Towards A Healthy Economy + Marketing World

As human brain developed so did the feelings and desire to express them. The need led to development of the language. From howls and moans to the meaningful words today humans have made a great achievement. Same applies to writing too.

What started as signs is a full fledged script now. (There are many of them but that is not the issue here)

For a moment imagine a world without a language. You cannot. It is impossible. Without language we would be missing much of the pleasure that we enjoy. Without language we would be deprived of any information and its development thereof.

Language is very essential aspect of our lives.
Take for example the books. They have imparted us an endless knowledge generation after generation. A knowledge that has further led to more knowledge in every sphere of life.

Take example of our daily communications. From sweet goodbyes to lullabies, from scribbled reminders to notes for the day, from the casual exchange of greetings to marvelous speeches wonders of the language are countless.

Written language is the hallmark of the literate world. A parameter that differentiates it from and puts it at a higher pedestal than illiterate world. Yes! Unfortunately there are few parts of the world which are deprived of this beautiful aspect of the language.

It is the written language that has helped us to shape this world the way it is. Shaping of mind begins in the early school years and continues throughout the life. As we move further we can almost differentiate people on the basis of proficiency this aspect of the language.

There are experts and there are not so experts.

Whatever you do, wherever you are in the life the command over the written word puts you in distinct advantage.

Internet is no exception.

In our real life there are alternative methods to compensate for your lack of command. There is component of speech. Then there are gestures. But on internet written word is the sole medium of communication. Now a days a bit of help is available from graphics, audio and video files but the written word is still undisputed king and would remain so in the coming times.

Just have look at any website. There is no face that speaks to you. It is the writing that speaks. The only communication is through the written material. Everything that you need to convey to the visitor of your website is via written language. That is the big truth in itself.

After books it is the webpage that is harnessing the power of the written word. To tap this fully one must use their words wisely.

Internet is said to be a paradise for those who are proficient in written language. It could not be said in better words.

In next article we will discuss how to use words wisely to bring out results.
Till then .

Author is successful writer and internet marketer. You are invited to join his free article directory http://www.authorcontent.com and contribute your creative work. Author can be reached at support@authorcontent.com.

Imagine a child sitting in front of a desk, his head in his hands, and mumbling various lists of words over and over. Does this child remind you of your own experience? If yes, I bet that “list of words” does not sound appealing to you. You are almost ready to swear that they do not work. Before you mortgage your part of paradise, it may be wise to make sure you are right.

You can open a dictionary and begin to learn it by heart (a dictionary is no more than a list of words). There are many illustrated dictionaries that offer you the same resources as plenty of websites do by displaying colorful pictures with captions. You know that these tools exist because you have already tried to enrich your vocabulary that way. The scope of the task curbed your enthusiam.

Though, it is not a bad way to learn vocabulary, it is even the best way for one person: the author of the list.

Why?

You are unique. Your memory is unique, not only because your memories are yours, and only yours, but also because the way you store them is yours and only yours. For a large part, memory is about association of ideas and the associations you make depend on your experience.

Let’s study an example to make it clear. Ask anyone to give you a word in relation with the common word “horse”. You will get mare, race, chivalry or Trojan, etc, depending on the person who answers.

He who answered “mare” might go on with stable, foal and even cow and other farm animals; he who said “race” would probably go on with racecourse and tote. Obviously, their experiences of life are quite different. “Chivalry” would lead to King Arthur, coat of mail and tournament while “Trojan” would meet Homer, odyssey, god and goddess.

If you are a linguist, it is very likely that you associate horse to horseback, horsehair, horseman and horseplay and think that your list is easy to remember. On the contrary, if you are not interested in the Middle-Age History, the “chivalry” list will slip your mind.

The more personal the links between the words, the easier the way to learn them. That is why a list works at its best for its author. The connections between the words pre-exist in the author’s head.

So, pave your way, prepare your own list!

