Amateur
By Lakan Umali, Philippine Daily Inquirer

I sit in my room, staring at a blank computer screen. I wait for the screen to be filled up with words, words that convey a meaning, a theme, a message, an emotion to someone else. I sit, waiting for the words to travel through my veins and miraculously flow out of my finger tips, making me feel like sparks of electricity were shooting through them. But nothing comes. I feel the words, but they seem to be dormant, hiding, like an animal refusing to emerge from the thick of the forest. Sometimes the words are just out of reach, like fruits in a fairytale. I can see them waiting for me to pluck them, but when I reach out, they seem to escape my grasp and move slightly higher. I do eventually start to write, but the words are inadequate, unsatisfactory, a shabby, hollow imitation of what I originally set out to write.

Sometimes I feel like Briony Tallis in Ian McEwan’s Atonement. She seems to also struggle with the process of writing, of finding the precise words to use in telling a story. She can’t seem to create real, believable characters, because, well, she doesn’t know many real people to base her characters on. She thinks that creating characters and stories out of her own imagination, out of her own mind without any basis, would be tantamount to “lying” to the reader. She could always go to her family library to read about characters. She could learn about what makes an anxious person tick, or what makes a repressed woman reach her breaking point. But it would also just be a shoddy imitation. Real characters are a combination of imagination and reality...

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A new record
Editorial, The Bohol Standard

December 5, 2010—Long before the term “business processing outsourcing” became popular in the minds of the Filipinos, this term has rather been fueling India’s economy. At the world stage, India had been recognized as the word’s leader in BPO or business processing outsourcing.

Not until last year, although we just know it this year. According to IBM’s Global Locations Trend Annual Report, an independent research body, the Philippines is now the world’s number 1 provider of business processing outsourcing, beating India in the number one spot. India, with a population ballooning to 1.2 billion, for years held onto that spot, with its 330,000 workforce. The Philippines, meanwhile, now has 350,000 BPO workforce, according to IBM’s report.

BPO provides a whooping US$5.7 billion revenue to the country in 2010 alone. That is expected to grow at $25 billion by 2016. Or even more. If our country can maintain its position in the BPO world market, the figure can grow as much as $50 billion a year.

One of the reasons why the Philippines has overtaken India as the world’s leader in business processing outsourcing is the English language skill of the Filipinos. According to the reports, Filipinos are more flexible, they can mimic the American, British, and Australian accent with perfect consistency. The language skill of the Filipinos is very crucial in satisfying customers’ needs from all over the world.

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WOW plagiarism
By Butch Dalisay, The Philippine Star

November 29, 2010—I don’t mean to flog a dead horse, but like many other Pinoys perplexed and dismayed by the abortive “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” slogan of the Department of Tourism, and as an occasional travel writer, I think that DOT Undersecretary Vicente “Enteng” Romano did the decent and honorable thing by owning up to the responsibility for the failed campaign and resigning from his position.

I have no problem believing that he and the DOT had the best of intentions in wanting to replace “WOW Philippines” with something new. Unfortunately, in this case, something new also turned out to be something awful—an ill-conceived idea that should have been shot down the minute it was raised, simply because it was pitched to the wrong, non-Tagalog-speaking market, a case of misplaced or confused nationalism.

I must admit to some bias in this opinion, because I wrote the yet-unpublished biography of former senator and DOT Secretary Richard “Dick” Gordon, whose idea “WOW Philippines” was. To add some perspective to this issue, let me quote from the draft of that biography:

“[Gordon] also wanted something new and powerful—a catchy slogan he and everyone else could use to sell the Philippines abroad. One day, he found it, and announced it to his staff  only to be met almost universally by profound dismay and disapproval. The tagline was ‘WOW Philippines’  a worthy match, in Dick Gordon’s mind, to ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia,’ ‘Incredible India,’ ‘Amazing Thailand,’ and whatever the country’s regional competitors had come up with. WOW Philippines? What was that?

