WORDS YOU THOUGHT DIDN'T EXIST.....!!

The much awaited latest edition of Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE) has just hit the market. It has got a lot of new stuff to please and satisfy the lovers of English language, especially those who have an irresistible thirst for the latest and the most stylish words.

Approximately 2000 new terms have entered this new edition out of which 1200 words are brand new! Let us take a glance at some of the interesting new entrants in the dictionary.

Many of you might water your mouth at the sight of various kinds of sumptuous dishes made from chicken such as chicken chilly, grilled chicken, chicken kebab and so forth. At least a few of you must have savored some of the lip-smacking dishes made out of duck and turkey as well. Of course these words, just like the dishes, are so familiar to the non-vegetarians.

But the question is, have you ever tasted ‘TURDUCKEN’? Probably not. Even as I type this word in MS Word, the spell-check feature of the software underlines it in red. The  poor software! It thinks the word must a misspelt one. Perhaps your favourite dictionaries might not have this word listed in them. But it appears in the new Oxford Dictionary of English! The word means ‘a roast dish consisting of a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey’. It is a blend of  TURkey, DUck and  chiCKEN!

Likewise, you might have been advised by someone to make your passwords alpha-numeric (consisting of or using both letters and numerals). Why? The hackers keep trying to break into your valuable personal data, emails, bank accounts etc by using a large set of words, as found in a dictionary. This kind of data theft using guessed or generated passwords has now got a term in English: ‘DICTIONARY ATTACK’, as it appears in ODE. So it is high time you reset your passwords using a combination of letters, numbers and symbols too, in place of your existing easy-to-remember password!

‘FREEMIUM’ is another newcomer in this dictionary. Guess what it means? Can’t? Well, freemium is a business model, especially on the Internet, whereby basic services are provided free of charge while more advanced features must be paid for. Your computer probably has an AVG, Avast or Norton ‘fremium’ Antivirus installed in it. Now you can boast to your computer savvy friends that you are a freemium user of this or that software when you use the software’s basic services without upgrading to the PREMIUM (paid) version! Stylish word indeed. Right?

Other such interesting words in the new edition are STAYCATION, TWEETING, CREDIT CRUNCH, MALINVESTMENT, OVERLARGED, CATASTROPHIZE, BUZZKILL, FUSSBUDGET, MATCHY-MATCHY, BEER GOGGLES, DEFRIEND and many more...

Regards

Jack (Nova English Campus)

NOVA ENGLISH CAMPUS

IELTS ESSAY PARAGRAPHS MADE EASY!

These exercises show you (if you are going to take IELTS) how to develop a single piece of idea into a beautiful medium-sized paragraph which is content-rich, informative, and above all, result-oriented.

Although television is extremely helpful in the field of education in multiple ways it affects the young people in some destructive ways too. How?

The following sample paragraphs demonstrate only how to develop body paragraphs, not the introductory or concluding paragraphs.

Central idea of the paragraph: Attention from studies diverted.....

To begin with, television takes the attention of students away from their studies. Fun-packed and entertainment-oriented programmes which are aired on various channels have been attracting more number of young viewers than ever before. American Idol, Big Boss and Indian Laughter Challenge are a few classic examples for this widespread phenomenon.

Central idea of the paragraph: Misleading content.....

In addition, frequent exposure to vulgar content in many TV shows adversely affects the young minds. It is an undeniable fact that young people are more vulnerable to get misled. Such content on TV injects distorted sexual fantasies into the budding minds which lead to increasing number of sexual harassment in schools, colleges and work places. To exemplify, ______, ______ and ______ have already turned many talented children into spoilt brats.

Central idea of the paragraph: Cause aggressiveness, accidents etc.....

Apart from this, television programs can even cause fatal accidents. There are a number of such TV serials which propagate rash driving, improbable stunts and so forth as heroic deeds. Young ones, unaware that such feats are performed by experts with all the safety precautions, try to imitate them in real life, endangering themselves and others. For example, so many children lost their valuable lives after watching such programs as _____, ______ and ______.

Sentences underlined    : TOPIC SENTENCE (usually 1 sentence)

Sentences italicized      : EXPLANATORY SENTENCE (usually 2-3 sentences)

Sentences in bold         : EXAMPLE SENTENCE (usually 1-2 sentences)

I LOVE MUSTARD LEAVES AND SPINACH :-(

No doubt a large number of Indians have a managed to get a strong grip on the English language. However there is a strong tendency among many of them to translate each concept in their mother tongue into English. Of course, it is possible to translate the majority of the terms and concepts of a foreign language into English, and it is even good to have the curiosity to trace the right word for the right idea!

But while doing so, people often mar the beauty of English by twisting and distorting certain properties of the language. Such (mis)use of the language often sounds awkward and ridiculous to a native English speaker. For example, if an Englishman or non-Punjabi speaker asks an English learner from Punjab what their favourite food is, they are more likely to answer like this:

"My favourite food is Mustard Leaves and Spinach".

But for an Englishman or non-Punjabi speaker, this answer will sound so funny and incomprehensible! They might even think that the person's food habits are uncivilized or strange!

So, how could this answer be modified in an understandable way? Well, the speaker could have said something like this:

"My favourite food is Sason ka saag and Makki ki roti. These are Punjabi traditional dishes, and they are made mainly from mustard leaves and spinach".

Now the answer is accurate, understandable and informative. No confusion at all for the listener.

Many students in India, especially those preparing for IELTS, TOEFL, BEC and such ESOL examinations falsely think that including mother-tongue-words in their speaking and writing modules of the test is not at all allowed. I agree to a great extent. Students must not usually use the words in their mother tongues while taking such exams. But if a particular word in your language does not have an English equivalent, that word must be used as it is in your own language. The only thing to remember is that the speaker must explain (in their answer) what the meaning of the local word/phrase is in simple English. And   the examiners of such exams never reduce the marks for such usages!! On the other hand, examiners do cut you score if you try to over-impress the examiner by using word-by-word translation or awkward broken English phrases!

Happy learning!
Jacob Nova English Campus