THINK IN ENGLISH WITH TENSES

IN THE PAST

How was this man who lived before the mobile age?

He was fine.

What did he have?

He had a telephone.

What was he doing when this picture was taken?

He was speaking on his telephone.

Why did he smile while speaking on the phone?

He smiled to express his happiness.

How often did he use his phone?

He used it almost daily.

Did he like it?

He liked it very much.

Were there a lot of people like him using phones?

There were only a few people like him using phones.

Was the phone used everyday?

It was used everyday.

Was it being used when this photo was taken?

It was being used when this photo was taken.

 IN THE PRESENT

How is this woman in the mobile age?

She is excited.

What does she have?

She has a mobile.

What is she doing now?

She is sending an sms.

Why does she like her mobile?

Her mobile helps her to stay connected with her friends and other people.

How often does she use it?

She uses it everyday.

Is she planning to buy another mobile?

She is not planning to buy another one now.

Has she bought this mobile recently?

She has bought this mobile recently.

How long has she been using it?

She has been using it for one week now. 

Are there a lot of people like her using mobiles?

There are a lot of people like her using mobiles.

How often is the mobile used?

It is used many times in a day.

Is it being used now?

It is being used now.

Has it been used to send an email?

It has been used to send an email.

 IN THE FUTURE

How will be a man in the tablet age?

He will be very busy.

What will he have?

He will have a tablet PC.

What will he be doing then?

He will be multitasking.

How will he live?

He will live in a world called Facebook.

Will there be a lot of people like him using tablets?

There will be a lot of people like him using tablets.

Will the tablet be used to watch movies?

It will be used to watch movies. 

Requests using modal verbs:

Would you mind if I request you to put your mobiles in a silent mode?

Could you please help me by giving your mobile number?  

Would you like to make a call on my mobile?

May I take my mobile now?

Do share your views/suggestions/doubts/feedback if any at cyberjosh123@yahoo.com or by posting comments. I would be grateful....and take care...bye for now...v.k

EC EXERCISES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

EC Kids
EC Song

EC Pledge
"Do you Know" Qs
"State & Share" Ex.

EC Dialogues
EC Dream Song
EC Movie Exercise

EC Aliens Exercise

Easy Study Exercise
Vision-Values-Action
EC Habits in Culture

A small speech
EC Ask Me

 EC Slogans

EC Meditation
Verbal Interaction 

 EC Gandhian Values
 Transactional English
Voice of the voiceless

EC Learning with Songs

EC Customer Experience
"Teaching Tourist" Exercise
TO BE CONTINUED...

THINK IN ENGLISH WITH STORIES

A beggar's life

There was a beggar who used to earn his daily bread by going around the town for alms with his only son. When he became very old he asked his son how he was planning to live after his father is no more. The son replied that he would continue the family's profession that was begging. Hearing this his father handed over to him a small bag and a begging plate which he used to carry while going for work and soon after the old man breathed his last. Now the son started his innings as a beggar carrying the bag and the plate . Once a man while giving him a few coins asked him about the contents of his bag and he had no answer. He had not seen his father opening the bag ever and so didn't have the courage to do so himself. But the man kept on egging him to reveal its contents. Finally the son opened the bag and what he saw made him awestruck. It was full of precious diamonds worth crores; sufficient wealth for all his life and also for his coming generations.

------------------------------------------

Two Marketing Executives

Once two marketing executives were sent on an assignment to a tribal village to sell shoes. The first one went and asked one of the natives if he wanted to buy a pair of shoes? "What is a shoe?" pat came the question. Hearing this the executive went back to his office and sent a report to his boss mentioning that since the people here don't even know what a shoe is, there is no possibility of opening a shop here to sell shoes and it would be a futile effort. 

Now the second marketing executive was asked to go and see how things are in the tribal hamlet. He went around watching the people; most of them were doing the mining work. After a few days he found that some of them were sitting idle at home. He went to them and inquired the reason. "We can't walk and do mining as our feet are full of sores because of injuries". He consoled them and said "Suppose I show you something that would protect your feet against physical injuries, would you be interested to have a look?" "Yes" was the answer from all. So he presented them a pair of shoes and showed them how to use it. "But can we afford to buy it?" was their main issue. The executive pondered for a while and asked "How much do you lose by sitting idle at home without going to work for a day?" "Rs.200" one of them said. "And in a year normally how many such leaves do you have to take?" asked the executive. "Minimum ten leaves" said one native. "So these injuries cost you Rs.2000 a year. In that case wearing a shoe will help you to make Rs. 1000 extra in a year as its price is only Rs.1000. And he went to explain the whole logic of buying and using shoes to earn more and enjoy more their jobs and life. The people understood and became aware of the importance of shoes in their life.