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Is Coloma’s social media strategy dead?
By Boo Chanco, The Philippine Star

November 24, 2010—Sabi ko na… hindi nila kaya! [I thought so...they aren’t up to it!] When I was listening to Secretary Sonny Coloma as he made his presentation on this administration’s social media strategy during the PRSP Congress a couple of months ago, I knew he was promising more than he is capable of delivering. He also made the mistake of thinking that they were able to utilize social media well during the election campaign. The truth is, social media merely reflected a national clamor for change that incidentally benefited their candidate.

Take a look at them now… a lot of the major stumbles of this administration can be attributed to its failure to engage social media properly. Social media creamed them during the Luneta carnage. There is the Mislang tweet. Now there is the Kay Ganda non launch. Anyone who is active in social media today must have noticed that the administration is practically absent in the furious debates on issues in sites like Facebook.

Frankly, I do not understand what has happened to Sonny Coloma. He now seems to think and even acts like a bullycrat or a bully of a bureaucrat. Power seems to have gotten into his head. He isn’t the same Sonny Coloma I used to know. The old Sonny Coloma wouldn’t, for instance, resort to closing down an otherwise supportive private sector website and hijacking its followers out of fear that free discussions of issues may prove problematic to the Palace’s party line.

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Excluded middles: I trade in words, so it is words that I seek
By Averill Pizarro, Manila Bulletin

December 1, 2010—I have purchased a total of 47 books in 2010. I hardly have the money nor the space for it, but I am trying to build a library. I trade in words.

The latest addition to my almost-enviable collection is the Gilda Cordero Fernando Sampler, a collection of essays, and then some, from a stall in UP that was set up where a series of lectures about Philippine poetry was taking place, which I attended because I had free time and no friends.

I picked up the book with the intent of buying it—I’m a Gilda Cordero Fernando fan, though I’ve never met the woman—except it was a little over my budget. The man at the stall must’ve noticed my disappointment, because he promptly offered to give me a handsome discount if I really wanted it that much. I obliged, shelling out the precious remains of my allowance, going home perfectly broke and perfectly happy.

But the more important reason I had for the purchase is this: I’ve been feeling bad about buying too many books by foreign authors that I’ve been trying to compensate by pledging to buy only Filipino-authored books and reading them between Salman Rushdies and Don DeLillos. We live so saturated in all things foreign, have been fed all our lives with the notion that being “imported” is synonymous to class and quality, that we almost automatically filter out everything that is Filipino-made.

I find that it takes a supreme effort to really love our own, and in my experience it is an effort that has to press both ways...

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“Stupidity is invincible”
By Rigoberto D. Tiglao, Philippine Daily Inquirer

November 24, 2010—Not too widely known is the fact that the Greek language is not only a precise, nuanced language, but it has a treasury of aphorisms. The beauty of these adages is that one would have to do some thinking to understand them. But when understanding dawns, one realizes how rich the proverb is.

Think of President Aquino’s very first order as head of government, Memorandum Circular No. 1, which would have paralyzed government. It was rescinded, as his officials put it, just “to fine-tune” it. Think of Dinky Soliman boasting that yes, the President was in command during the hostage crisis in August because he had a command post—at the Emerald Garden restaurant. Think of Mr. Aquino antagonizing the United States by saying that its travel advisories warning of terrorist attacks in the country are merely pressure connected to the Visiting Forces Agreement. Think of the incompetent tourism secretary, Alberto Lim, arrogantly saying that there wasn’t any plagiarism in the design of the slogan he wanted since Poland doesn’t have a copyright on it.

I can’t help thinking of the Greek saying, “Stupidity is invincible.”

It is the kind of invincibility a motorcyclist refusing to wear a helmet feels, or the Magdalo coup plotters thought they had when they occupied two hotels inside the financial district, inanely and arrogantly believing their action would trigger another People Power revolt. The arrogance displayed by many administration officials as they commit boo-boo after boo-boo illustrates the insight in that adage.

I hope that they will instead follow Deng Xiao Ping’s adage that guided China’s economic boom: “I don’t care if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.”

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Unoriginal
By Alex Magno, The Philippine Star 

November 20, 2010—The Department of Tourism (DOT) says it will conduct public consultations regarding its controversial campaign logo. That is quite unnecessary.

The world of social media has spoken. The ad has been trashed. It is not only uninspiring; it is also unoriginal.

