DUH !

Youngsters do speak and write good English Jasmine ! Why do you think we have so many call centres here then ??????????

French is spoken mainly by the white population. Why isn't the question asked the other way round? why not ask the white why they do not speak English ? its the duty of each and everyone to polish their English and not of anyone else. I do not think you would ask such a question to a white??

This is a big, big problem. My first language also is not English, but not having spoken my Mother tongue for the first 24 years while living in the UK I arrived at a point where I had difficulty speaking it (mother tongue) properly. However, mine is an extreme case.

The fact is, that unless a person has an extraordinary gift for languages or has lived in an English speaking country, that person will never master it. Sure, they'll be able to hold a simple conversation, but understanding the nuances of English and very often its very original humour will not happen. Many expats living on mainland Europe are forever decrying the fact that humour seems to be absent there. The problem is further compounded with the peculiar English spelling.

So I suppose, the next best thing will have to be called for:

a) For a start, though no doubt there are some good ones, no Mauritian teacher should teach English. That is akin to partially-sighted leading the blind.

b) All teachers of English should be native English speakers and the less of French/Kréole they know the better.

c) All students should, under some terrible penalty, be forbidden to speak anything else but English while in class. That would initially create some extremely quiet classrooms.

d) Residential summer camps for advanced students (for those interested) should be introduced where intense four week study would be introduced without a word in any other language, but English. I am certain, that many UK English teachers would not mind spending few weeks in Mauritius during their holidays teaching part of the day and enjoying Mauritius for the rest of it.
Their effort would be rewarded only by plane ticket and board & lodging. These camps would facilitate maximum exposure to spoken English in a non-English speaking Country. I still wonder how did this come to pass after 150 years of British presence on the island.

Perfection will never be achieved. I know many Mauritians who have lived in UK for decades, but because they live in their groups where they speak French/Kréole they never master English. Native Chinese (unless intensively trained) are even worse in this respect.

Above are just a few ideas as how it may be possible to improve the diabolical lack of proficiency in English language in Mauritius. Of course everything would need to be done in conjunction with students' own efforts in their own time

There is anecdotal evidence that some teenagers gained quite respectable working knowledge of English by just watching MTV. Maybe it is time to ditch French langauge Satellite TV services for English ones.

Mauritians tend to underestimate the importance of english language.It's like we've been culturally colonised by France and by whatever is french or of french derivatives.Most regretably there's no going back now.I don't feel like living in a commonwealth country.