Today's English

What I taught today in my class?

Word building activities - Learning to use different dictionaries - General as well as Technical - Using Thesaurus - Buying different types of dictionaries

Using the four basic leaning skills of the language to improve their word power- LSRW - Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing  

Maintaning a word book - a note book - to collect difficult words, key words and important words

Coining new words - using prefixes, and suffixes

Creating new words by transforming words from one parts of speech to another parts of speech

Word games

Grouping of words

Using Glossary in the books 

Fluency in English

MNCs expect their employers to have fluency in English.

The students should understand the meaning of the term fluncy

The students should understand the speech of the native speakers and their speech should be understood by the foeigners. To acquire this, the students should work hard to get international intelligibility in English    

A few ESL websites - Copied from the net

>Subject Home > Education > English as a Second Language (ESL) No sub-categories IPL -- Education -- English as a Second Language (ESL) 20 resources Larry Ferlazzo???s Websites of the Day for Teaching ELL, ESL, and EFL Valuable website resources on Larry Ferlazzo???s daily blogs for ESL, EFL, and ELL educators. Ferlazzo shares his vast experience as an educator for English language learners. Use these sites for your lesson plans or classroom! Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); English Teaching Forum The online version of the ???quarterly journal published by the U.S. Department of State for teachers of English as a foreign or second language.??? Articles in the forum include current issues facing ESL and EFL teachers, lesson plans, resources, and more. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Everything ESL.net This searchable site for English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers includes, "inservice ideas and strategies, content based lesson plans, downloadable activities, tips on classroom resources, interactive discussion boards, and more!" Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Activities for ESL Students Includes over 1,000 quizzes, exercises, and puzzles to help students studying English as a Second Language (ESL). The activities are contributed by teachers and include grammar and vocabulary activities. Some activities require Flash and Java, but students can also select ???HTML-Only??? activities. Can be used by a wide variety of native langua ... Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ???The Carnegie Mellon University Pronouncing Dictionary is a machine-readable pronunciation dictionary for North American English that contains over 125,000 words and their transcriptions.??? Enter words and click ???Look Up??? for a phonetical translation that will help learners pronounce the word(s). Includes a guide to the phoneme set that is ... Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP) People who are interested in learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in the United States can use this website to easily search for ESL programs in the USA. Programs can be searched by state, by criteria, and by keyword, and helpful information is provided about each program. There is also information on how to choose an ESL program. Members ... Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); MyLanguageExchange.com - Learn to Speak English Featured in The Wall Street Journal, PC World, and Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, this innovative approach to learning English allows you to practice --via e-mail, text chat, and voice chat-- with native speakers of English who are learning your native language. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Dave's ESL Cafe Resources for ESL teachers and students. Includes quizzes, slang, idioms, grammar lessons and much more! There is also a forum board for English Language Learners along with a job and resume posting site for the teachers. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); English as a Second Language (ESL); Sounds of English Sounds of English will help you to perfect your English speaking accent. There are handouts and audio practice exercises as well as diagrams showing the shape of the mouth when making certain sounds. This is a cheerful, non-profit resource for both teachers and students with good links! Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); English as a Second Language (ESL); Topics: An Online Magazine for Learners of English In this online magazine, ???Learners of English as a second language express their ideas and opinions on topics of interest to them. Readers can explore an international world.??? This magazine includes a wide variety of international perspectives on travel, food, learning English, movies, books, family, customs, and more! There is also a section ... Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Boggle's World Comprehensive resources for teachers of English as a Second Language. Includes a large selection of printable worksheets, flashcards, and class activities. Mainly resources for children although there is an adult section. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Our World Resources for Parents & Teachers; Breaking News English Ready to use lesson plans for ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) courses based on current affairs. News articles, listening, and communicative activities at two different levels of difficulty are uploaded daily. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Teachers & Administrators; British Council: Learn English Adults, kids, professionals, and teachers can learn or brush up on their English at this interactive site. Features podcasts, games, songs, and English test preparation. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Language & Linguistics--English; Color??n Colorado! Color??n Colorado is a free, web-based service that provides information, activities, and advice for educators and Spanish-speaking families of English language learners. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Reading Zone Resources for Teachers & Parents; Stories in Spanish; Literacy Connections Here is a resource for parents or teachers offering information about reading and tutoring as well as resources on children???s literature, English as a second language and adult literacy. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Social Issues and Social Welfare--Literacy--Functional Literacy; Reading Zone Resources for Teachers & Parents; Transitions Abroad This is a comprehensive portal for working or studying abroad, cultural travel overseas and international living. The site provides job opportunities abroad and also tips on traveling abroad touching on topics such as cuisines, budgets and legal aspects. Also read articles from TAzine. Subject: Government--Other National Governments; English as a Second Language (ESL); Travel & Tourism; International Education; Government--Other National Governments; English as a Second Language (ESL); Travel & Tourism; International Education; Guide to Grammar and Writing There's a lot more than grammar help at this site. Learn how to write effective paragraphs and essays in addition to finding out about all things grammatical. You can even submit a question about English grammar or usage. Lots of resources available, too, including an online dictionary and famous quotations about writing. Subject: Style and Writing Guides; Homework Help--Subject Area Help----English and Literature; Homework Help--Writing Tips; English as a Second Language (ESL); Learning Vocabulary Fun Educational resources for learning English vocabulary by playing a variety of interactive word games and tips for test preparation. Also includes articles about dyslexia and studying vocabulary through classic literature. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Language & Linguistics--English; Reading Zone Resources for Teachers & Parents; Reference Resources for Teachers & Parents; Homework Help; Writing Instruction; Homework Help--Subject Area Help----English and Literature; College--Test Preparation; English as a Second Language (ESL); Global Volunteer Network Facilitates the placement of volunteers in international communities. Primarily focuses on collaboration with outreach programs, education, production, and conservation projects. Subject: English as a Second Language (ESL); Travel & Tourism; International Education; Social Issues and Social Welfare--Literacy; Social Issues and Social Welfare--Philanthropy & Social Service; Health Care Issues; Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) Wondering about citations, references, metaphors, grammar, style, or about any other subject that has to do with writing? Come here. Find APA, MLA, and Turabian style guides, help with academic or professional writing, and more! Subject: Adult Education; English as a Second Language (ESL); Employment--Job Searching & Employee Recruiting; Style and Writing Guides--APA; Language & Linguistics--English; Style and Writing Guides--Citations; Style and Writing Guides--Chicago Manual of Style/Turabian; Style and Writing Guides--MLA; Reference Resources for Teachers & Parents; Writing Instruction; Homework Help--Report Writing; Homework Help--Subject Area Help----English and Literature; Homework Help--Writing Tips; Homework Help--Citations and Copyright--Style Guides and Citations; Job Hunting;