The executive went back to his office and sent a report to his boss mentioning that since the people here don't even know what a shoe is, first they should be educated about the benefits of using shoes (marketing) and then the product can be sold in instalments or full cash depending on the buyers' financial status (sales).

-----------------------------------------------

TO BE CONTINUED...

THINK IN ENGLISH WITH CONVERSATIONAL VERBS

Understanding Conversational verbs to score goals like Maradona in English Conversations

Let us understand this very clearly:  "What are the EC rules required for having good English   conversations with anybody". 

Asking Yes/No and Wh(What,Where,When,Who,Why,Which,How,Whose,Whom) questions with the ten conversational verbs in English:

DO/DOES

IS/ARE

HAVE/HAS

WAS/WERE

WILL/DID

How to use these conversational verbs?

DO/DOES: To ask about a possession/habit/attitude.
IS/ARE: To ask about a present state/live action/future action/present reality
HAVE/HAS: To ask about a past action in present/live action with duration of time.
WAS/WERE: To ask about a past state/live action in past/past reality.
WILL: To ask about a future action in a formal way.
WILL BE: To ask about a future state/live action in future.
DID: To ask about a past action in past.

1. CONVERSATION ABOUT ACTIONS

Our conversation starts with asking questions about HABITS and ATTITUDES.....using "DO"
(You can invite somebody for a conversation by saying : So shall we begin the conversation....?)
 
Where do you work?
Do you like your work?

Where does your brother work?
Does he like his work?

Then we can ask about PRESENT LIVE actions....using "ARE"

Are you working now?

Is he working now?

Then we can ask about PAST actions....using "DID/HAVE"

When did you start your work?
Have you completed your work?

When did he start his work?
Has he completed his work?

Then we can ask about FUTURE actions...using "ARE/WILL"

What are you working on tomorrow?
Will you finish your work by evening?

What is he working on tomorrow?
Will he finish his work by evening?

Last we can ask about IMMEDIATE PAST and IMMEDIATE FUTURE actions....using "WERE/WILL BE"

Where were you working before joining here?
Will you be working here next year?

Where was he working before joining here?
Will he be working here next year?

You can also ask about LIVE actions with TIME PERIOD:

How long have you been working here?
Since when have you been working here?

How long has he been working here?
Since when has he been working here?

2. CONVERSATION ABOUT STATE - Present, Past, Future:

Where is your office?
What are you?....I mean what is your job there?

Was your office at the same place last year?
Were you there last year?

Where will be your new location?

3. CONVERSATION ABOUT POSSESSION - Present, Past, Future:

Do you have good colleagues at your work place?
Does he have good colleagues at his work place?

How many clients did you have last year?
How many clients did he have last year?

Will you have a better payment next year?
Will he have a better payment next year?

4. CONVERSATION ABOUT REALITY - Present, Past, Future:

Are there any challenges in this field?

How many competitors were there last year?

Will there be any positive growth next year?
(The conversation can end by saying : I would like to say that it was great talking to you. Hope to see you again.)


I hope you are now clear about the logic of English Communication.

© No Copyright - No rights reserved***

"THINK IN ENGLISH" LETTERS

An Open letter to the PM, India

An open letter to the Education Minister, Kerala

An open letter to all citizens

A letter to students/friends

An open letter to all students/teachers/trainers

Letter to a News Reporter

Letter for Skill Development Section

Think in English- Open letter

EC letter with a purpose

An Open Letter to Educational Institutions

TO BE CONTINUED...

DESCRIBING A PERSON GAME

The "DESCRIBING A PERSON" Game 

(This game measures the ability of the students to ask questions in order to get information about a person and also to "better their describing a person" skills.)

PURPOSE OF THE GAME: Asking " yes/no questions " about a person and also learning to describe people by their physical appearance.

HOW TO PLAY:

 A member from a team comes to the front and asks the opposite team to guess a person's name (whose name will be written on a sheet of paper and shown only to the speaker) by asking only three Yes/No questions. Now this team member or speaker  will say only "Yes" or "No" to the questions asked by the other team about the mysterious person. 

