Sir, English, the universal language on the Internet, has created a global village, brought researchers to the same platform and caused a 'brain drain' from India. The present trend of low English proficiency among dental graduates is a cause of concern, not only when they practise in India but also when they migrate. For primary education, private schools prefer English as medium of instruction while public schools use regional languages; however, centres of higher education follow English. Public school-bred students have to read and listen in English, think and understand in their mother tongue and reproduce the concept in English for assessments. The student often grasps the concept when explained in a regional language but is unable to translate the same in English. Reference books are available only in English and not all scientific terms can be 'Indianised'.

At postgraduate level reference books, journals, publications and conference presentations require proficient English where incompetency can be a handicap. We need to act-in-time to contain the scenario. Forcing a foreign language for higher education can be argued as a form of 'linguistic dictatorship' or 'mother tongue slavery', but English is no longer a foreign language in India. We suggest forming committees with representatives from the Dental Council of India, dental schools, a few bright students, recent graduates and educators to analyse the situation; encourage compulsory and regular use of contemporary English and medical dictionaries and introduce a compulsory six month pre-dental English course; recruit good bilingual faculty; conduct group activities like English reading and promote self-assessment among students.

1. Lucknow, India 2. Bhairwah, Nepal 3. Hazaribagh, India