1. It will fit in with your way of thinking
2. It will meet with your center of interests
3. It will meet with your requirements
4. It will be half-learnt just by looking for the words you want to know

In the third issue, we will see how to take advantage of scientific studies about human memory. There are many ways to learn a foreign language. Why would you choose the hardest one?

Gabrielle Guichard
A French teacher who can be reached on GabrielleGuichard.com and listened to on FrenchPodcasting.com

In today’s ever-expanding world of business on an ever-shrinking planet, not only is it easy to market your organization’s products and services globally, but it is also just good business sense. With the prevalence of the Internet in every aspect of our English-speaking culture and society, it makes sense to reach out globally and put your products and/or services out for the whole world to take advantage of. Though it seems like the Internet has reduced the size of our world, marked cultural and language barriers still exist which make marketing a product or service from an English-speaking organization to a foreign market an immense challenge. In order to succeed globally, you must consider foreign language translation as a necessary faction of your organization. Whether you are considering opening offices internationally, or you just want to make your services available to foreign markets, consider employing the services of a professional foreign language translation firm in order to make every aspect of your business (both electronic and paper-based) understandable and user-friendly to whatever nationality you decide to promote your business to.

In order to fully make the most of the foreign expansion of your business, you might want to open offices in other countries in addition to providing services and products via the Internet. This might require you to hire staff members in those countries who are not native English speakers. Though this will no doubt be a benefit in helping your organization immerse itself into another culture, and help your products and/or services gain a foothold there, it will also prove challenging in trying to adapt your organization’s policies and procedures to a group of employees that will not be able to read manuals and documents in English, and not understand some of the informal grammar. For this reason, hiring a foreign language translation organization is a sensible business decision.

A foreign language translation firm typically employs native speakers from many different countries. Not only do their employees have an inherent grasp on one or more foreign languages, but they are also fluent in the English language. In addition, it is possible to hire staff that are specialists in particular areas of business, which helps to facilitate translations and allows the translators to convert your materials into understandable, relevant, and culturally sensitive documents. For your business, translators can adapt software, training and development materials, web sites, and internal organization documentation. Foreign language translation firms utilize the latest software that will translate documentation into nearly every language on Earth, as well as translate documentation into English, so that the lines of communication will be open and unhindered. Many different fields of industry utilize foreign language translation firms, including the medical field, the legal field, the computer industry, and of course, the business and marketing fields.

If you are considering the global development of your business, educating yourself on the cultures of those countries you plan to approach is very important. There are often strict differences among countries, even if they are neighbors to one another. There are also often strict differences between English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. Being sensitive to other cultural standards will help you to understand the business climate of whatever country you want to expand your business into. This is of utmost importance for successful expansion into non-English-speaking countries. For that reason, taking advantage of one of the many online foreign language translators that are available is a sensible method of education for yourself and your organization. There are several web page translators that are available online for free. Taking the time to research the demands of your potential customers will pay off for you in the long run.

For worldwide expansion of your business, there is no more sensible decision to make than to employ a foreign language translation organization to tend to the conversion of all of your English-based business documents into whatever foreign language you need. And taking the time to research the non-English speaking markets you wish to expand into will help you understand the cultural climates you intend to take your products and/or services into. Foreign language translators make the transition into the global business community easier for your business. www.foreign-languages-school.com

Find the essential information on where and how to learn a new or second language at Foreign Language Translation

John is a director of numerous Internet companies and is a published author. Many articles have been produced on a variety of subjects with excellent content and depth. All his articles may be reproduced provided that an active link is included to www.foreign-languages-school.com

Language Schools

Grammar. The very mention of the word strikes fear into the heart of the staunchest language learner. Many English EFL and ESL teachers also feel the pit of their stomach churn at the thought of preparing and giving a grammar lesson. But what are we to do? If lexis and vocabulary are the building blocks of language, then certainly grammar is the mortar or structure that holds them together. Teaching it and learning it are therefore inescapable. The only thing to do then is to make it as interesting, pleasant or at least as painless as possible. Here are some ideas to help you do just that.