AUTO-LEARNING STRATEGIES TO TAME THE KILLER LANGUAGE

The English language has gained the status of a modern living world language. It is hailed as the multi-billion dollars language and the language of the Nobel-laureates. The Information Technology boom has made it a mighty generator of millions of job opportunities. Foreign jobs are now available in India itself. Nevertheless, English remains a killer language in India, and the teaching and learning of it has not gained momentum to meet the demand made by the MNCs. The great problem here is to bring world class quality in teaching and learning of it

Indian students are not industry-ready and employable due to their poor communication skills. Today Spoken English and fluency in English are absolutely necessary for professional and academic growth. Auto learning strategies will help the students to improve their fluency in English. Fluency of any foreign language depends on the following linguistic skills. 1.Phonology 2.Morphology 3.Syntax.and 4.Semantics

The first problem making English a killer language is the teaching of it like a subject neglecting the linguistic inputs. The second problem is the overemphasis on the skills of reading and writing ignoring the basic skills of listening and speaking. The third problem is not using the electronic gadgets and language laboratories properly in the teaching and learning of English. The fourth problem is the lack of native speaker’s model and the mother tongue influence. The fifth problem is not teaching the auto learning strategies to the students

These are a few of the problems besetting the present English Education system in India. There should be a paradigm shift in the teaching and learning of it.

Language –based job opportunities

Language –based job opportunities are also increasing very fast. The following are some of them

· English language Teachers

· BPO English Trainers

· Actors

· News readers

· Translators

· Editors

· Journalists

· Technical Writers

· Speakers

In all these fields, there is a heavy demand for learning of English. Indian education system does not cater to the needs of the above posts. Further the teaching and learning of it pulls down the quality of higher education system in India. Hence the pedagogy of teaching of English should be thoroughly changed.

Learning of the Trillion Dollar Language.

