Author Topic: 3 years later, the English of this college magazine in India remains inscrutable  (Read 19446 times)

Joe Carillo

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Here’s clear, incontrovertible proof that whether individually or institutionally, achieving proficiency in English simply doesn’t happen overnight but takes years of continuing study, rigorous application, and sustained practice.

A little over three years ago, on August 8, 2010, Prof. R. Muthukumar, a business administration professor of NMSSVN College in Nagamalai, Madurai, India, sent to the Forum the following scanned image of the foreword page of the college magazine:

THEN (circa 2010):


Last August 8, 2013, Prof. Muthukumar sent to the Forum the scanned image of the foreword page of the 2013 issue of that same magazine, shown below, with the following note: “With an indomitable spirit my college Editorial Board has done it again—in this year’s Magazine!”

NOW (circa 2013):


Comments about the English of the foreword above will be most welcome.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2013, 07:21:58 PM by jciadmin »

Miss Mae

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There seems to be a problem with how this "Foreword" was written. It should have introduced Prof. R. Muthukumar's college magazine. So how could a page of acknowledgements pass for one?

Anyway, there are nine other problems in this “Foreword,” namely --

1.       Capitalization: We are very delighted to say that Our Magazine is an outcome of hard work of credential people to bring out a veritable publication. (“O” in Our and “M” in Magazine should not be in capital letters.)

2.       Word Usage: We are very delighted to say that our magazine is an outcome of hard work of credential people to bring out a veritable publication. (The word should be "credible" instead.)

3.       Wrong Spelling: It is an anunciation that our college have a collection of versatile people who have an acuity and acumen to speak about prevalent issues of the society. (It must be how it should be spelled in British English. But I checked. Annunciation is really misspelled here.)

4.       Wrong Tense: It is an annunciation that our college have a collection of versatile people who have an acuity and acumen to speak about prevalent issues of the society. (“College” is singular and should be also paired with the singular form of have instead).

5.       Misuse of article: The articles strike a propinquity in dealing with sensitiv e and unique ideas. (As you have explained in When do we need to use the article "a", the articles a and an should be used with count nouns only. Propinquity is an abstract non-count noun.)

6.       Word Meanings: Kudos to the Editorial board members for their meritorious and sincere effort into bringing out a meticulous publication. (According to thefreedictionary.com, “meritorious” is an adjective describing an action that deserves reward or praise. “Sincere,” on the other hand, is an adjective denoting an action that is genuine and true. But should the Editorial board members really be congratulated for preparing excessively and publishing a magazine without any pretense?)

7.       Word Usage: Indebt gratitude should be showered on the management for their encouragement and co-operation rendered for the publication of this Annual Book. (There’s no such word as “indebt” in thefreedictionary.com but in debt. When it is used, it is just in its participial form indebted. But even if the word “indebt” is acceptable—or the phrase “indebt gratitude,” for this matter—I still think that it was such a highfalutin expression of praise for something the school’s management should really have done. )

I also find peristrephic too big a word for a Foreword in this sentence: They have been peristrephic and alert all the time to tap out the talents of the faculty. (“Peristrephic” means turning around, according to thefreedictionary.com.)

8.       Spelling: Hence once again we bow down our heads for their untiring efforts taken for the upliftment of the staff members and for the progress of our college. (Upliftment is an Indian English word meaning “improvement of a person's moral or spiritual condition.” Shouldn’t the Editorial board members stick to one derivative of English only?)

9.       Inclusion: We also thank the Edison Printers for having done this work in an excellent manner. (But this is a Foreword!)