A funny article

The standard of writing in Indian newspapers in not particularly high, so I was delighted to see a very nice humorous piece in the Hindu Sunday magazine of today. Read it here:

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/09/28/stories/2008092850120400.htm

Do read it. It is very fresh and original, and comes from the author's keen observation of her interactions, as well as a strong command over the English language. The piece is filled with good punning and gentle humor. It is written pretending that the banking 'relationship' as a serious one and using the same language on it, that one would use for other relationships ('anniversary', 'interest', 'birthday')

You can leave a comment if you didn't understand something in the article.

Congrats Indu Balachandran !

Some thoughts

1.) I helped a young friend by 'critiquing' some of her essays recently, and learnt something myself in the process. What I was struck by was how a good essay is distinguished more by the non-English aspects of the essay than the English aspects. These are things like doing the research so that you know what it is you are writing about, logical thinking and arguing coherently to make your point and make it well. No doubt I will get the opportunity in the course of this blog to illustrate the above.

2.) I have a certain 'feeling' for language, particularly the English language, which is what made me experiment with setting up this blog as well as what made me feel that I can add some value through this blog. By this I mean I relate quite strongly to English. I rejoice when I see good communication, I can analyze and occasionally get insights as to why a particular book or other piece of communication works well and why some others don't. I guess you could say I get a lot of joy through English.
Again I hope in the course of this blog, I will get the opportunity to illustrate and communicate some of these things.

Word of the day - critique

'Critique' is a word I like. It has a weight and impressiveness to it that makes you sound like you know what you're talking about. The act of 'critiquing' itself is a good activity. It means to review something in detail and be able to come out with all the pluses and minuses of it. When I do a good critique, I feel good, like I've achieved something of value.

Some common mistakes

This page which had started a while back and updated occasionally, contains a list of some common mistakes in speaking or writing English in India:

http://www.geocities.com/ahminotep/IndiaBlog/inglish.html

Let us know your comments ..

About this blog

More as we go along, but the point of this blog is to give students (primarily high school students) a chance to talk about their english problems and submit their essays or writing for critiquing (meaning here: detailed evaluation or review).

Let me emphasize that again -- this blog is about particapation !! I want you to write with your problems and questions