1. Use Grammar Games

Both learners and teachers alike love to use games in the English EFL ESL classroom. So, make extensive use of games to teach and reinforce critical grammar points. What, you say you don’t know any grammar games? Or perhaps you’ll quip that you don’t have a good stock of them so you can’t count on regularly employing them for use in your classes? Au contraire! They abound on English teacher websites, commercial publications and in the minds and hearts of your colleagues worldwide. If you have a good game to share, post it on an ELT forum or TEFL materials / activities website. Create your own based on popular games you’re familiar with. Use pursuit and turn-taking games, card games, board games or TPR-based games to get maximum involvement of your learners. Actually, you should get in there too. Don’t be a lazy butt.

2. Use movie and video clips

“Go ahead, make my day.” Now who was it exactly that first said that? Yes, yes I’m sure you know. Now change it to other verb tenses. Change it to a question. Change it into different question forms. Make it imperative. You get the idea.

“I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.” If you don’t know the initial speaker of that line, three slaps with a wet noodle for you. What verb tense is there? Now change it into different forms.

Watch a three to seven minute clip from a movie scene or video. Write down what grammar forms you hear. Then have the class do it. Does everyone agree? No? What are the different forms they come up with? What’s correct? Go back, watch the clip again and check. Do it until you’re satisfied.

3. Use Audio-only Segments

Now it’s getting tougher. Listen to an audio clip. A commercial, story, dialogue or news segment. From where? The radio, cassettes, TV, CDs / DVDs, etc. Note the grammar points used. Can you change any of them? How? Why? What does the change do to the meaning? Does it become formal or informal? Imperative? Humorous? Don’t forget to have the learners practice and deliver these short dialogues aloud. (Everybody wants to be Dirty Harry or the Godfather) My learners like scenes from “Matrix” and “Frantic” with Harrison Ford. James Bond film scenes rate highly with my learners too. The ladies like to be Julia Roberts or Demi Moore from almost any of their flics. Angela Bassett and Sigourney Weaver frequently portray “strong women” with good dialogue strings and soliloquies which give the female learners character choices. It works for me and it definitely works for them.

Try it out for yourself. You’ll see. Just remember to pick an interesting clip that’s not too long. It must have snappy dialogue either between two characters or a quippy comeback on the part of one of them. You could even have the learners suggest some clips, programs and / or scenes to use.

So Bunky, don’t let the term “grammar” strike fear into the hearts of your learners (or you) ever again. Work up some grammar - teaching activities using these techniques and grammar could become your - and their - favorite lesson type. If you have questions, would like additional suggestions or guidance, please feel free to contact me at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an ELT Teacher Trainer, English language learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. He has published more than 350 articles and academic papers and presented at numerous EFL teacher training and TEFL conferences throughout North America, South America and Europe. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

The IELTS Reading tasks tests only one thing: the candidate’s ability to answer questions correctly on the basis of the reading. None of the other reasons people regularly read - to acquire and retain information, say, or for entertainment - come into play. If you learn something from the IELTS Reading test and remember it, good for you. If you enjoy the readings, better yet. But stay focused on the questions.

During the one-hour task, there are three readings, of gradually increasing difficulty, with a total of approximately 40 questions, or about 13 per reading. (The number varies from exam to exam.) Having time read both the questions and the readings, and then to arrive at the correct answers, requires fast reading - but not “speed reading” in the ordinary sense of the word.

