically, then try and be an active reader. This means that pay attention to the grammar, pay attention to the vocabulary and see how it's being used and then later on you can try and use it yourself. This way you will improve your English in a natural way.

[00:20:05]>> So will it be helpful if we prompt I mean uh speaking loud, reading loud how it helps?

[00:20:12]>> Yes, reading loud is also helpful uh because then we uh pay more attention sometimes to what we're reading. uh and also we can uh focus on our pronunciation as well. So uh we can find there may be some words that we're not able to pronounce. Uh also we can look at our reading speed. Uh so we can read at a good rate and this can help us when we make presentations or when we make speeches. Uh we would be uh more aware of how to use our voice.

[00:20:42]>> Reading newspapers loudly.

[00:20:47]Yes, that's one way as well. Reading newspapers loud aloud also read novels.

[00:20:52]Uh we have to read more novels as well.

[00:20:54]We have to read more fiction. Uh because that also activates our imagination and that makes our world a richer place.

[00:21:02]>> Which is the best uh opportunity for a student uh as I mean an institution where he can study to get good knowledge in English. I mean a literature uh institute. What will you suggest?

[00:21:15]So I have worked with the British council in Chennai many years ago and I remember when I was there there were even some students who would come from Kerala or from Karnataka um over the weekend to take the classes.

[00:21:28]Uh so British Council is a good institute in India.

[00:21:32]>> I think it will be helpful if people like you and Sashid Turi is coming to train these students.

[00:21:40]>> Yes. Thank you. But there are also many other good trainers uh in India as well.

[00:21:44]Are you students in Kerala?

[00:21:47]>> So I have taught some uh people online uh who are not from K who are from Kerala.

[00:21:55]They're Malalis but they're living in other places.

[00:21:59]>> So why did you like English and how did you choose this stream?

[00:22:05]>> So my background is not in English language teaching. uh I was interested in creative writing and I took a course at the British Council here in Delhi for creative writing. That's how I found out about English teaching and then I took a certificate from the British Council uh in English language teaching.

[00:22:23]>> For sure there will uh there will be a reason for a person to uh for start loving English. What was it?

[00:22:32]>> I think it's just uh reading. So the stories uh when I was young I used to read stories and when I became older I would I used to read even uh more books and that's why I fell in love with the language.

[00:22:46]>> This is a basic thing uh that you can pass the basic message that you can pass to the society. I mean uh children of age between 9 and uh 15 right reading stories telling stories.

[00:23:03]>> Yes. So uh when if you want to improve your communication skills uh you don't always have to go to school or have to go to an institute. Uh you can learn from the world around you. So as I said before when you read be an active reader. So maybe you can make notes of any new words and phrases. Uh so that that you become more familiar with those words and phrases. You can also be an active listener. So when you're listening to music, when you're listening to um someone singing or when you're watching your favorite program, pay attention to the words that are being used. Pay attention to the pronunciation. Uh pay attention to the grammar and that way you will naturally improve.

[00:23:51]for your information. I'm very happy that I had a conversation with you with my imperfect English and we are very happy to be with you here. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[00:24:08]digital platform.