Trust the world of social media to uncover what might have been thought to be undiscoverable. The new DOT logo has been found to be “plagiarized” — it uses the same font and basically the same colors as Poland’s tourism campaign logo.

Tourism Secretary Bertie Lim tries to play down the obvious unoriginality by saying the Pilipinas Kay Ganda logo has more colors. Yes, just one more color. Okay, there is a tarsier there to help clutter that logo along with the dictionary entry.

That is such a lame defense. He could have gone on the offensive by proclaiming that the controversial logo, by being as cluttered as a jeepney’s hood, is truly Filipino.

The font, however, is still Poland’s. With all the visual art talent we have around, couldn’t the DOT have found someone to render the logo manually?

Aren’t we the design and advertising powerhouse of the region? We are now told Filipinos designed and executed the “Malaysia Truly Asia” campaign. That is a classic in messaging.

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Swearing as a second language
by Emma Teitel, McClean’s Canada

December 2, 2010—English as a Second Language (ESL) now goes by the new, politically correct name of English Language Learning (ELL), in official recognition of the fact that immigrants new to Canada may know more than one language already. That doesn’t, however, make the average ELL student a champion of political correctness. At least it’s doubtful that Amira Azad, an Iranian Muslim woman in her mid-40s, had cultural sensitivity on the brain when she interrupted our ELL tutorial on the prepositional phrase. “May I ask a question?” she said, and then leaned closer to whisper: “Tell me please, what is the difference between a slut and whore?”

“The first sleeps with a lot of men,” I answered when I recovered, “and the second gets paid to do the same.” “Oh,” she said, “same in Iran.” Amira (who, like the other students interviewed, requested that her name be changed) asked roughly 30 similar questions that day, compiling a mini lexicon of English curse words and expressions that she covered with her hands every time the program supervisor walked by. Writing down the definition of “bitch,” she noted: “Thank you. My sons will be punished.”

As someone who’s been volunteer-teaching ELL at my local library in Halifax for the past three years, I assumed that people like Amira immigrate to Canada and learn English for a “better life.” But we seldom ask exactly what kind of English is most relevant to that life...

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Finding mistakes in our written English
By Charles Levy, Ottawa Citizen
 
November 29, 2010—Being a dinosaur as well as a pedant who loves the English language in its purest form (plain English), it will come as no shock to anyone that I enjoyed Noel Taylor's column on the language “misdemeanours.” Taylor has what seems a very unique attitude towards the way English is used in this day and age, which sets him apart from most journalists practicing today, not to mention the ordinary man or woman in the street.

I often like to think, while laying in bed at night, of the many solecisms and downright grammatical errors that I observe have been committed that day in the editorial ... well, at least, the columns and letters to the editor of this and other Canadian newspapers, and by Canadian and yes, British, news anchors (I exculpate their American colleagues). To paraphrase Professor Henry Higgins, they are literally guilty of the murder of the English language.

English is not a dead language, and no one is suggesting that it should remain static, but why would a columnist or commentator substitute a perfectly good English word like “wrote” with a completely gratuitous alternate choice like “authored?” Due to norms that have been tolerated by a generation in a hurry, the noun and the verb of conventional grammar have merged, and insured the acceptance of “bad usage” as “common usage.”

I had no intention of rushing precipitously into print, but I felt impelled to support and expand on Taylor's excellent comments...

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Language rules are meant to be broken
By Brendan Black, Sydney Morning Herald

December 2, 2010—For linguists, the statement “language change is inevitable” is uncontroversial. Yet we’re constantly told that teenagers (and, it seems, celebrity chefs) are destroying the English language. If we believe the warnings, then soon all younger generations will communicate as if they’re composing an SMS or Facebook update and dictionaries will be full of inane abbreviations and words foreign to older generations.

Most languages have “standard” varieties, which are used for formal occasions, such as academia and the law. These words often have a history going back many years, and originate in Latin, French or German, for example. When communicating with friends and family, online or in other informal situations, “vernacular” or “colloquial” language is more appropriate.