The reading and reading-related skills tested include:

- Following instructions. Any of ten or so question types may be used in the Reading task, and it is essential that the candidate understand the question type, the particular way it is to be answered (e.g., multiple possible answers or a single correct answers), and the most precise, direct answer to the question as asked.
- Identifying the main ideas. Not only is it not necessary to understand everything in a particular reading, it is unwise to try to. If there is no question pertaining to a particular word, sentence or passage, it doesn’t matter if you understand it. But it is important to grasp the main ideas of all reading passages. Some questions are based on these main ideas, and knowing what - and where - they are in the text is often critical to the accurate and quick answering of questions.
- Seeing how principal ideas in a reading passage are connected. Various questions types, most conspicuously matching, require seeing the connection between main ideas. However, virtually all of the question types may produce questions that require the candidate to see the relationship between ideas or the way individual ideas must be connected to arrive at a correct answer.
- Testing the truthfulness of statements in the questions against “word strings” found in a reading text. Often, IELTS Reading task questions, particular true-and-false and fact-or-opinion, are comprised of sequences of words found in exactly the same form in the readings. However, phrases or clauses prior to those word strings (e.g., “some scientists think that…” or qualifiers following them (e.g., “but”, “unless”, “except for”) may turn what appears to be a fact into an opinion or a what appears to be a true statement into a false one.
- Grasping ideas underlying the main arguments. Some questions require the reader to see the writer’s motivation in writing or organizing the passage as it finally appears. These underlying concepts sometimes emerge only with careful reading or by looking for evidence of them when the candidates know there are questions about them.
- Understanding the writer’s point of view. This is perhaps the most difficult of the reading skills. It requires that the candidate understand more than just the words but the perceptions and attitudes behind them. Most readings have a “point” that is not stated directly. Sometimes these motivations can only be discovered by a look at the kinds of words writers choose to address their subjects, particularly judgment words. Candidates may also need to find the author’s feelings, if any about the topic - e.g., advocacy, affection, concern, alarm, and even neutrality. These techniques together are what English speakers refer to as “reading between the lines.”

The Reading task is the one most candidates find the easiest. However, the rigorousness of the questions, more than the difficulty of the readings, may make the task more difficult than it appears.

Svend Nelson is a university lecturer and Internet entrepreneur. He is director of UniRoute Limited, a Hong Kong based company with offices in Bangkok and London providing IELTS preparation and a free online application service to study abroad in UK including courses like tourism management. Svend lived and worked in various countries across Latin America, Europe and Asia and currently lives in Thailand.

THE WRONG APPROACH

Did you know that the teaching methodology accounts for over 90% of the students’ success or failure in learning a second language effectively?

In other words, it’s not your fault if you have not been able to achieve your goals so far. Most likely, the kind of work you’ve been doing may be the one to blame.

Most language courses revolve around grammar and vocabulary drills which result in nothing but frustration and the feeling that “you are not cut out to learn Spanish.”

Those courses focus so much on students’ errors, that they cause you to lose confidence and drastically reduce your oral fluency in the language by “punishing” you any time you use the language.

It is common in these settings to find students mentally struggling with patterns and structures before making any single utterance, for fear of being corrected, told they are wrong or even ridiculed.

This sad but nevertheless real situation produces two main results:

a) many students cannot put up with the mental stress and frustration and drop out their Spanish courses with the feeling they are not up to the challenge of acquiring Spanish as “this is a very hard language to learn.”

b) Other students keep working hard even for years, but still cannot progress beyond a certain level and start to feel stuck. Many start to question whether they are to blame for their lack of improvement.

Have you ever found yourself in one of the two situations described above? If you have, the good news is:
You are NOT to blame! And… you are far from alone!

Over 90% of students of second languages, not just Spanish, feel exactly the same way.

Why is this so?

Simply because the MAIN teaching methodologies currently used worldwide, even on the Internet, are WAY OUTDATED!

They simply reproduce teaching models that were in vogue over 100 years ago but in a digital format.

Does this sound difficult to believe? Read on.

Almost EVERY single course available on the market today is rooted in the GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD of second language acquisition.

This method started to be used in the 1890’s and it consisted mainly of explanations of grammatical rules, some sample sentences, and lots of exercise drills to practice the new structures. Does this sound familiar?

This system was mostly used to learn to translate Classical Greek or Latin into other languages and it offered little opportunity for real second-language acquisition or should we say “offers”?

It may be acceptable to learn dead tongues but it will be of no use to you if you want to learn to communicate in Spanish effectively.

