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English Speaking
Sudha Hattiangdi is passionate about teaching
Conversational English. She started teaching the
language in 1967. Says she, "I started teaching
the art of  speaking
the language since, at that time, there was a great
demand in Calcutta for people who could speak the
language. I realized that I had a great skill and
flair for it and wanted to make it a career." However,
life had other plans for her. Her husband was transferred
to Mumbai soon after and she had to follow suit.
Sudha took the change in career plans in her stride
and opted to work as a secretary with a Multi National
Corporation. Her spare time was spent judiciously
cutting articles that she thought were useful and
writing 'Letters to the Editor.'
Sudha resumed teaching English in 1999 when
she they moved to Pune. By a stroke of good luck,
the Director of an
EOU software unit located close by requested her
to take up the task of teaching his employees
and she consented.
Ever since, Sudha has not looked back.
According to Sudha, her institute goes beyond
just teaching the art of speaking the language.
As a lot of her students
suffer from low self-esteem, she initiates debates,
discussions and incorporates a bit of personality
development during the
course. She also consciously selects topics like positive thinking, assertiveness and goal setting.
The formula for success that she advocates to
her students is a simple yet effective one. High
motivation + Enthusiasm + Committment = Fluent
and Confident spoken and written English.
She has developed a mathematical formula that
divides the sentence into blocks, enabling the
student to grasp the language better. For a student
to learn the intricacies of the English language,
she says, takes 20 classes. According to her,
by the end of the third or fourth class the student
manages to speak English. She does not use a book
to teach the language and has developed her own
rules. In the absence of a textbook on the art
of teaching the language, Sudha has developed
seven basic grammar rules. These rules, she says,
are important for a person to speak the language
better. "Basically I have to remove the
concept in the mind of my students that speaking
English is a difficult task," she explains.
"Most of the students who come to me to
learn the language are software professionals,
who were supposed to go to the US but were unable
to do so as they could not speak the language,"
she adds.
She reveals with zeal that she once taught two
XI Standard boys staying in the Gokhale Nagar
slums who would cycle daily to attend her classes.
The boys studied in a Marathi Medium School, read
a Marathi newspaper and, today, much to her joy,
subscribe to the Times of India. 
Sudha does not admit every student who approaches
her for help to learn the language. She is very
choosy about her students and makes sure they
are motivated and disciplined in their approach
and keen enough to pursue the course.
If you wish to learn to speak the language,
contact Mrs S Hattiangdi at 588 6702
Text: Rahul Surkund
Photographs: Hari Krishna |