Informal language is the most subject to change and to show variations in use. This is evident in changes to spelling, abbreviations such as “LOL.” “CBF,” and “FML,” and for many users, an almost total disregard for rules of grammar. An understanding of the taboo nature of certain words can be seen in the substitution of “the c word” with the inoffensive “kent.” The word “random” has taken on a new meaning of “weird” or “unexpected,” as well as being used as a noun to describe someone who is not part of the person's social group — and unwanted.

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The 2010 China summit: using exchanges to deepen partnerships
By Jeff Wang, AsiaSociety.org

NEW YORK, November 30, 2010—Last month, we introduced to you the 2010 Hanban – Asia Society Confucius Classrooms Network Summit in China. We are thrilled to report that the Summit and visits throughout China to our partner schools were all successful and have already spurred changes in thinking and in action. Here’s some of what we learned.

First, a little background. Asia Society designed this Summit to be a unique, two-track exchange opportunity for Chinese teachers and school leaders in both China and the U.S. Our goal was to offer technical and logistical support for these educators as they innovate and implement projects for their students based on shared goals of building stronger and more meaningful school-to-school partnerships. The Summit was organized in conjunction with East China Normal University.

The Summit included seminars and discussions, school visits, and a U.S.–China Principals’ Roundtable, which together provided participants with a deeper understanding of the differences and similarities between U.S. and Chinese education systems, education reforms, youth culture, and youth interests.

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A plea for the Queen’s English? RU joking?
By The Guardian UK

December 9, 2010—The English language is at it again. Three hundred years after Jonathan Swift issued a plea for a method of “ascertaining and fixing our language for ever,” Internet chatrooms and the likes of Facebook are causing a generation to break the rules in new and possibly permanent ways. According to a survey last month, two-thirds of the 18- to 24-year-olds questioned thought “variant” spellings that made it easier to type at speed were acceptable.

Into this unstable environment steps the Guardian's latest style guide, and, like an immaculately turned out child on its first day of school, one fears it may suffer at the hands of bullies in the modern English playground. (Stile gide? RU joking bruv?) Or, perhaps worse, be ignored and forced to eat its sandwiches on its own.

It is not the first time that attempts to “fix” the language have been made, against overwhelming odds. The British Library’s Evolving English exhibition, showing until April, reveals how a succession of impassioned tragic heroes have tried to impose order.

The exhibition includes a selection of early style manuals. They are less comprehensive than today’s offering, but what they lose in utility, they gain in belligerence.

One that stands out is A Plea for the Queen’s English, written by Henry Alford, dean of Canterbury, in 1863. Glowing behind a perspex shield, it is open at page 75, where Alford concludes lengthy and not very illuminating instructions on the correct uses of “lay” and “lie” with the observation: “Eton men, for some reason or other, are especially liable to confuse these two verbs.”

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How the ancient Welsh language helped shape English

December 1, 2010—From arctic birds to nicknames, the influence of Wales on the English language has been underestimated, says a Celtic Studies expert.

Compilers of the new online version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) say “penguin,” “Taffy,” and “cariad” are examples of Welsh words adopted by English.

Poet Dylan Thomas is also responsible for 635 entries, they said.

Prof John Koch of the University of Wales said: “The two languages have lived side-by-side for 1,500 years.”

The OED, first published in 1884, this week relaunched itself online.

It claims to be the only English dictionary that tries to trace the first known use of every sense of every word in the English language.

There has been an underestimation from the beginning of the Welsh component in English”

And to prove the point its compilers have pointed to the number of entries that originated from Welsh.

The earliest recorded use of “penguin” can be traced back to Wales, they said.

Apparently in spite of the fact that most penguins have black heads, the OED’s compilers said Welsh coined the term from “pen” meaning “head” and “gwyn” meaning “white.”

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Don’t squander power to communicate
By Guillermo Torres, San Angelo Standard Times

December 8, 2010—Spanish was my first language.

As a barrio toddler of the ’50s, my parents were usually working and, as a result, my Spanish-only-speaking grandmother, Beatrice Rodriguez, raised me and my siblings.

Sitting on her knee and following her around the house as she attended to chores, I learned the provincial Spanish/Tex-Mex of the Central Texas prairie, and it wasn’t until TV and elementary school arrived that I began learning and speaking English in earnest.