This clearly shows you why no matter how hard you may have tried, you have been unable to learn Spanish. It is NOT your fault. It is the methodology used; it is the course providers’ fault! Not Yours!

Who can put the blame on you if so far you have been prepared for a reality that does not exist outside the classroom?

After all, as we have seen in our previous mini-articles, children acquire their native language easily and effectively, without boring and repetitive grammar and vocabulary drills, without sentences or structures in isolation, so why should you do that to learn a second language? However, language courses force you to do that time and again.

Worst of all, the language that is shown to you has been simplified to such an extent that if you showed the study materials to a native speaker s/he won’t be able to help sniggering.

Students are presented with unreal and unnaturally simplified samples of Spanish that no one ever uses. In real life, that is NOT how language acquisition occurs!!!

You are NOT to blame!!! How come you be expected to communicate effectively if you’ve never been given a single chance to communicate or to be exposed to REAL language, just as it is spoken worldwide.

Imagine a pilot-to-be whose only experience in flights has been in flight simulators. Would he be nominated for flying an airline’s top commercial airplane? Would YOU like to be on that flight? Would you like your family and beloved ones to be there with you? I definitely wouldn’t.

Just because a person practices and practices and practices in an unreal or controlled situation does not mean that s/he will be able to succeed in a real-life situation. Now see this analogy in language courses.

Language students are obliged to repeat words, phrases and sentences in a parrot-like fashion, they are forced to do grammar exercises, repetition drills just to “hammer the structures into their heads” and they are never ever given a real chance to interact even with another person in a real setting. Would you expect them to use language effectively if real communicative needs arise? Of course not! Most likely they will dry up and be unable to say a word! But it is NOT their fault! They are just the expected result of a bad product.

Having identified the problem, the solution is just one step ahead. But that will be the main topic of our new article on Second Language Learning.

Julio Foppoli is a teacher of English as a Second Language and a teacher of Spanish as a Second Language. He is the creator and owner of http://www.esaudio.net/Spanish/online_classes.html, an online educational website with a technological edge, specialized in the teaching of Spanish as second language via audio-conference to native speakers of English from all over the world.

The website offers free listening comprehension activities with Spanish from all of the Spanish speaking world.

Are you interested in learning the Italian language right in your own hometown? There are several options that you can explore to find the Italian classes that are just perfect for you! First, you should consider whether you would you enjoy the interaction that takes place among students in group classes, or if you would prefer the one-on-one attention of a private instructor.

1. Group classes at community colleges: One way to learn Italian in your hometown is to find a community college that offers Italian classes in your area. The internet can be an invaluable resource and with a few clicks of the mouse you can identify exactly where there are Italian language courses available. For example, if you live in the U.S. you can go to www.community-college.org, where you will find a complete directory of all of the community colleges throughout the country. Many of them offer evening or even online classes! Simply pick the college or colleges that can be found near you and check out their curriculum.

2. Group classes at a private school or institution: Another approach would be to find an independent language school where you can take group lessons. Do you have a Berlitz near you? How about an Inlingua Center? A great way to find the best schools in your area is to talk with people in the Italian community where you live! Many Italian communities even have websites that link to valuable resources. For example, you can find out about the Italian community in Washington, DC at www.italcultusa.org, in New York at www.italcultny.org, in Chicago at www.iicch.org, in Los Angeles at www.iicusa.org or in San Francisco at www.sfiic.org. You can find an Italian community near you simply by going to www.google.com and typing in “Italian community in (Your Hometown).”

3. Private lessons: Not convinced that college classes or group lessons are for you? While group classes are more interactive and dynamic, you get less of the teacher’s attention. So, how about taking private classes? There are many ways to find a good instructor. For example, you could post a free “in search of Italian instructor” ad at Craigslist - www.craigslist.org - if you live in an area that the site serves. Or, you could place an ad for free in a local newspaper or journal.

Italians take great pride in teaching their native language to non-native speakers, so simply by reaching out and asking questions, you are sure to find plenty of good advice and helpful people. Buon divertimento!

