Happy Republic Day – Describe the Picture

Thanks to Google, we have a nice and ‘easy to describe’ Picture/Logo on India’s republic day. Transformation of their own LOGO to include the popular theme of the Day is a wonderful demonstration of creativity!… How much do you agree with me? and How many times do we get this pleasant surprise from Google?

Learn English Activities for the Day:

1. Students of BASIC/Word-Play: Describe any Picture or the Republic Day Parade as you see today. Stick to Simple Sentences, write/speak 10 sentences describing what happens on the Day (usually, sometimes and Simple Present tense).
2. Students of Intermediate/Get-Selected: Give live commentary of the Republic Day Parade for 10-15 min. -you can run it up in your Mind and learn to use some new verbs/adjectives associated with a national event. Speak for 2 Min. in the class (as much you can even 5 min. for people who have done over 30 classes).
3. Students of Go-global/Advanced: Write/speak on What special you saw this year? and what do you feel about the day? What did you do ‘on this day’ when you were a child? (Tips: use all your tenses well – switch between past and present; include Phrasal Verbs and Modals as required)

Have a Good day and all the best for your Practice of English as a Language…

T.r.i.c.k.s NOIDA Center wishes you a Happy Republic Day!

Useful Phrases and Tips for meeting people in India: 3 major Situations

Greeting people in India

There are many ways to say hello in English. Sometimes you say a quick hello as you are passing somebody. At other times a greeting leads to a conversation or a meeting. Business greetings are more formal. Friends and family members greet each other in a casual way and use a mix of Hindi and English.

listen carefully and do practice of greeting people (both ladies and gents) in a variety of situations… in-person or on phone. Remember its Mr. Khurana and Not Mr. Ashish and if a person allows you to use his/her first name do it. Like I always say ‘you can call me Ashish’ so just stay with the first name.

In india we use ‘ji’ in the end of the name to show ‘respected’ but Don’t over do it to say: Respected Vermaji.. Just say Respected Mr. Verma (Global English) or Vermaji (Indian)   

Besides the language you must also pay attention to How it has to be said: the Tone and gestures that the speakers use (offering a hand for a hand-shake or asking to sit or pointing out etc…). Finger pointing is not considered good in most cultures… and India is famous for its ‘head nod’ (refer. Shantaram – David Gregory Robert): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33600.Shantaram

Pay attention to Tips and useful phrases: words and expressions that English speakers in India use

Greetings while Passing someone you know (have met earlier)

It is polite to greet a person you know. However, you don’t always have time to stop and have a conversation. Just remember to smile as you say hello. A small wave is also polite. Sometimes you pass the same person a second time on the same day. You can say “hello again” or just smile or ‘wave a hand’.

Tips

• Slow down to greet someone you know in the office. You don’t have to stop what you are doing (walking, working, shopping).
• Say an appropriate form of hello.
• Smile and wave a hand
• Don’t offer a Hand-shake as you are not likely to continue the conversation…

Useful phrases:

• Hello
• Hi
• Good morning
• Good afternoon
• Good evening of Good night*

*Good night is a farewell (goodbye) phrase. It is NOT a greeting to use at night time.

Greetings before a Conversation/meeting

Sometimes, your colleague or your Boss stops and talks for a minute as you say hello. This type of greeting is often followed by a short conversation, update or a meeting. Close friends in office may greet each other more warmly, especially after a long time without seeing one other. People in Business meetings sometimes give each other a hand shake…. Business card is given to people from other companies

Tips

• Stand near a person and say hello
• Offer your hand or Accept his hand for hand-shake.
• Express happiness to see a person.
• Ask a question or begin a conversation.
• Answer the Question (if first asked by the other person) and then ask your question.

Useful Phrases:

• Nice to see you.
• Long time no see. (I haven’t seen you in a while.)
• What have you been doing?
• How are things?
• Yes, It’s been a while. (confirming It’s been a while since I’ve seen you… answer to Long time)
• What’s new?
• Not much. (answer to What’s new?)

Greetings in Business

Proper etiquette is important in business greetings. Make sure to use polite language such as “please” and “thank you”. Appropriate titles and gestures should also be used. Shaking hands is common in most English speaking countries. It is also important to smile.

Tips

• Introduce yourself with name and title.
• Shake hands.
• Express happiness to meet the other person.
• Offer a seat….water, tea or coffee.
• Accept or reject politely

Useful Phrases

• Please have a seat.
• Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.
• He’ll be right here with us. (He will join the meeting in a short while.)
• Can I offer you something to drink?
• My pleasure.
• Excuse me/sorry/ pardon me
• Look forward…

Important:  Practice doing it with known people so that you can do it with confidence and ease with new customers or colleagues…. May I request my Intermediate/Get Selected students to do it everyday with fellow students or your trainers and counsellor.

Hey, It’s great to MEET you today!

Something in Common: Practice punctuating titles

Punctuation: is an Interesting subject for me and my students to LEARN… thanks Jennifer for the valuable insights on writing titles. We have Sh. and Smt. in Indian English which is more revered form of Mr. and Mrs… we also have Ji after the name to mean respected as Japan has San (after the name) thanks also for this post to cover the ‘comma’ I had learned some of it from a Book “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” By Lynne Truss… Warm regards. Ashish from T.r.i.c.k.s Learning Center (India)

English with Jennifer

In my sixth lesson on English Writing Skills, I address writing titles and names as well as commas with adjective clauses. It may not be the most exciting topic, but it’s one that creates doubts among learners and teachers. We are all writers, and when we write, we sometimes hear an inner monologue about punctuation and formatting. Does that letter need to be capitalized? Do we put a comma before “Jr.” in someone’s name? Is that an identifying clause? You’ve heard that voice ask such questions, haven’t you?

I don’t claim to have all the answers. In fact, I take the time to tell students about different style and format guides used, from MLA format to the Chicago Manual of Style. In my video, I explain the patterns I personally use and give learners a chance to edit some sentences about American films and TV shows using those…

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The Meet-up group that you could join

The Meet-up group that you could join

 

This Meet-up is being held at the Center in Rudyard Kipling Class-room-III. See and register if you want to attend – will not be counted as a class – i will not correct your mistakes (just making it clear). Social activities like Meet-ups give you some confidence and exposure to speak in public… Don’t worry it not perfect English that people speak and many of them are hindi speakers but like to express them-selves. Don’t pass any judgements on others and you will make more friends who like NOIDA, Coffee, Conversations, food, travel, movies, blogging etc etc…. Have fun and enjoy your tea/coffee!