Modern world languages grow fast and English stands first among them. Owing to MNCS, foreign job opportunities are available in India itself. These MNCS expect their employees to possess excellent communication skills. Further learning of other subjects also heavily depends upon the learning of English. Further English language –based jobs are also increasing throughout the globe. Business, trade, and commerce across the world are carried out using English. After the utilization of nanotechnology, the business would be carried out in trillion dollars. The economic development of all countries depends on the teaching and learning of English. The future of Indian economy, the quality of Indian education and the job opportunities of the Indian youths are centering around the English language. Hence it is time to think seriously about strengthening of the quality of teaching and learning of the trillion dollar language.

Greeting:

Hi, Hello, Nice to see you/

GM,GA,GE,GN

Good to see you.

How are things with you?

How is life?

What is new?

What’s the latest?

I trust you’re keeping well.

I hope all goes well with you.

Introducing yourself, others

GM I’m ….

Excuse me, I am …..

This is ….

Do you know…

Have you met…

Please meet Mr…

Please meet my friend …

Let me introduce…..

May I introduce …

Making Requests:

Can/could I/ you …… ?

Would you mind ….., please?

Do you think you could ….. please?

Please do me a favour by ……?

Do you think it would be possible……?

I hope you don’t mind my asking, but……

I am sorry to trouble you, but ……?

I’d be grateful if you could …..

Inviting/accepting/rejecting an invitation

Would you like to …. ?

I’d like you to ……

I’d like to invite you to ……

What about/ How about you …..?

Like to ….

Care to …

Would you be interested in attending ….

We would/should be very much pleased/delighted if you …..

Thank you Id like to very much.

That’d be very nice.

Yes, please.

That sounds a nice idea.

With pleasure…..

O.K. / Alright.

I won’t say no.

We’d very much like ….

What a splendid idea!

Thank you very much.

That ‘d give us the greatest pleasure.

It’s kind of you.

Thank you very much, but…

Thank you for asking me, but….

I’m sorry. At present I …..

I’d like to, but ….

I wish I could , but …

I’m afraid I’ve already promised to …..

Sorry, I can’t. /No, thank you.

I regret that I shall not be able to accept …..

Unfortunately, I ….

That’s very kind of you, but ….

Offering help:

May I help you?

May I be of any assistance?

Could I help you?

Would you like me to help you?

Do you want my help?

Do you like any help?

What can I do for you?

Is there anything I can do for you?

Let me do …..

Can I help you?

Shall I do ….?

Accepting help:

I’d be delighted.

That’s very kind of you.

If it is of no trouble to you, …

If you don’t mind, …..

Thank you.

Just what I needed

Declining an offer:

No. Please don’t bother

Thanks a lot, but ….

I’m very grateful, but ..

Thanks a lot, yet …

No. Thank you.

-Taken from the Net

Good Communication Skills

The way one communicates does not only have an impact on their own profession and personal relations, but also an effect on others. Those who do not have appropriate communication skills are usually ignored or simply kept at bay. Where are those with good communication skills are looked upon and well respected. After all a good listener and a good orator are popular in their groups - professional and personal.

Teaching communication skills can be a rather daunting task, considering that almost every individual feels that they are very good communicators. In fact, most trainers prefer to be regarded as facilitators, who are able to bring to light the nuances that occur while communicating ineffectively, rather than pointing a direct finger and saying - You all cannot communicate well'. and when this occurs the participants are ready to delve deeper within and bring out the negative aspects of their communications and replace it with the corrective measures.

Based on the communication skills training programs conducted by known experts in the field, here are some tips to good communication skills :

Maintain eye contact with the audience : This is vital as it keeps all those present involved in the conversation. It keeps them interested and on the alert, during the course of the conversation.

Body awareness : One needs to be aware of all that their body is conveying to them, as well as others. For instance, if there is anxiety rising during the course of a conversation then one feels thirsty and there maybe a slight body tremor. At that point one needs to pause and let someone else speak. A few deep breaths and some water works as the magic portion at this point.

Gestures and expressions : One needs to be aware of how to effectively use hand gestures and the way they need to posture their body to convey their messages effectively. Sometimes it may happen that they verbally convey something, but their gestures and facial expressions have another story to tell.

