English in a nutshell - Shongminthang @ Gugui Haokip English Honours III Yr. Modern College, Porompat, Imphal - LD June 2011

In this latter-day of faster communication and globalization, English remains the mantra for the secret of success especially for young learners like laijon aspirants. Unless our communication skill is up to the mark with English as an International tongue, the interviewer of the HR may bid us for the next session for the rest of our lives. To be a fluent speaker, one needs to learn from every possible corner, maybe from others or in our own ways like listening to BBC, VOA, CRI, National and so on and so forth. Apart from Radio to TV Channels we should start reading English newspaper articles aloud and look for new words and sentences format. You may also install English advance dictionaries CD software to your PC to practice the stress and pronunciation at any time. Many publishers and writers may draw your attention although the actual learning method lies within you as English proverb says “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
In broader sense, we learn in two ways- written form tracing back to its history and spoken form with the help of phonetics and grammar.
To gain confidence from the grass root level one needs to learn and looks back as here under:
Literature (from Latin Littera; letter) is the art of written works which means “acquaintance with letters”. It is prose, written or oral, including fiction and non-fiction, drama and poetry. Different ages are highlighted in brief as below to trace back its history:
1. Old English or Anglo- Saxon
2. Middle English literature
3. Renaissance literature
4. Early Modern Period: a) Elizabeth Era, b) Jacobean literature, c)Caroline and Cromwellian literature,  d) Restoration, e) Augustan literature
5. 18th Century literature
6. Romanticism
7. Victorian literature
8. English literature since 1990: a) Modernism, b) Post-Modern literature, c) Post World War II
Following the above cited chronological view, phonetically we have 44 sounds in English with 12 vowels, 8 diphthongs and 24 consonant sounds. Understanding all this with sound symbols which we have found in dictionaries and thesaurus must help to improve in our pronunciation. Besides differentiate the dissimilarities between British and American English in terms of pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary is a must for.
Here are some differences in terms of spelling and vocabulary:
1. British word ending in “our” is “or” in American English as in; colour – color, honour – honor, favourite – favourite.
2. British word ending in “re” is “er” in American English as in; centre – center, metre – meter.
3. British word ending in “ce” is “se” in American English as in; defence – defense, offence – offense.
4. British word ending in “ise” is “ize” in American English as in; recognise – recognize, realise – realize, analyse – analyze.
5. British word ending with “ogue” is “og” in American English as in; dialogue – dialog, catalogue – catalog.
6. British single consonant often double in American spelling as in; wilful – wilful, enrolment – enrolment, instalment – instalment.
In terms of vocabulary:
The first seems British word and the latter be an American word as in; holiday – vacation, invigilator – proctor, lift – elevator, main road – highway, mobile phone – cellular/cell phone, nursery – kindergarten, pharmacy – drug store, queue – line, shop – store, CV – resume as Bio-data in Indian English.
Some knowledgeable for better English
Ø Sometimes the date is written in numbers only as for instance 9/7/1988. This should be avoided, as confusion may arise- to an Englishman it means 9 July 1988 but to an American it means 7 September 1988.
Ø Do not use Cockney as a synonym for Londoners because not all Londoners are Cockneys. Ø Be aware of using Capital and small letters as; Many bishops were present at the meeting, but: The Bishop of London chaired the meeting: and X was a professor at Harvard University, but Y was Oxford Professor of English History.
Ø TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language (http://www.toefl.org)
Ø IELTS= International English Language System (http://www.ielts.org or http://www. ieltsindia.com)