English - the global language of protest

Why do protesters as far apart as Bangkok, Cairo and Kiev carry banners and signs written in English? 

Many street demonstrators know that their protest marches will be filmed by international news media, and watched by millions around the world who cannot read Thai, Arabic or Ukrainian. So the logical way of explaining their political demands is by writing their signs in English - the international language of political protest. On top of that, protesting in English is cool - linking the protesters to the Anglo-Saxon democracies.

But before you get your paintbrush out and set down your demands, maybe it's a good idea to check the spelling first - see above!

Countable or uncountable?

 'Traffic' is an example of an English uncountable noun. We cannot say 'a traffic' or 'three traffics'. You need to learn the most common uncountable nouns:

accommodation
advice
behaviour
commerce
data
education
equipment
furniture
information
knowledge
money
news
permission
progress
research
scenery
staff
travel
trouble
vocabulary
weather
work

Note that many uncountable nouns can be 'counted' using an extra noun:

A piece of advice
An item of equipment

Compare:

All universities conduct research (in general)
The research I began four years ago (specific)

In American English there is a tendency to use certain nouns in the plural e.g. behaviours, accommodations.

Also, note that some nouns can be both countable and uncountable. These are often words for general concepts e.g. love, life, war, death:

Love is a powerful emotion (uncountable)
He had three great loves: his work, his garden and his dog (countable)

The first Christmas card

 

This design, showing a family celebrating Christmas, was produced in 1843 in Britain, just after the introduction of the postal service. Only 2,000 of the hand-coloured cards were printed, which may explain their high price of one shilling (about £5 today).

 

Since then sending cards has become a popular feature of the Christmas holiday in many countries, since they allow people to make contact with friends and relations who they may not have seen all year. Today, however, the quantity of cards sent is declining, since e-cards can be sent electronically at little or no cost.

 

In December many students find they have to spend the holidays away from their homes and families for the first time. This may be a difficult experience, but it also gives the chance to rest and relax after a busy term, and maybe catch up with some good movies!

 

I would like to wish all readers of this blog a Happy Christmas and a Successful New Year!

 

 

Amazing adverbs

 

 

Adverbs are used in academic texts in two important ways.

 

1) To modify verbs or adjectives:

 

Reasonably good data is only available for the last thirty years

 

Decomposition eventually ceases in modern landfills

 

2) Individually, often at the start of a sentence, to introduce new points or link back to a previous idea:

 

Currently, the earth's atmosphere appears to be ...

 

Alternatively, the use of non-conventional renewable energy ...

 

There are three main groups of adverbs used in the first case:

 

a) Adverbs of time

 

The previously published report ...

 

b) Adverbs of degree

 

The argument was significantly refined ...

 

c) Adverbs of manner

 

Historically speaking ...

 

In the second case, at the start of sentences, writers must be careful not to use adverbs which reflect the writer's own opinions e.g. luckily, happily, sadly.

 

The following are usually followed by a comma at the start of a sentence:

 

Recently, there has been a marked trend ...

 

Increasingly, women are starting families ...

 

Originally, tea was drunk from small bowls ...

 

Currently, over five thousand people work ...

 

Traditionally the costume was worn on feast days ...

 

Other common adverbs used in this way are:

 

Clearly

 

Obviously

 

Alternatively

 

Similarly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A simple way to get the best mark for your exam essays

When you have to write essays in exams, time is vital. But students often make the mistake of not fully answering the question given, and so they lose marks. This is because they ignore part of the question.

Essay titles often have two parts e.g.

'How can schools make better use of IT (information technology)? Are there any drawbacks to using IT in the classroom?'

Before starting to write, you must decide how many words to give to each part. In this case you may decide that the first part (How ...) is more important and should have 60% of your answer, so the second part (Are there ...) would get 40%.

If you are writing 1,500 words the introduction and conclusion should take about 20%, which is 300 words, leaving 1,200 for the main body. The first part would then have about 700 words, and the second part 500.

If you do not organise your answer in this way you may find you have written too much for the first part, and do not have enough time to answer the second part properly.

The same principle applies to essays done for coursework: even if there is less time pressure it is still important to balance your answer in this way.

Time management is crucial to writing successful essays

Writing successful essays is about more than style or vocabulary. One of the keys to academic success is good time management. Decide if the following ideas are true or false:

• Essay deadlines are often set several months after the course starts
• Reading and note-making often take longer than writing
• A wall chart can help you plan an assignment
• The best time to study is during the night
• All students should spend some time every day relaxing with friends

Actually these are all true except for the fourth: it's better to work during the day and then get plenty of sleep. The main thing is to schedule your work week by week, so that you give enough time for each stage: note-making, drafting, re-writing and proof-reading. By following this plan you will avoid the last-minute panic that leads to careless work, bad marks and having to re-take courses.

Another common mistake students make is to spend too long on the note-making phase. If you have planned your essay carefully you can avoid the trap of collecting too much information. It is often better to start writing - then you will have more time for re-writing and proof-reading before the deadline.

Why is effective reading an important part of good writing?

Many international students worry about having to write essays, but good reading habits are equally critical in preparing to write. Reading for study is not the same as reading a story for fun; students need to be quite selective in what they read. You are normally expected to read various articles or textbook chapters before starting to write, and in your writing you are expected to show that you have done so.

At the start of a course students are often given a reading list by their teacher; this may be printed or electronic. The list will often include textbooks, journal articles and websites. But you do not have to read every word of a book because it is on the list. Your teacher will often suggest which pages you should focus on.

If your English is less than perfect you do not have time to waste on reading texts that are irrelevant to the writing task. It is better to understand a few pages well, than attempt to read long articles without clear understanding. The best method is:

a) Read texts extensively to find the most useful sections.

b) Then read intensively in order to make notes.