Convey one's thoughts : It is important for one to courageously convey what they think. This is because when things are left unsaid, then what is being spoken is not as convincing as it should be. Then a lack of confidence develops.

Practice effective communication skills : One should practice speaking and listening skills as often as possible.

In order to practice effective speaking skills one cane read passages from a book aloud, in front of a mirror, or simply perform a free speech in front of the mirror. And where listening is concerned, one can try transcribing from the radio or television, etc. this helps in honing sharper listening skills

Courtesy to: Mind Tools Community

Memorize a Few Dialogues

THE HINDU, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR COLUMN

2. English speakers

Sir, For self learning, speed learning, and stress-free super learning, fluency in English, especially Spoken English, has become a must for college and university students. Spoken English has often been talked of as a school subject and a strong foundation has to be laid in the communicative use of English at the school level itself.

Unfortunately the present “English Readers” (the textbook series) from the preliminary to the plus two level aid the learners to read and write English without taking care of their listening and speaking skills.

For the instant improvement of these practical life skills, the current textbooks (English Readers) should be completely changed and the new textbooks should be entitled as “English Speakers” which are full of model dialogues fro listening, practicing and speaking. Even the students may be encouraged to memorize a few dialogues and they will surely find it interesting, enjoyable and useful in their life situations.

This will drive away heir fear and hatred towards the English language. This is the most urgent need of the hour to improve Spoken English at the school level. Will the English textbook writers consider this idea and introduce the new type “English Speakers” immediately

By S.MALAIKKANI - Courtesy – THE HINDU.

Need for American English

Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) are based on the skills of listening and speaking of American English. BPO services like call centres and medical transcription services are also dependent upon the American accent. Unfortunately Indians are accustomed to British English. There is a lot of difference between the British English and the American English. The Indian learners have to concentrate on American English to get job opportunities.

Integration of Learning Skills

With the emergence of internet and software technology, the demand for oral communication in English has been increasing very fast. The traditional methods of teaching could not provide proper guidance for students to learn English properly. Only integrated approaches can help them to acquire the language skills quickly. There are three types of integrated skills.

1) Integration of senses

2) Integration of study skills

3) Integration of different types of learning

Advice of English People

R.K. Bansal, the father of Indian English pronunciation observes that

“The incorrect word accentuation by Indian speakers has been found to be one of the most frequent causes of their being unintelligible to other speakers of English”.

The advice of English people to non-native speakers is that the English words should be learnt with stress. They find it very difficult to understand English spoken with wrong stress.

Correct Pronunciation

The learners should concentrate on the correct pronunciation of the following words very carefully. J.D.O. Connor (1980) in his book “Better English Pronunciation” suggests to memorize the forty four sound symbols. He advocates the use of the weak forms of some thirty five English words to make their English sound English.

and am some

as are at

but be for

that is from

than was of

he to

has have had

him his her

them us do

does can shall

will would must

a an the

Electronic Dictionaries

A new generation of talking electronic dictionaries in the form of CDs is available in the market. There is an urgent need for this type of Virtual Dictionaries. These dictionaries are capable of bridging the wide gap between the language skills taught in the classroom and the actual professional skills needed to undertake any job. An attempt is made here to describe the concept of a virtual dictionary, the need for it to develop the skills of listening and speaking in English, the content of it and the ways to explore it for maximum learning in minimum time.

Language Labs

The traditional translation method of teaching has been proved fruitless. “Hi-tech learning has become the fashion of learning the modern multi-billion dollar language like English. As a result schools and colleges have started establishing language laboratories in their institutions. This concept of language lab is not new but more than thirty years old. In many colleges they remain closed or used occasionally. Nonetheless these language labs can be utilized to train the students for better listening and speaking. Individualized instruction is the idea behind the language labs.

The Radio and T.V. News Readers

The radio and T.V. news readers are well-trained in English and they use not more than five thousand words (basic voc). The English language is spoken with the speed of five to six syllables a second. Mother tongue like Tamil is spoken with the speed of two to three syllables a second. By listening to radio news the students learn the correct pronunciation, use of words, sentence structure and grammar unconsciously. Another important feature of these news bulletins is the constant repetition of certain words, phrases and sentences. If the students learn these words and sentences previously, they will eagerly listen to English news and this will promote self-learning and joyful learning.

