CSE D

Dec 27
ENGLISH - AUTONOMOUS - OBE

OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION

Tongue Twisters in English

Speaking skills of English includes a standard pronunciation along with the stress pattern. Speaking needs practice. Tongue twisters made this task easy through the repeated twisted forms of the words and sounds. 

A tongue twister is a sequence of words. Tongue twisters are typically tough to pronounce quickly and ocrrectly. One example of a tongue twister is " Peter Piper picked peck of pickled peppers." Try to say it slowly first. Repeat this many times to get the pronunciation of the words right. 

Even speakers of native regions find it difficult to practice tongue twisters. They are a fun way to practice pronounciation. They are to be spoken loud, slowly and correctly. 
 

Here are a two more popular examples:

Tongue Twister 1:

She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore.
The shells she sells are sea-shells, I’m sure.
For if she sells sea-shells on the sea-shore
Then I’m sure she sells sea-shore shells.

Tongue twister 2
 

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.
The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter
And made her batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter makes better batter.
So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter
Making Betty Botter’s bitter batter better

Some more simpler Tongue Twisters for the practice:
* Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
* Give papa a cup of proper coffe in a copper coffe cup.
* The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
* Picky people pick Peter Pan Peanut-Butter, 'tis the peanut-butter picky people pick.

 

THE DILEMMA THAT IS English

Is it - he says or he speaks
Is it - he said or he told
Is it - I return it back to you
Is it - They entered into the room
Is it - a cousine brother, cousin sister or just a cousin
Is it - did you see or did you saw...
Decide and be ready with your answers.
 

Let's check the reality
* He says - is a casual mention of the words spoken
He speaks - is less informal and is contextual almost equal to "He says"

* He said or he told
He said - relates to the information related to the past. A casual utterance or a statement.
He told - relates to a particular piece of information with a a tone of definiteness
Here too the same synonymous contextual equality.
( the subject he could be replaced with I, we, you, they, she)

*** the best Indian expression - return back-
I'll return it back to you - is one of the best examples for the mother tongue influence. In our Indian ways of expression, this pattern of expression occurs frequently.
But for the speaking skills in English the right one is  - I'll return it to you.
That's it. As simple as the word - return :) But no return backs :)

*** Another blunder that's related to the mother tongue influence - enter into a room or hall or house is absolutely wrong. Enter - the word itself completes the action of moving into some thing or place.
They entered the house.
She will enter it, don't worry.

*** Cousins in reality mean the children of one's uncle or aunt. Here there should not be any suffix such as brother or sister. She's my cousin or He's my cousin. That helps the clarity regarding the gender. 

The list is endless. But for today let end it her.
Mother tongue - that is the first recorded vocabulary for any child under the sky is the mind's slate dotted with the sets of expressions. It is very hard to overcome its impact. Moreover, the native expressions of each language differ in the framing of the sentences. Fluency related to the language depends on understanding these minute specific expressions and use them accordingly.

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Welcome to kNoW English

Writing is similar to speaking. Speaking through words that rush through the mind. Its like raining thoughts on this white surface in letters of black. :)

Yes, today this blog post I dedicate to the thoughts that gave an occasional out pour while walking or cooking or eating or traveling or even teaching in the class. Some way to capture the points that make it easy to explain the finer points related to English - vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, fluency, communication skills etc.

Here I jot down the issues in informal as well as formal vocabulary.
Lets shake our hands in mind and happy to welcome you for my world of ENGLISH.
Yes... in this virtual world we find connectivity through the mind.
We don't mind if we do not connect with each other.

Let's take the examples how the word mind is used in English.



Mind your tongue (a rather harsh reminder)
Mind your business (definitely a warning )


We have some requests too made with it

Please don't mind my words.

A clearer expression of help

Please remind me tomorrow about the task

After all these minding about the mind, where does the brain stand?
How far mind is different from brain?
Are they synonyms for thinking?

We use these often spoken phrases
Brainless fellow not a mindless one
Brain drain ( a compound word that means the emigration of highly trained or qualified people from a particular country)

But have we ever said - Body present brain absent?
Why it is - mind absent why not a brain?

Leave your mind/brain in comments...
and that's for today dears!