Monday, September 16, 2019

Is official correspondence the only way to promote Dzongkha?


This is the umpteenth time I am hearing of this news since I was a kid.  There were such similar attempts in the past even when I was in school. And the authorities haven’t identified if the Dzongkha language like the much clichéd education quality has gone down or deteriorated. Just last week I read the news of an APA between the government and the DDC, signed or yet to sign, I am not really sure. I am neither an anti-Dzongkha freak nor a linguist to comment on whether or not if Dzongkha has gone down in its usage or its becoming archaic.

The BBS TV plays its part in promoting Dzongkha, the films, radio and newspapers as well. The library books in Dzognkha are also doing its part in schools and colleges. I am still wondering if Dzongkha needs development, improvement, upgrading, stepping-up or whatever…you name it!

Official correspondences do come in Dzongkha but in limited frequency. If all government documents and correspondences be made in the Dzongkha language, the delayed correspondence which is already prevailing in our offices needs a little more time for yet another delay. If this move by the DDC is for the future generations; if our youth can learn Korean just by watching movies, I grudgingly feel Dzongkha is a NO BIG DEAL anyway.

Let us think out of the box if at all the lingua franca of Bhutan needs some attention otherwise it doesn’t have to be rocket science to know that people got into their jobs because they have been interviewed equally in Dzongkha as well. Even if we do have Dzongkha correspondences, office goers aren’t handicapped who doesn’t even know how to read and write in Dzongkha.

And if at all the national language is deteriorating, is official correspondence the only way to promote Dzongkha. Is that the only one? Did everything else fail?