Use Words Carefully While Learning English
All of us get excited at the prospect of learning new words. In the process of learning a language we are asked to improve our vocabulary. The more words we know, the more our command over a language will increase. While learning new words can be fun, we also need to be cautious about their usage since many words have multiple meanings and connotations.
If you look closely at your mother tongue, you will identify several words which are used in various situations and which carry various meanings. Change of context often alters the meaning of words and depending upon culture, humour and other factors, words get associated with various things. Apart from its common meaning, the word “egg”, for example, is used to describe encouragement and support. Also a lot of words and expressions that we use in our respective languages have no English equivalent and vice-versa.
When you come across a new word, make sure you find out more about it before beginning to use it on a regular basis. Usage of certain words can hurt the sentiments of certain people and land you in trouble. It is also important to know whether a particular word has any special meaning in a cultural or religious context. Keep a good dictionary handy and look up references.
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.
Training Blues
While everyone agrees upon the advantages of students equipping themselves with good communication skills, what is neglected is the prospect of professionals who can train the students. I am talking about the teachers in various Engineering colleges here. It goes without saying that to be successful as a teacher in this field, one needs to have a clear understanding of the needs of the industry and the kind of communication skills desired. By and large, the industry requires its workforce to be aware of domain-specific scientific and technical vocabulary, ability to speak politely and positively, reporting, clear and precise writing and making presentations. Now the question is how many teachers teaching English courses in our Engineering colleges possess these skills?
Many of the teachers recruited by engineering colleges are graduates or post-graduates in English where the emphasis is on English literature. As a result, they are largely unaware of the demands of the industry and most of the English course outline handed out is lost on them. They struggle to make sense of the technical vocabulary and other Industry-specific nuances. Upon asking, I was told by people in the Industry that during their college days, their English teachers often found themselves as baffled by the syllabus as them. Nowadays some reputed institutions like EFLU are offering courses on TEFL/TESL which are attempting to address such demands but good courses of this kind remain few and far between. With the growing demand for professionals with good communication skills, opportunities galore for teachers/trainers who can impart these skills as well. The sooner we realize this, the better.