Mindy Prian is the Site Administrator of http://www.impariamo.com, a warm, welcoming community of people from all over the world who interact with one another to improve their Italian language skills.

Many people with France travel on their agenda would like to brush up on their French language skills before their trip. Make no mistake, learning a foreign language is very difficult. However, if you studied the French language in high school or college you might be able to put some of that long-ago effort to good use. Being able to communicate, even with only a few words at your disposal, can make a trip much more fun, and it will perhaps help you figure out where you made that wrong turn before becoming lost!

Here are two ways to brush up your French language skills:

1. For a number of months I’ve subscribed to a great little free service called French Word A Day. This is a daily email from Kristin Espinasse, an American originally from Phoenix who married a Frenchman and now lives with her family in Provence. Although the implication is that you’ll receive one word per day, Kristin provides a good bit more. The theme for each email is in fact one word, but there are also variations on the word, phrases using the word and variations, and a daily proverb which contains the word as well. A recent addition is an audio link to hear the word pronounced properly. Furthermore, Kristin writes an essay she calls “A Day in a French Life” and uses numerous other French words woven into her English text. She summarizes these words at the bottom of the article, which makes an easy reference for additional words. Thus there is an opportunity to learn or relearn a number of words each day. Each email has a link to her web site with a daily photo of France. In addition, on the web site are listed the last ten words and their accompanying phrases, proverbs, etc. as described above, so one can look over quite a few words right away, even if your trip is coming up soon.

This is certainly an excellent review process for French vocabulary. Oftentimes I’ll see a word or phrase I recognize but can’t quite pin down the translation exactly. For example, a recent word was “le lendemain” (the next day). Included was a phrase I’ve heard before numerous times, “du jour au lendemain”. I always thought this meant “from one day to the next”, which is
a literal translation. However, it really means “suddenly”, sort of like jumping from one day into the next. It’s helpful to pick up nuances like that, and I’m sure I’ll remember this the next time I hear it in a French conversation. In order to help retention, it is useful to print out the daily entry and keep a file to review from time to time. It’s only by seeing words numerous times that they can become part of your vocabulary. By the way, Kristin has compiled her essays into 3 books which she sells on line, and those proceeds help defray the costs of Word a Day so that it remains a free service. Of course buying the books gives you access to many words at once, so that is another excellent option for improving or reviewing your French
vocabulary. To subscribe or purchase books, you can follow the link above.

2. For those with a little more time and motivation another excellent tool is a French language course on CD called a l’ecoute de la langue francaise which translates to “listening to the French language”. I’ve used this excellent product and have found it to be a great review of French vocabulary and grammar. There are 108 lessons broken up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced categories, and all this takes 12 hours total of listening time on the CD. At the end of each lesson there is a quick review test. There is both text and audio for each lesson, so I find the best method is to print out the lesson, look it over, and then listen to the audio, reading the text at the same time prior to taking the review test. The audio for the beginner lessons is in English, but both the Intermediate and Advanced are in French. There is a lot of material packed into these twelve hours, so I would recommend a pace of 2 or 3 lessons per week maximum, each week reviewing the previous week’s work. In this way there is some repetition and also some time between lessons for the material to sink in. The price for the program is 60 euros if ordered on line, and this includes shipping and a one year subscription to a monthly email newsletter that has interesting articles about French current events, culture, politics, etc., written in French. The web site offers numerous other services and products, such as audio books to listen to, as well as a service to exchange email or even voice recordings with a French professor who will critique the work and offer suggestions for improvement. The company is located in beautiful Lyon, France, and you can find all their products and services by following the link above in this paragraph.

Au revoir et bonne chance!

© Copyright 2005, All Rights Reserved.

Walt Ballenberger is founder of Beaux Voyages
which provides active tours in France. He has lived and worked in France and speaks the language fluently.

There are many aspects in IELTS that people find surprising, usually when it hits them hard. It is quite a paradox - the information is right there, available to everyone, yet people are still in the dark. Allow me to draw your attention to several facts you don’t want to be surprised about.

