Interjection

  • Read these sentences:
  1. Hurrah! The girls have won.
  2. Alas! He is dead.
  3. What! You have failed.
  4. Hush! Somebody is coming.
  5. Bravo! Well done, you have won.
  6. Oh! How beautiful the sky looks.

In the above sentences, the words Hurrah, Alas, What, Bravo, Hush, and Oh express some sudden feelings.

The words Hurrah, Bravo, Oh in the above sentences express feelings of joy, pleasure, and congratulation.

The word what expresses surprise here.

The word Hush expresses caution.

Such words are called Interjection.

  • An Interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feelings of the mind or heart. It expresses some feelings of joy, grief, surprise, approval, hate, anger, etc.
  • An Interjection is always followed by an exclamation mark (!).
  • Some common Interjections:

Hurrah!, Ha! Ha!, Alas!, Ah!, Oh!, What!, Good God!, Bravo!, Well done!, For shame!, Hello!, Hush!, etc.

is, am, are + ing form of the Verb

  • Read the following sentences:
  1. I am watching television.
  2. My sister is playing outside.
  3. Father is reading a newspaper.
  4. Mother is cleaning the cupboard.
  5. He is watering the plants.
  6. They are playing football.
  7. The bees are buzzing.
  8. The dog is barking.
  9. The cat is running after a mouse.
  10. The children are praying to God.

 

When we use is/am/are + doing word (Verb) + ing, we tell what is happening now i.e. at the time of speaking, as:

Mother: What are you doing, John?

John: I am reading a story, mother.

 Activity: Look around you and describe what different people are doing.

Spoken English

Spoken English

Speech serves as a foundation for learning any language. Notice how a child learns a language. He picks up, absorbs, and internalizes the language that is spoken around him. We never teach a child language through the rules of grammar and pronunciation. Yet by the time a child is two years old, he is able to convey meaning through words and simple sentences. Therefore the best way to learn a language is to surround oneself with it.

In case of a foreign/second language (in our case English),sometimes a little bit of training is helpful as the habits acquired in connection with our first language stand in the way – this is called mother-tongue interference. Initially, it requires a conscious effort on the part of the learner to resist the pull of the mother-tongue and reorganize speech habits.

The need to learn spoken English has, increased tremendously all over the world. With the growth of international travel, tourism, trade, work opportunities and education, the demand for learning spoken English has gone up manifold. There is a strong desire and motivation for learning spoken English in people of all ages and walks of life – students for higher education, job aspirants for attractive careers or advancement in their chosen professions, others for business or travelling.

Communicating clearly, confidently and effectively, socially and at the work place is everyman’s desire. And as English is an international language – used and understood in most parts of the world – learning to speak English well, can take you, a step ahead of others in realizing your dreams.

If you speak English fluently, you can:

  1. Get the job of your dreams.
  2. Can face an interview board confidently.
  3. Can manoeuvre conversation to your benefit at business and social meetings.

What do spoken English courses offer?

  1. Spoken English courses focus both ‘what to say’ and ‘how to say’ i.e. the content and structure and the manner of speech. They aim at training students to express themselves in a wide range of situations, such as asking questions, making requests, expressing greetings, thanks, apologies, regrets, farewells, buying groceries, flying in an airplane, making a sales call, borrowing books from a library, making a phone call, applying for a job, facing an interview etc. They create and provide situations for people to interact in English.
  2. Aim at training people in speaking English with a reasonable degree of fluency, intelligibility and social acceptability.
  3. Aim at developing the skill to understand English spoken by native speakers.
  4. Aim at promoting the ability to produce English approximating to the sound system of the native speakers for international intelligibility. English has acquired a number of accents as it is spoken by large sections of people separated from each other geographically, educationally and socially. But people seeking social and career advancement need to make a conscious effort to learn acceptable English. It is here that spoken English courses and training programmers come to aid.
  5. They train people in the production of English speech sounds (vowels and consonants), word stress, rhythm and intonation.

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Remember:

God helps those who help themselves

There is no shortcut to success.

Your future depends on your efforts.

If you keep yourself updated and speak well, you will soon accomplish your desires.

I push aside unhappy thoughts

I push aside unhappy thoughts

Try to laugh away the blues

Rationalize that I must have committed some sins

And God wants me to repay

Her negativity tries to engulf me

But God helps me find a chink

I escape

I try to be happy

But do not always succeed

Everybody pays

I hope the cycle breaks now

It should not continue

The suffering should come to an end

The future should smile benevolently

Upon my kids

Not even the shadow of this senselessness

Touch them.

I exist

I exist

She tries to trample my happiness

Every time I resist

The struggle has been going on

For ten long years

I don’t know when and how it will end

It is taking its toll on me

I laugh, but

I am also aware of

The hollowness within

I wish to vent my anger

But I resist

It is not going to lead anywhere

It will only unmask the façade

Of normality

That we carry with us

We are not free

Why are we thus burdened?

Forced to carry the weight thus

The present life does not provide answers

Perhaps we carry the burdens of our past

Oh God, Let this be the last life of

Her misery and ours.

12/08/09

Chetan Bhagat’s One Night @ the Call Center

Chetan Bhagat’s – One Night @ the Call Center

Bhagat’s One Night…is interesting, contemporary, easy to understand and extremely racy.  It does not tax your brains with heavy stuff. The story is both real and far-fetched. The call center part appears real but God’s intervention………… Well! I think we all need that to ‘right size’ our chaotic, messed up lives. God, are you listening?

The story is about six people working for a call center ‘Connexions’ in Gurgaon, near Delhi.Shyam, Varun, Priyanka, Radhika and Esha are all young and confused. Only the Military Uncle is fifty plus. They cater to foolish/childish queries of their American customers, most of them unwillingly, as it gives them bread and butter, cokes, pizzas and discos etc. The America bashing dialogues bring in the humour though.

The story revolves around the sufferings, family problems, ambitions, hopes and love life of the six characters. But after God’s call, they listen to their ‘inner call’ and act accordingly and fast. (The sudden personality changes look unreal). But perhaps that’s how God works.

So if you want a look into the lives of the current generation of young people, their work, aspirations, attitudes, needs and values – read the novel.