Among the nuggets of wisdom gleaned from my grandmother: She implied and I inferred from what she told me that Spanish was the language of the angels. Surely, no self-respecting angel would speak anything but Spanish. And, later, as an adult, when I read the (sometimes translated) writings of the Mexican, South American and Spanish writers, I began to think that Spanish was, indeed, the language of the poets.

So, having served those paeans to the Spanish language, I must say that if Spanish is the language of the angels and of the poets, then English is the language of commerce.

In short, English, has helped me pay for my mortgage and car and other accoutrements of life.

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When teachers are their own worst enemies
By Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post

December 5, 2010—First is a post by Mark Pennington, an educational author of teaching resources to differentiate instruction in the fields of reading and English-language arts: “Teaching Grammar and Mechanics,” “Teaching Essay Strategies,” “Teaching Reading Strategies,” and “Teaching Spelling and Vocabulary.” Here he writes about how teachers unwittingly helped create the accountability movement that is now choking them. This appeared on his Pennington Publishing Blog.

Then follows a response by Maja Wilson, who taught high school English, adult basic education, ESL, and alternative middle and high school in Michigan’s public schools for 10 years and is currently a teacher educator at the University of Maine. She wrote on this blog recently about teachers, and responds to Pennington in the context of that post, called “First blame the teachers, then the parents.”

By Mark Pennington
A recent discussion on my favorite site, the English Companion Ning, made me take a critical look at just what has engendered the recent demands for increased accountability in our public schools. Both Democrats and Republicans are playing the blame game and teachers are the easiest targets...

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Students learn about news, social media
By L. Beveridge, HattiesburgAmerican.com

December 8, 2010—Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with a group of students at the English Language Institute at the University of Southern Mississippi.

The class was on current events—very apropos for a newspaper person like me. But our focus also was on social media - Facebook, Twitter, etc.

It was great to see how well-informed the students are, and despite having only beginning to intermediate knowledge of English, we could touch on subjects that everyone understands.

On one of the Twitter pages we visited in class was this comment: “Rumors swirling that Larry Fedora has talked with Minnesota about its coaching vacancy.”

That drew a lot of reaction from the students, first that it related to their school’s football team, and second, can it be true?

Exactly one of the points I wanted to make. What a great way to segue into what we do as journalists.

The very first word of the comment gives an indication that the tweeter really doesn’t know if what he or she is posting is true.

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Venturing into language stuff
By Carroll Vertrees, Post-Trib.com

December 5, 2010—Sometimes when I am sitting with my coffee admiring the swell mop job I did on our kitchen floor, I ponder one of life’s great mysteries: Why do we do such bad things to the English language?

It keeps my mind off North Korea, parallel parking, the tea party movement, and people who bring broccoli to potlucks.

This burning issue hit me when I read an item about how to pronounce some words, like “licorice.” Every kid in my bailiwick knew it was “licorish,” despite what the wrapper said. Some of us who are now adults still say it that way. Why?

Maybe for the same reason many of us, and some menus, say “sherbert” when the right word is “sherbet.”

The letter “r” is a tricky little devil—it pops up where it isn’t needed, or in the wrong place. I had a boss years ago who was smart, friendly, a nice guy who often talked about upgrading the office “liberry.”

I remember a guy back home saying: “We berried old Spot out behind the barn.”

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Technology and the dictionary
By Lynn Walker, TimesRecordNews.com

November 20, 2010—Amazing the effect rapidly changing technology is having on all facets of our lives — including the English language.

The New Oxford American Dictionary has picked “refudiate” as its new “word of the year.”

“Refudiate” is a word ex-Alaska governor Sarah Palin used in a tweet last summer when the ground zero mosque was a hot topic in the news. “Refudiate” seems to be a word Palin concocted which is somewhere between “repudiate” and “refute.” Those two words have kinda sorta the same meaning — to reject.

In my book, “refudiate” goes into the same category as “irregardless,” a word that isn’t really a word but is used by many people to convey the same meaning as a real word that sounds similar. In the case of “regardless,” it means without regard. When someone changes it to “irregardless,” it implies the opposite of without regard — which is just the opposite of what the user means.

In second place in the dictionary’s word of the year competition is “bankster,” a “member of the banking industry perceived as a predator that grows rich at the expense of those suffering in a crumbling economy.”

