Now that you understand how the English Language evolved, share with us some words into which you have gained new insights (about their origin, their form, etc.)

Well, before I read the articles given by Ms Huang on her website, I already knew that English composed of words from many other languages, but I never knew that it was a member of the Germanic family of languages.

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from Englaland and their language was called Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.

 

 (Read more from http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm)

So, the English language composes of three phases, Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. Shakespeare wrote in Modern English, but his form of English or called Elizabethan English or Early Modern English. Right now, we all use Late Modern English, which has a lot more vocabulary than Shakespeare's language at that time. Late Modern English has many more words because its Industrial Revolution and techonology led to a need for new words, and also because it adopted more foreign words from other countries.

I think Shakespeare was a really great writer as he created many good writings with as much vocabulary available at that time as possible. He really made good use of the language, and this is why he is as relevant today as he was in his own time, but his language really has quite a number of differences with our current one, which makes reading his works difficult (Especially when I am reading The Merchant of Venice). An example would be the comparative adjective "more" and the superlative adjective "most" being used as intensifiers, as "very" would be used now. I believe Shakespeare's works will still be used for educational purpose in the future as well, as it can show us the previous type of language that was being used.

How has learning about newsworthiness and types of news articles (straight news articles and feature articles in different sections of the newspaper) affected the way you read newspapers?

Learning about newsworthiness and types of news articles has partially affected the way I read newspapers. I am now able to understand what kind of articles I am reading when I read the newspapers.

Basically, a straight news article is usually about some event that happened which has impacts on many people, and are generally informative. These articles mainly list out only facts in their content only and are not supposed to show us the reporter's point of view. These articles also use more formal language in their content.

As for feature articles, they can be about anything, and they are mainly human-interest articles. Feature articles can be informative, entertaining or just provide some background information about something to the reader. It can include analysis on certain issues, interviews of certain people, and also be about somebody's own personal experience. Feature articles don't just show us facts, but also provide us with the point of view of the writer.

Introduction to the Newspaper

What is the difference between broadsheet and tabloid newspapers?

The most obvious difference between broadsheet and tabloid newspapers is that a broadsheet newspaper is larger and wider than a tabloid  newspaper. Another difference is the type of language used by them. The language used by a broadsheet newspaper is generally more formal than a tabloid newspaper. An example would be that a broadsheet newspaper can call someone a police officer and a tabloid newspaper would call him a cop instead. Also, there are also differences in their content. Broadsheet newspapers deal with global or local news which really affect people, whereas tabloid newspapers tend to deal with news with less impact like gossips about celebrities or some scandals by certain renowned people.

Does one always deal with more respectable news / produce more professional journalism than the other?

I am not too sure but I believe that it all depends. This is because some newspapers can be biased to some perspectives and thus the news may not be very respectable. However, I feel that broadsheet newspapers produce more professional journalism than the other, as they are dealing with news that has great impacts on the society, whereas the tabloid newspapers only deal with minor news, which doesn't require much professional journalism.

Are there in-between types of newspapers?

Yes, there are in-between types of newspapers. An example would be mypaper whereby it has the size of a tabloid newspaper and publishes like a broadsheet newspaper as it does not have much tabloid journalism.

Story for The Maycomb Tribune

Well, this is a story for The Maycomb Tribune.. It was meant to be an assignment last term and also accounted for a blog post but I totally forgot about it until now.. When I think of the past now, I realise how much I have been slacking this year.. I think I would slowly revise what I have learnt previously this year to try to catch up with the rest of my classmates...

My thoughts after reading an English book

Well, personally, I don't really like English books as what I perceive about them is that they are usually very lengthy, boring, and difficult to read, which makes me not want to read them, as I am a lazy person. (Thats why I have never ever read any English books this year unless it was compulsory for me to read it) Well, perhaps I was really wrong... This year, I had only read some comics, or read books like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Merchant of Venice as it is compulsory for me to read them. However, just recently, I read a book called "The Village by the Sea" which completely changed my opinions

Well, actually, I had borrowed this book from the library during last term's sabbatical week as it was compulsory for me to find an English book to read during the reading period in that week. So, I went to the library and applied what Ms Huang told us and managed to get this book. Firstly, I went ahead to find books with the author called Anita Desai or Kiran Desai (She once told us about these authors), and I found two books, one by Anita Desai and another by Kiran Desai. Of course I looked at the book that seemed way smaller (The other book had like at least a few times its thickness) first.. I flipped to some random pages and read it (We were told to do that). There were some words which I didn't understand after flipping a few pages, and the story looks rather simple, and so I borrowed it.

After I borrowed it, I read it during the reading periods. As I am an extremely slow reader, I barely managed to finish reading almost half of the book after reading it for about 2 hours (Each reading period was roughly from 7.40 am to 8.20 am, I forgot to bring a book on Monday and brought The Merchant of Venice (I couldn't understand any part of it at that time) on Tuesday).

Well, I forgot to finish reading the book later on and forgot to return it as well. When, I came back to school for the first time during the holidays, I forgot to bring the book, and the library was closed the second time I came back to school due to some meeting. I finally remembered to return it on the first week of school this term, and was fined $1.80. Well, I suddenly thought about the book about two weeks ago and decided to borrow it again, and finish reading it. Well, honestly speaking, I found it quite interesting the second time I read it. Perhaps I should change my attitude from now on and start reading books to improve my English.

Facebook Pages for Characters from Merchant of Venice

Disclaimer: These characters are fictional, and has been done as part of a school assignment.

Antonio: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Antonio/186627088069170?sk=wall
Bassanio: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bassanio/233329846711795?sk=wall
Shylock:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shylock/133842006708272?sk=wall

Online Lesson (Term 2, Week 5): A personal response to War

Task 1: Descriptive Paragraph

The war had come to a halt. Many soldiers were left behind on the battlefield, leaving them on their own, even though some parts of their bodies were amputated. The sound of soldiers groaning in agony could be heard everywhere and the thick scent of blood was everywhere. One could feel excruciating pain on different parts of their body, and some were so tired out that they couldn't even lift their heavy guns and push it aside.

Task 2: Diary Entry

A day in the life of World War II
It has been quite some time ever since we had gone to war. We have been told all this is for the sake of our comrades who have sacrificed in World War I. This is also because our economy was falling apart due to the fact that we had to pay heavy reparations to the victors in World War I. Our Nazi leader, Adolt Hitler, was previously in World War I, and was eager for revenge. Well, we had learnt our lessons from World War I and have been improving ever since our defeat in World War I, and we are ready for the World War II. We are always being told that the war would soon be over, but I guess it hasn't ended even after many years now. Its going to be another day with more wars to fight, and we have to be constantly ready in case of enemy ambushes. We are constantly living in fear, because we may lose our lives anytime soon.