Being unintelligible

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.

Generally, as a rule the nouns, adjectives, adverbs and main verbs are stressed in speech.  The other grammatical words like prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions and helping verbs are not stressed in continuous speech.  By following these principles of English pronunciation the foreign learner can attain the “speech flow”.

The cost-effective Virtual Dictionaries help the learners to acquire “the high degree of English fluency”.  The youngsters who would like to appear for the tests like “TOEFL (Testing of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System)  may acquire international intelligibility in English by using these virtual dictionaries.  Those who would like to get job opportunities in BPO services like Call Centres, Medical Transcription etc., need not spend thousands of rupees to improve their listening and speaking skills.

A few words

Logistics – The careful organization of a complicated activity so that it happens in a successful and effective way – CALD

- The flow of goods, information, and other resources, including energy    and people, between the point of origin and the point of consumption, is defined as logistics. -The New Indian Express.

Amalgamate    - (V) Combine, merge, unite, join, fuse, blend, meld, mix, incorporate-

                            (opp.) separate

Blueprint         - (N) Plan, design, diagram, drawing, sketch, layout, model, template, 

                pattern, example, guide, prototype, pilot

Cache              - (N) Hoard, store, stockpile, stock, supply, reserve, arsenal

Diagnose         - (V) Identify, determine, distinguish, recognize, interpret, detect,

    Pinpoint.

Excel               - (V) Shine, be excellent, be outstanding, be skilful, be talented, stand

                             out, be second to none

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

ENGLISH WORDS EMPOWER YOU

ENGLISH WORDS EMPOWER YOU

Word Power empowers students and they should know the true value of improving their vocabulary. Students at the college level should have a minimum of ten thousand words for their active use. It is surprising to know that in speaking English, not more than a hundred words are used daily by any speaker in the world. In all the language activities like Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW) not more than a thousand content words or meaningful words are used daily. All the other words are called passive words or words which are useful to understand messages and, these “Other words” are scarcely used words. Nevertheless they do the function of activating the cognitive abilities of students. Learn a few new words like the following and try to enrich yourselves.

IRREGULAR VERB GROUPS

IRREGULAR VERB GROUPS

Grammar Worksheet

Group 1:

              Bet, burst, cast, cost, hit, hurt, let, put, set, shut, spread, thrust, upset

Group 2:

              Beat- beat- beaten

Group 3:

              Become – became – become

              Come   - came – come

              Overcome - overcame – overcome

              Overrun -  overran  - overrun

              Run     -   ran – ran

Group 4:

             Bend, bind, bleed, bring, build, burn, buy, catch, deal, dig, dream, feed, feel,

             Fight, find, fling, get, hang, have, hear, hold, keep, lay, lead, lean, leap, learn,       

             Leave, lend, light, lose, make, mean, meet, mislead, mislay, overhear

Group 5:

             Pay, read, seek, sell, send, shine, shoot, sit, sleep, slide, smell, spell, spend, spill,

             Spin (spun), spoil, stand, stick, sting, strike, sweep, swing, teach, tell, and think,

             Understand, weep, win, wind, withhold, wring

Group 6:

            Arise, begin, bear, bite, blow, break, choose, do, draw, drink, drive, eat, fall, fly,

            Forget, forgive, freeze, give, go, grow, hide, know, lie, mistake, ride, ring, rise,

            Saw, see, sew, shake, show, shrink, sing, sink, speak, spin (span – spun),

            Spring, steal, strive, swear, swim, take, throw, tread, undergo, undo, wake, wear,

           Withdraw, write

            Am, is, are - was, were - been

  

Correct pronunciation of the following words

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

One word sentences used in the mobile phone:

One word sentences used in the mobile phone:

Create your own sentences as shown below:

Please call me later

Call, view, edit, send, add, delete, copy, move, import, export, start, help, exit, open, rename, format, sort by, chat, activate, customize, save, write,  erase, and use

Templates: A few sentences for ready use

1. Call me now
2. How about lunch
3. Be right back
4. I’m busy now
5. I’m sorry
6. Thank you
7. How was the day
8. Long time to see
9. Lots of love
10. How are you?

A few voice messages for listening:

1. The subscriber you are calling is out of the coverage area
2. The number you are calling is busy at the moment
3. The number you are calling is switched off
4. The subscriber you are calling is busy on another call
5. Please, wait
6. You are in a queue
7. Please call after some time
8. The subscriber you have dialed is not accepting any call
9. Please send a voice message
10. The line you have dialed is out of order

 Written messages flashing in the mobile:

1.      Call aborted

2.      Insert template

3.      Save to drafts

4.      Charger removed

5.      Call cancelled

6.      Press any key

7.      Write message

8.      Use number

9.      Send SMS

10.  Enter keypad lock code

One word sentences from irregular verbs:

Cut, hit, beat, come, run, buy, catch, fight, find, learn, meet, read, sell, shoot, sleep, stand, tell, teach, think, understand, win, begin, bite, break, choose, do, drink, drive, eat, forget, forgive, give, go, hide, read, rise, see, show, sing, speak, strive, swim, take, throw, and write

One word sentences from regular verbs:

Accept, achieve, act, add, address, admire, admit, advise, approve, argue, arrange, arrive, ask, attack, attempt, attend, explain, guess, jump, listen obey, play, promise, protest, prove, punish, refuse, stop, succeed, take, and try   

Note: From the above imperative one word sentences, you can create negative sentences and form micro dialogues for practice

One word questions:

What? Where? When? Why? How? Who?  and Whom?

  

Two word sentences (Imperative):

Be quick; Bear it; Beat it; Bless them; Bring water; Come here; Cut it; Drive carefully;

Eat slowly; Get up; Have sense; Hide yourself; Keep quiet; Kneel down; Know thyself;

Learn thoroughly; Run fast; Say something; Sell yourself; shake hands; Sit here; Sleep well; Speak loudly: Stand here; Strive hard; Tread slowly; Write again; Listen carefully; Read silently; Aim high; Arrive early; Believe it; Breathe slowly; Cool down; Calm down; Control yourself; Comfort him; Defend yourself; Encourage yourself; Excuse me; Greet them; Welcome them; Improve yourself; Introduce yourself; Learn properly; March forward

Note:

     Try to create as many sentences as possible from the above one word sentences:

Three word sentences:

Begin your work; Buy a shirt; Catch the train; Do your work; Draw a line; Find the truth;

Forget your sorrows; Grind the flour; Grow a tree; Hear the noise; Hit the target; Lead the group; Lend your book; Make no noise; overcome your trouble; pay your fees; Quit the place; Ride the cycle; See the picture; Seek the truth; Send the message; Show your watch; Shut the door; Sing a song; Sow the seed; Spell the word; Take a photo;

Think a lot; Throw the ball; Wear your dress; Win the game; Withdraw the case; Accept the gift; Admit your fault; Add some milk; Achieve your goal; Advise your friend; Agree with me; Attend the function; Influence the people; amuse the audience; Avoid bad company; Blow the whistle; Borrow his book; Call a taxi; Brush your teeth; Buy a cake; Carry the luggage; Cross the road; Decorate your house; Defeat your enemy; Educate the poor; Empty the box; End the fight; Enjoy the food; Enter the room; Follow the teacher; Get the best; Join the club; Manage your time; Measure the length; Move a little; Obey the order; Pack the package; Paint the wall

These verb sentences can be changed into simple sentences, yes or no type questions, negative sentences, requests, and ‘Wh’ type sentences and micro dialogues can be created out of them.