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Technology and the dictionary
By Lynn Walker, TimesRecordNews.com

November 20, 2010—Amazing the effect rapidly changing technology is having on all facets of our lives — including the English language.

The New Oxford American Dictionary has picked “refudiate” as its new “word of the year.”

“Refudiate” is a word ex-Alaska governor Sarah Palin used in a tweet last summer when the ground zero mosque was a hot topic in the news. “Refudiate” seems to be a word Palin concocted which is somewhere between “repudiate” and “refute.” Those two words have kinda sorta the same meaning — to reject.

In my book, “refudiate” goes into the same category as “irregardless,” a word that isn’t really a word but is used by many people to convey the same meaning as a real word that sounds similar. In the case of “regardless,” it means without regard. When someone changes it to “irregardless,” it implies the opposite of without regard — which is just the opposite of what the user means.

In second place in the dictionary’s word of the year competition is “bankster,” a “member of the banking industry perceived as a predator that grows rich at the expense of those suffering in a crumbling economy.”

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Outdated English-proficiency standards
By Sophie Arkoudis, The Australian

December 08, 2010—Why is the Australian higher education sector allowing immigration policy to shape notions of the standards of English language proficiency of its graduates?

This is an acute case of the tail wagging the dog.

An International English Language Testing System score of seven has become the de facto standard for permanent residency as a skilled migrant. Monash researcher Bob Birrell has been quoted as saying universities have been outflanked by the willingness of the Immigration Department and professional bodies to embrace a serious standard of English proficiency.

Yes, spot-on. Let’s reclaim this agenda. It’s time for universities and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency to restore public confidence in the English language capabilities of graduates.

To do so, a robust, outcomes-based model of English language proficiency, against which universities can monitor the attainment of graduates, must be built.

A first step towards such a framework is an agreed set of national English standards as the foundation for universities' quality assurance mechanisms.

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Our language horror: English, Urdu, Hindi, Kashmiri...can we stop somewhere?
By Arjimand Hussain Talib, GreaterKashmir.com

Multilingualism—sounds good in this age. It is a necessity for remaining competitive and marketable. It is a necessity for Kashmiris, too.

Americans these days are nationally debating whether they should – and need – to learn Chinese. Roosevelt’s famous quote “We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language” have echoed through the ages in that country.

But despite that thinking, many Americans are today learning Chinese. A large number of non-native Americans are already learning and speaking languages like Spanish, French and Arabic.

The Europeans generally aim to be fluent in at least two languages plus their native tongue. The prime reason for that is that Europe is today more like a country than a union. Its people move around the continent as if they were in the same country. One encounters a different business language after every 200 miles.

The point of argument here is different - that is when and to what extent should our children actually embrace multilingualism? Should that be a state-imposed decision or an informed decision by our children based on their choice when they slightly grow up?

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“Eether” or “Eyether”?: Does it make sense to be too picky about pronunciation?
By Bill Kirkman, Hindu.com

December 5, 2010—How should you pronounce the word “mayor”? Should its pronunciation be different from that of “mare”? When my daughter put those questions to me, my reply was that the pronunciation of the two words was the same. I discovered that in that I took the same view as my son-in-law. It was not, however, the view that my daughter took, and she produced a dictionary to support her opinion that the civic dignitary was “may or,” whereas the female horse was “mair.” I confess that I remain unconvinced, but the discussion provided an interesting insight into the peculiarities of the pronunciation rules of the English language.

Within a few days of the “mayor”/“mare” controversy, my wife and I found ourselves discussing another one. This time, it concerned the pronunciation of the letter “h.” We have always pronounced it “aitch”; in short, dropping our “aitches.” It is now increasingly common to hear people calling the letter “haitch.” (From memory, I believe that has always been the common pronunciation in Ireland, and it is common in Wales.)

It is difficult to fault the logic that leads people to say “haitch” but my “aitch” habit is so ingrained that I do not propose to change, even though a distinguished linguistics specialist told my wife recently that “haitch” is likely to become increasingly common.

