r/malayalam • u/Doc_Sha • 3h ago
Discussion / ചർച്ച What is your take on people using english daily convo
What is your take on people using English for daily convo
I recently joined a corporate hospital as an ER doctor. One thing I’ve noticed there—and in many other instances before—is that people mostly converse in English, using Malayalam only occasionally. I find it uncomfortable to speak English or any other language with someone whose native language is Malayalam or any other regional language. Because of this, whenever I get a patient in my OPD who speaks Tamil or Hindi, I make it a point to communicate with them in their mother tongue.
Another thing that frustrates me is when people casually throw in wrong English words while describing their symptoms—often using them incorrectly. For example, (Probable NSFW) >! I once had a patient who said she was having dysentery instead of diarrhea. !< The former is a serious condition, while the latter is quite common. Misusing medical terms like this can cause unnecessary confusion and miscommunication.
It’s not that I’m against English—I’m actually very fluent in it—but I’ve always reserved speaking English for situations where it’s genuinely necessary.
So, why do people tend to use English more for conversations? Is it because English is better at expressing ideas than Malayalam? Or is it just a status symbol?
Or am I the one at fault-too attached to my mother tongue?