For eg. Is the person male? and the answer may be "No"

             Is she tall? Ans. "Yes"

             Is she very active? Ans. "No"

After three "yes/no questions" have been asked,  the speaker will give a one line description of the mysterious person and this one line description should be about his/her physical appearance only. For eg.

            She is wearing a red dresss today.

Now the opposite team will again ask two more "yes/no" questions and then try to guess the name of the mysterious person.  If they succeed they can be given one mark. But there is one condition ie., the name of the mysterious person can be said only once.  So the team guessing the name should say it only when they are very sure of its accuracy possibly after asking all their "yes/no" questions.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A PRAYER...

May this humble attempt help to:

• promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce any practice derogatory to the dignity of women;

• develop the scientific temper,humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform;

• strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievements.

• (Inspired by: Article 51A of Constitution of India-Part IV A, Fundamental Duties of Citizens, clauses e-h-j)

COMBINATION GAME

The COMBINATION Game 

(This game measures the ability of the students to ask questions according to  the rules of English also called "the sentence logic")

PURPOSE OF THE GAME: English communication is all about making the right combinations ie., we need to combine the right verb with the key words to either ask a question or to talk about something.

HOW TO PLAY: 

The teacher first writes some verbs(which are used for making questions) and asks one member from one of the teams to write key words for combining with the verbs already given.  An example is given below:

Do(supporting verb written by the teacher) + book(a key word written by a team member)

Similarly:

Are + class

Is + friend

Will + food

Does + bus

Now the other team has to combine both the words ie., supporting verb and key word to make a question.  For eg.

Do you like this book?

In which class are you studying?

Who is you best friend?

Will you eat your food with me?

Does this bus go to city?

If a question has both the words(verb and key word) combined properly following the English rules then one mark can be given to the team whose member asked the right question.  Now let all members of that team ask questions using the remaining combination of "verb and key word" in the right way as given above. For every right question asked by the team members one mark can be given.

After one round the teacher can change the verbs with new ones like:

Have(supporting verb written by the teacher) + sky(a key word written by a team member) 

Was + teacher

Did + father

Were + mother

Has + brother

Now the other team has to combine both the words ie., supporting verb and key word to make a question.  For eg.

Have you a seen a clear sky this week?

Which chapter was the teacher taking?

Where did your father go yesterday?

Were you talking to your mother just now?

Has your brother got admission?

In the last round the teacher can give modal verbs to combine with the key words written by one of the team members:

May (supporting verb written by the teacher) + games(a key word written by a team member)

Would + tea

Shall + trees

Should + cycle

Can + bag

Now the other team has to combine both the words ie., supporting verb and key word to make a question.  For eg.

May I play games?

Would you like to have a cup of tea with me?

Shall we go near the trees?

Should I bring my cycle?

Can you hold this bag?

TO BE CONTINUED...

THINK IN ENGLISH - AN EYE OPENER

It was an eye opener for me that in a class of 30 students who had completed their Plus Two with very good marks and were studying for a Diploma course in Nursing, nobody, not even a single student could get all the yes/no questions correctly...for any of these sections below. 

The exercise which was an EYE-OPENER:

THE TASK GIVEN: Make "Yes/No" questions 

SECTION 1
Today is a Wednesday.
Yesterday was a Tuesday.
Tomorrow will be a holiday.
This week has been quite hectic. 
SECTION 2
India has ...states. (28)
India had .... states.
India will have .... states. 
SECTION 3
There are .... members in my family.
There were .... students in the class.
There will be .... people for the function.

SECTION 4

Lal acts in movies.
He likes travelling.
He is acting in a movie named "Drishyam".
He is shooting tomorrow.
He has acted in 300 movies.
He has been acting for 35 years.
He started acting when he was 20 years old.
He was acting in better movies in the past.
He will act in a Tamil movie.
He will be acting with Vijay, the Tamil superstar.

Practical knowledge and skills matter more than this....bag size/bag weight !!! 

This test will make you understand how much you know about the rules of EC and therefore your ability to speak/write/understand EC (practical knowledge) unlike school tests which test only "Text Knowledge".