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Role of Korean teachers of English
By David Leaper, The Korea Times

December 9, 2010—While the recent moves by Gyeonggi Province’s education authorities to cut the number of native speakers teaching at public schools was motivated by budget considerations (“Gyeonggi to hire fewer foreign teachers,” The Korea Times, Dec. 2), in principle it is not necessarily negative for English language education in Korea.

To explain this statement it is necessary to examine the wider context of English in the world. There are now more native speakers of Mandarin and Spanish than English, and soon there may be as many Arabic speakers. While in terms of native speakers English is being overtaken, it is in the number of non-native speakers and their spread that English stands out.

It has been estimated that there are more than three nonnative to every native speaker of English. It is an official language in more countries than any other. The importance of English as a second or foreign language can be seen when only four countries that are normally classified as “native English speaking countries” are listed among the top 10 English-speaking countries in the world. Moreover, despite the rise of Mandarin, English will probably remain dominant in the spheres of science and business for some time to come.

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It’s Greek to me!
By Dr. Lim Chin Lam, TheStar.com.my

December 10, 2010--English has borrowed far and wide from other languages, notably from Greek (but not forgetting Latin) but, as remarked by a wit, it has not paid back the loans. To be facetious, I must say that English owes a great debt to Greek for the loan of the latter’s words. Greek (the language) has certainly made no claim against English (the language) for repayment; yet Greek is no poorer for the loan, and English (its vocabulary) is all the richer for it.

Let me outline some of the ways in which Greek has contributed to English.

Many Greek words have gone into English – almost directly but for the matter of transliteration. Greek has its own alphabet while English uses an alphabet based on Latin (which had 23 letters, to which “J”, “U”, and “W” were later added). Because of the differences between the two alphabets, the transliteration of words from Greek to English necessitates that letters of the Greek alphabet be given their equivalents in the English alphabet. For example, the Greek letter alpha (it is not feasible here to reproduce the symbol for this letter and, for that matter, for other Greek letters) is rendered as “a”, beta as “b”, gamma as “g” and delta as “d”. Some of the less obvious “pairings” of Greek letters and their English equivalents [in square brackets] are as follows: theta[th], kappa[k] or [c], rho[rh] or [r], upsilon[u] or [y], phi[ph], chi[kh] or [ch], and psi[p].

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Master English or be left behind in global market
By John Greig, TheStar.com.my

November 30, 2010—It is completely incorrect to suggest that Japan, South Korea, and Germany have advanced economically and scientifically without English. Scientists in these countries publish their papers in English.

There is a trend among Japanese companies to make English their official in-house language. Japan’s biggest online retailer, Rakutan, plans to make English the firm’s official language. “No English, no job,” the CEO said.

In Beijing, learning English is part of an official drive to transform the Chinese capital into a “world city”. A government programme calls for all pre-schools to introduce English courses within five years. Police officers and civil servants would be required to pass English tests.

One could go on but – like it or not – English is becoming the world’s first truly universal language. It is the international language for business, the language of the information age, and of science, medicine, sports, diplomacy etc. For this reason, almost all the countries in Asia (and most of the world) are working hard at mastering the English language.

In Malaysia, English is not a compulsory pass subject in SPM. This has an important negative consequence. While the stated objective of the Education Ministry may be that all students acquire competence in English, in effect, the official policy is that English does not matter because students are not given an incentive to learn it.

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Evaluating teachers
BY TAN EE LOO, TheStar.com.my

November 28, 2010—An English language teacher enters a class, opens the textbook and instructs her students to read a few chapters. Then, she pulls out a women’s magazine from her handbag and is so engrossed reading, she barely hears the school bell ring until reminded by her students.

The scenario is almost similar in another school where a teacher tells her pupils to work on the exercises in their workbooks, while she clears her excessive paperwork.

While their indifference may not be atypical of most teachers in government schools, they are a small but growing group of ineffective and incompetent teachers who are not being held accountable for their job performance.

What is it that makes them so? Could it be because of job security in the civil service? As it is now, teachers – like others in the government – get steady increments based primarily on their educational qualifications and years of service.

However, the dynamics of all this is changing as there are some quarters who strongly feel that teachers should give up the safety of a tenure in exchange for a pay structure that rewards merit and hard work.

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