| This & That a - an e-magazine which promises something exciting for you |
| MARCH 2001 |
| A WORD FROM THE EDITOR As we step into the twenty first century, Malaysians are beginning to realise the importance of knowing English in this global village. It cannot be denied that knowing English is imperative if we want to widen our horizons. The level of English language competency among Malaysians is very diverse due to one's exposure (or lack of it) to the language in our homes, schools, workplace and lifestyles. What are you doing to improve your level of language competency? Build up on your vocabulary! The next few issues will deal with Words and how we can build up our wordpower. Knowing words will help us improve our communication with others. |
| WORDS! WORDS! WORDS! WORDS! WORDS! WORDS! WORDS! Because English is such a complex language, it will take a life time (maybe two) to become a wordsmith. When we come acorss a difficult word, what should we do? 1. We could make an educated guess of the meaning in context. I came across the word 'Dumpster' the other day while reading about a dead body being found near one and my educated guess told me that it had something to do with rubbish. 2. We could break down the word into its parts. 'dump' means 'to throw'. The suffix 'ster', as far as I know, is used in 'youngster' which means 'youth'. 3. Once, we more or less have grasped the meaning of the word, we could try to establish relationships with similar and opposite words, especially if these words were adjectives or adverbs. Dumpster, however, is a noun so it would be difficult to get its synonym or antonym. 4. Finally, I decided to use a dictionary to find out the actual meaning of the word. My Cambridge Dictionary says that a Dumpster is an American trademark for a large metal container into which people put unwanted items, or garden waste, and which is brought to and taken away from a place by a special truck when requested. Voila! I had learnt a new word. You too can enhance your wordpower by making a conscious effort to build up on the words, by being aware that it is a new word, knowing its spelling and pronunciation, knowing its meaning and how it is used and finally using it appropriately in your conversations and essays. If you can consciously pick up a word a day, make a note of it and eventually use it, you will be on your way to becoming well versed in the English language. |
| QUOTE OF THE MONTH Rome was not built in a day. |
| Related websites To build your wordpower and check your spelling, do some Scrambled Word Puzzles at http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~itesls/sw/. It also has quizzes and crossword puzzles. You can also find the meanings of words in the online dictionary at http://www.dictionary.com. For some relaxation, try out the Hangman Game at http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~itesls/hm/. You can also come up with your own puzzles at http://www.puzzlemaker.com/. Have fun! |
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