THE COMBINATION EXERCISE
	SUPPORTING/MODAL VERBS	KEYWORDS
1	Do	TV
2	Does	Newspaper
3	Are	Internet
4	Is	Books
5	Have	Read
6	Has	Write
7	Was	Listen
8	Were	Speak
9	Did	Nice
10	Will	Good
11	May	Red
12	Shall	Beautiful

Can you make questions and answers using these supporting/modal verbs and the keywords?

 

(Let's try to help our students to acquire the basic communication skills in the primary classes itself so that by the time they reach higher classes they are able to speak and write English with a clear understanding of all basic rules. It is an OPEN SECRET that almost(99%) of the students come to UG,undergraduate and PG,postgraduate classes without knowing the basic rules of EC !!) 
 

THINK IN ENGLISH - HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN IN INDIA ?

In spite of our best efforts in teaching English at schools and colleges for the last 60 years since independence why is it that even now we have a VERY LARGE chunk of people in their 30s and 40s unable (and struggling helplessly) to make a simple sentence in English about something which they know very well for eg. their native place, their family, their house, their children etc. Isn't it a BIG FAILURE of our educational system?
Anybody who says that he/she is not aware of the feelings of frustration among our vast majority for not being able to use English in decisive life situations is just not in touch with the reality.
Now the question is why have we failed in making our people good at using English in practical situations that life throws at them? Why can't they communicate in English? Why can't they express their views, ideas and thoughts in English? Why don't they have a voice beyond their own "lingustic comfort zones"?
This problem of educated people in India to communicate in English leads us to a basic question ie., how do we teach English in our institutions? Using text books having stories and other articles. The sentences are already given to the students in their books. They just have to read, write and memorize these sentences. This is the method used in our classrooms starting from schools and then to colleges and universities. There is no time, no space and no NEED for creating your own sentences/expressions/style of communication. Anybody who undergoes such a system of learning English remains an underdeveloped user of English.
And also the way we teach English grammar is by using words like NOUNS, VERBS, PRONOUNS, ADJECTIVES etc. just like the native English people do in their countries. We do not teach grammar in terms of our way of thinking, our thought pattern. So the teaching of grammar remains in our students' minds just that - English Grammar. It simply doesn't become a part of their conscious thought process. And because of this the students are cut off from the world of English mentally and also physically.
Is it right on our part to continue doing this again and again? Don't we have a responsibility towards the citizens of our country? Why can't we really INDIANISE our education system? How many more years do we need to create an educational atmosphere which would be in line with our needs, our way of thinking, our culture, our situations, problems and realities? Isn't it high time to evolve our education so that it becomes a truly ENGAGING experience for the learner by updating it with the requirement of times we live in, thus helping us in getting gainful employment, empowerment and also spiritual enlightenment?

 TO BE CONTINUED...

VERB-FOOTBALL

In this game called Verb-Football, a student has to come to the front and they will be given a goal ie., a target to be achieved by asking a few questions to another student in the class and get the needed information. 

For  eg., let's say the goal is "favourite job". 

Here the questions can be:

Do you have a job that's your favourite ? 

Which is that? 

Can you tell me more about it if you don't mind? 

Similarly other goals can be : 

Best place to visit, 

A nice experience last week, 

An interesting story that you heard, 

An idea that changed things for many people etc.

TO BE CONTINUED...

VERB CRICKET

Ex. for Young Learners : VERB-CRICKET

In this game called Verb-Cricket, a student has to come to the front, mention their selected verb like read/play/write etc. and answer six yes/no questions(like an over in Cricket) from the audience/other students like:

1. Do you read books ?

2. Did you read a book yesterday ?

3. Have you read "The Malgudi Days" ?

4. Are/Were you reading a book today ?

5. Can you read Tamil ?

6. Will you read a book today?

TO BE CONTINUED...

CONVERSATIONAL EXERCISES

Topics for conversational exercises:

What makes a movie great?

Who is a good role model (as a leader/writer/speaker/manager etc.)?

A nice place to visit/travel.

A dream product.

A  rewarding job.

A great day.

A good friend.

TO BE CONTINUED...

"Do you know" QUESTIONS

We can start with "Do you know" to get information about "new" things.

Do you know who I am ? ---- In old movies, it was heard the most.

Do you know who my father is ? --- The villain's trademark dialogue.

Do you know what is the time now ? --- Mom to son who is coming home just before dawn.

Do you know why this has happened ?

Do you know which is the best place to visit in Kozhikode ?

TO BE CONTINUED...