Usually extensive answer is considered a very good one, but not in IELTS. When instructions say “give one answer” or “answer in 3 words”, it means “give us two answers or 4 words and we’ll fail you”. The reason for this limit is quite simple and obvious - there is not enough room for more than 3 words on Answer Sheet. By the way, articles “a” and “the” count as one word, while common assumption is that they don’t.

People tend to forget that they are graded by Answer Sheet and not by what they wrote in IELTS booklet. Any correct answer not copied to Answer Sheet will result in exactly 0 points. There is an option of submitting appeal and requesting to read your answers from the booklet, but it takes time and costs money.

Not many people think about what they are going to write with, pen or pencil. Yet there are rules: the Listening and Reading answers are to be written in pencil and Writing - in pen. This is another example of how small details can be very significant in IELTS.

Writing and Speaking are graded differently from Listening and Reading. There is no half band grade, which means it is impossible to get 6.5 in either Writing or Speaking. The reason is the way examiners are currently trained, but hopefully it will change in the future (according to official IELTS site maybe even in 2007).

In Reading and Listening tests the spelling is important, meaning one can loose points for misspelled words. The best way to overcome the spelling problem is to copy words. In case of Reading, copying words from text is a very easy and natural thing to do. In Listening test, as simple as it may sound, it is best to write what you hear and not to rephrase. It is acceptable to skip words - after all there is 3 words limit, as long as the important words are not substituted by their synonyms.

And at last some good news: starting from May 2006 candidates don’t need to wait 90 days to retake the test. The 90-day waiting period has been canceled to the joy of those who have no time to waste.

Simone Braverman is the author of “ACE The IELTS” e-Book. She once had to take the IELTS test to open a door to a dream. Her curiosity pushed her quite a bit further into extensive research on differnt aspects of IELTS test. More information at www.IELTS-blog.com
View their website at: www.ielts-blog.com/

English is an international language. It has so many grammar rules and each rule with many exceptions. Usually, we write English without paying much attention to these rules and exceptions. But, its good to know as much as grammar as possible especially the exceptions. In this article, I am mentioning some of these unusual facts and rules of English language.

1. A word starting with letter ‘Q’ has ‘u’ as its second letter.

2. If abbreviation ends with same letter as the complete word itself then dot (.) is not placed. For example, we write Dr instead of Dr. for Doctor and Prof. for professor and not prof. But, people unknowingly write Dr. for Doctor.

3. Strange but common. Most of you know that following sentence contains all the alphabets of English language:

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

4. Use word ‘Do’ to emphasize an action. For example, you can write ‘I do go there’ instead of ‘I go there’.

5. Try guessing a word with no vowels in it. Read this article from the beginning and you can find it. Yes, the word is ‘Try’. There are many more such words like ‘Fry’ and ‘My’. Usually, such words contain letter ‘y’ in them.

6. Relationship before a name is written with capital letter and if afterwards then with small letter. For example, “He is Uncle Sam” and “He is Sam, my uncle”.

7. Use of ‘a’ and ‘an’ article depends on phonetics of noun before which they are placed. So, ‘a’ is used before the word ‘user’ and ‘an’ is used before the word ‘honest’.

8. Use of article ‘The’ has many exceptions like ‘the’ is not used before names of the countries except the ‘Netherlands’ and the ‘US’.

For appropriate use of articles, capitalization rules and other English language rules, I recommend you to read articles available at:
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/). You can also visit www.usingenglish.com for learning English grammar in a better way.

Syed Feroz Zainvi has obtained M.Tech. (Comp Sc & Engg) degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (INDIA). His areas of interests are distributed computing, computer graphics and Internet Technologies. Currently, he is involved in Software Project Planning, Development and Management. His other interests include writing for magazines and contributing utility softwares on Magazine’s CDs. He also have flair for teaching computer science with new teaching methodologies.

His web-page URL is http://www.zainvi.tophonors.com