Need for a New Bridge Course in English

The English Teachers at the colleges are troubled by the poor language acquisition of students at the school level. In one of the viva voce exam an English lecturer expressed her inability to remedy some basic errors of students such as “Thanking God” instead of saying “Thank God”. The English text books at the level of under graduate courses do not cater to the needs of these students. As a result the students continue their poor communication skill throughout their life. They are very much afraid of being criticized by others. Neither do they know how to rectify these errors. The remedial course materials published by CIEFL, Hyderabad deals with only the grammatical aspect of Spoken English. Hence, there is a need for a new bridge course in English to improve the Spoken English of students to enable them to cope with the Spoken English syllabus of college and undergraduate students.

Make an Effort

Whatever may be the masked complexities of English, the learners should strive hard to learn it with effort. The following is the suggestion of the English Language teachers of Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad regarding the learning of the English language.

“If you want to improve your English, you must make an effort yourself…. If you work, if you attend regularly, your knowledge of English must improve”.

Native Speaker’s Model

Lack of native speaker’s model has become yet another problem to learn the language. This problem can be solved easily if the learners know how to listen to Radio and Television English news. By listening to Radio and television news, the learners may improve their own pronunciation. If they could not listen and comprehend the news, they may record it and take practice by imitating it. Listening to slow speed news bulletins with ear phones will surely improve the listening skill of the learners. Anyone can obtain national and international intelligibility by this process of simplification by carefully listening and imitating the news readers.

The Linguistic sum mum bonum

English, the language of the Nobel Laureates, has become the most prestigious modern language. A few words of great authorities cited below will motivate the foreign learners and provide a lot of enthusiasm to learn the language with speed.Randolph Quirk’s words “English is a language on which the sun does not set, whose users never sleep“ have been proved beyond doubt. As far as English is concerned “The native speaker is dead”.

Otto Jesperson praised the language as “the Linguistic sum mum bonum”. He portrayed it as “methodical, energetic, business like, sober, noble, rich, pliant, expressive, interesting, masculine, the language of the grown up man with very little childish or feminine about it. Monosyllabism and onomatopoeic words provide it much richness and good sense”.

Small Words

The English language has become the multi-billion dollar language and the best job generating language. Though it remains a twenty-six letter language, it is a complex language. Complicated pronunciation, rich vocabulary and complex grammar are the language – based difficulties. Though it contains more than ten lakh vocabulary only a few hundred words are employed in day-to-day speech. What worries the learners are the small words or the grammatical words. The eager learner has to master the art of framing questions quickly and to listen to radio and TV news bulletins.

LSRW

“Learn the words; learn the language” is an old saying. How do the students learn words? They learn words by Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW). Teachers of English should not undermine the skills of listening and speaking. Students can easily build their vocabulary and use them only by these two skills. The teachers should encourage the students to listen to their speech in the class and also to radio and T.V. news bulletins and ask them to imitate. This practice of listening will help the students to learn pronunciation and grammar unconsciously and speak with confidence. The students should be given training to learn the meaning of unknown words through wise guess.

Intelligibility in English.

The English language has become the richest and the most powerful language among world languages. Owing to Information Technology and Internet Revolution, English has assumed the role of a mighty employer, generating new job opportunities for all youngsters in the world. The IT boom has become a boon to India and as a result our youngsters can get job opportunities in India itself. Nevertheless the lack of quality English education pulls them down and they remain jobless in spite of thousands of opportunities around them. Today, Indian students get three types of intelligibility in English. They should be taught to acquire International Level of Intelligibility in English (ILIE) for better learning. This can be achieved by teaching them the life skills of listening, speaking and correct English pronunciation.

Quality of Higher Education

The future of Indian Education depends on the quality of higher education and the growth of Information Technology. Quality of education depends to a larger extent on the quality of teaching. The teachers should come forward to equip themselves with self-in-service training. If the subject teachers teach in English in the classrooms for the students to imitate, the students will learn both their subjects as well as English.

Using a Dictionary

Using a Dictionary

Dictionaries have become resource books rather than reference books. Usually students and teachers use bilingual dictionaries. Today they have to learn to use advanced learners dictionaries like Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD), Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CALD), Macmillan Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (MALD) and Longman Contemporary Dictionary (LCD).

The following points are important while looking up a word in the dictionaries:

v Pronunciation

v Syllable division

v Parts of Speech

v Spelling

v Meaning

v Root and Different usages of the word