Be Different, Get Creative in Learning
In an earlier post i had emphasized upon the importance of originality in writing. We all have different approaches and ideas about various things and ideally, your writing should reflect your own ideas and not those of other people. In order to bring creativity and lend your writings a distinct touch, consider visualizing the incident you are writing about. If you are writing a travelogue, describe things as they appeared to you and not how they are commonly perceived. Describing the Taj Mahal as a magnificent piece of architecture puts nothing new on the plate. But maybe when you looked at it, you saw something unusual. A crack, a fissure, an oddity that struck you. Write about that. It’s your own work and you have the right to describe things as you see them.
If you have taken up the task of writing about something you haven’t seen then try to imagine yourself in that situation. Like our takes on things, our thoughts also run in different directions. Given the same scenario, your friends might imagine completely different things which may not even occur to you. These varied flights of fantasy will make your imaginative work stand out with fresh, new perspectives. Make sure you avoid the cliched descriptions of things and observe carefully to bring something different to the limelight. Look beyond the obvious and creativity is yours.
Go Straight for the Bush
Many of us might be familiar with the expression “beating about the bush”. It basically means avoiding the point. Given something to speak about or write on, we often indulge in it if we are not sure what exactly to say or don’t understand the topic. This can see you through a few situations in life but will surely go against you in professional life. When you appear in interviews or make presentations, you will be expected to stick to the topic. Digressions will not be appreciated.
For many of us, it becomes difficult initially to stop ourselves from deviating once we start speaking or writing. In academic spheres or debates between friends, one thing leads to another and before you know it, you have switched tracks. In professional life, there’s little time and you will be required to keep the pace up. Your speeches and written works need to be brief and to the point.
Practicing speaking at home or between friends is a good exercise i feel. Just choose a topic and set yourself a time limit of 5-10 minutes. Try to speak or write about it within that time. Stay focussed and suppress any urge to move away from the topic. Say or write only as much you know and do not be under the impression that you are expected to know everything. If you haven’t understood a question while facing an interview, request the interview panel to repeat the question or explain it a little so that you know exactly what is being asked. Rest assured it will be appreciated more than confusion and the consequent beating about the bush.
Tell Your Story as You Begin to Write
While writing, the first hurdle we face is choosing a topic. Many of us go for essay books that are available in the market and try to write on the same things. We even try to emulate the writing style as we tend to think that the essays in these books are examples of acceptable/desired writing styles. Actually when it comes to style, variety is the key. Each one of us have our own ways of playing with languages and are each distinguished by our own ways of dealing with topics. So it is very important to cultivate our own styles rather than adopt someone else’s.
I guess this is why i feel that writing about ourselves is a great way to start. Instead of choosing topics from books, we should just pick up the pen and write about ourselves, our lives so far, our experiences, likes and dislikes and so on. No one knows us better and each of us will have unique opinions on things going on around us. Every person will have his/her own story to tell. In addition to our writing skills getting better, this will also cultivate originality. There is no collection of essays in the market that can write about our lives. Only we can.
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Industry Attempts to Bridge the Gap
“We align the college curriculum with the industry’s requirements, and work with educational bodies towards implementing it. We organize seminars and training sessions for the faculty to give them an industry perspective, enabling them to train the students accordingly.”- this is the motto of Infosys’s Campus Connect initiative. Previously i have posted on the problems ailing our education system and the gap between supply and demand. Where competition is cut-throat and the need to keep up a fast pace vital, the industry can’t wait for Universities and Colleges to revise their curriculum, add new courses and start equipping students with the desired skills. They recognise the potential of India as a provider of quality manpower and are getting up close and personal to ensure the potential is realised and fast.
Over the past few years, big names like Infosys and Wipro have come up with Campus Connect and Academy of Software Excellence respectively to train aspirants eyeing coveted positions in these companies. More companies are following suit and partnering with educational institutions. The partnership results in spreading awareness, letting the students know exactly what is expected out of them in the industry and training to make fresh graduates job-ready. While i personally think such initiatives are praise-worthy and necessary, we shouldn’t leave training and teaching solely to these ventures. I hope our education system changes for the better by observing and learning from every initiative to produce more employable graduates in future.
Right Selection=Fun Reading
Many of us are advised to read English books, articles and newspapers to learn the language and improve our vocabulary. But I feel it’s not enough to just tell someone to read English. You need to tell that person where to start and how to go ahead as far as reading material is concerned. I have heard people advising others to read the editorials of English newspapers and English novels to start off with. While it’s true that a lot of editorials are really good pieces of writing, they can come across as quite cumbersome, boring and incomprehensible to beginners.
I would say start with comic strips which are fun to read and in addition to learning the language; you get a good idea about people and places unknown to you from the accompanying illustrations. Forget about what people around you have to say and pick up books on nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fables and other children’s literature. In no time you will be hooked to the wonderful world of English literature and will start picking up books that use more advanced English. Before going to novels, try short stories and when you read the newspaper, start with articles that interest you before going to the editorials.