Impressive Slang

Here are a few slang terms you can use to impress your friends!
SWALLOW A DICTIONARY (ph)= use long & obscure words when speaking.

[SWALLOWING A DICTIONARY is considered to be the best English in India!]


NAIL-BITING (adj)= causing great anxiety or tension
[The NAIL-BITING cricket match between India and South Africa]

FLUFF (n)= useless/unimportant information.
[He couldn't give us anything but FLUFF]

SHITKICKING MUSIC (n) = music which makes you get up and dance.
[I couldn't help dancing to the SHITKICKING MUSIC they played]

WASHY (adj)= (about a liquid) too watery.
[The soup she made was really WASHY]

PLAY GOOSEBERRY (idm)= to be a third person with two people who have a romantic relationship & want to be alone together.
[Carry on guys, I don't want to PLAY GOOSEBERRY in between]

 
NB If you want to receive such words daily through SMS (only in India), type JOIN JACOBS and send it to 9223492234

GOOD EVENING OR GOOD NIGHT? WHICH IS CORRECT?

The use of the common farewell phrases like 'good evening' and 'good night' often causes a lot of confusion and argument among the people whose first language is not English. Let me try to throw some light on this issue.

Being a full-time language trainer, I am greeted by a number of students each passing day at different times. The greeting phrases they use when they meet me in the morning, afternoon and evening are, of course, nice to listen and grammatically correct too.

But when it comes to taking leave in the evening, their courtesy turns un-English. Many students in India (adults too) use 'good evening' when they take leave in the evening! But according to correct English, they must say 'good night'.

So, when you leave your friend, teacher, boss or whoever next time in the evening, remember to wish them a 'good night'. It does not matter the sun is still up on the horizon.


Happy learning,
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

Most commonly mispronounced words in India.

It is an undeniable fact that we Indians have acquired a not-so-bad command of English language but the mispronunciation of certain words is very common among a good majority of English speakers in India. Here are a few examples I frequently notice:

Without a doubt, it can be said that almost every Indian, even those who don't speak English, pronounce the word 'cycle' accurately. But when it comes to bicycle, it's a different story; most of Indians pronounce it as /baisaikl/ whereas the correct pronunciation is /baisikl/!

Another very common word that many utter in the wrong way is 'bury'. Almost every Indian pronounce this word just as it is spelt (apologies to those who don't). But the actual pronunciation should be /bery/. The same rules goes with 'burial' too - /beriəl/.

'Blessed', when used as an adjective is mispronounced as /blessd/ in India whereas the English say /blesid/! However, as a verb (in past tense), it must be pronounced as /blest/, not /blesd/.

Likewise, many Indian speakers of English have two different pronunciations for the words 'blue' and 'blew'; in this country, it is /blyoo/ for 'blue' and /bloo/ for 'blew'. The standard English has, but, the same pronunciation for both the words i.e. 'bloo'. The same pattern must be followed in the case of 'flew' and 'flu' as well!

Another widespread misuse is in the pronunciation of the word 'chassis' which means the frame that a vehicle is built on. While the internationally accepted pronunciation of the word is /shaesi/, many Indians speak it as /chesis/!

Regards & Happy Learning!
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

CAN or MAY? Which is correct?

There are a number of simple but confusing aspects of grammar that many speakers of English are worried about. Unprofessional advice from teachers and peers with little or outdated knowledge in English further worsens the situation.


Let's take an example of such two controversial grammatical terms: CAN and MAY. Most of the speakers of English are, of course, familiar with the meanings and basic usage of these two words.


But the confusing question is, are CAN and MAY interchangeable when it comes to asking or granting permission?


The answer is 'YES'!
Many people think that CAN is used only to show 'ability/capability', and they argue that it is wrong to replace MAY with CAN in a request like,
'May I ask you a few personal questions?'.


In fact the majority of modern grammarians and successful writers are nowadays use both CAN and MAY to ask or grant permission though a damned few still oppose it! So, you may use either "May I ask you a few personal questions?" or "Can I ask you a few personal questions?" as both have exactly the same meaning and are acceptable in modern English.


The only difference between them in this context (permission/request) is that MAY is a little more polite than CAN. Therefore, try to use CAN in informal situations (at home, with friends etc.) and MAY in formal ones (in an interview, an official discussion etc.)

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