Why is the Mastery of English Important?
Being the most commonly used language around the world, English is an essential skill for everyone – from students to professionals. This is particularly important in the workplace where you need to talk to clients, present your work to higher-ups, and communicate well with your colleagues.
If you want to be commended for your efforts and ensure that your point will be delivered across, you must have good communication skills and an excellent command of English. It will definitely boost your confidence if you are able to express yourself in a clear manner.
English Pronunciation: Compound Adjectives
A compound adjective is a fixed expression which is made up of more than one word and which has the function of an adjective. Most compound adjectives are written with a hyphen, but a few are written as one word:
skin-deep long-term threadbare
The following types of compound adjective usually have main stress on the first part:
- compound adjectives usually written as one word
- ‘ airtight ‘ carefree ‘ praise , worthy
- Exceptions: , nation ‘ wide, , hand ‘ made
- noun + -ing form
- ‘ hair- , raising ‘ fee- , paying ‘ time-con,suming
- noun + past participle
- ‘ poverty- , stricken ‘ pear-shaped ‘ health-re,lated
- Exceptions: , eagle- ‘ eyed, , home- ‘ grown
The following types of compound adjective usually have main stress on the second part:
- noun + adjective
- , fat- ‘ free , sky- ‘ high , snow- ‘ white
- Exception: ‘ camera-shy
- adjective + noun
- , long – ‘ term , full – ‘ length , high – ‘ profile
- adverb or adjective + past participle
- , fully- ‘ grown , long- ‘ sighted , well – ‘ dressed
- adverb or adjective + -ing form
- , easy- ‘ going , hard – ‘ working , well – ‘ meaning
- Exceptions: ‘ backward – , look ing, ‘ forward- , looking
- self- as the first part
- , self- ‘ confident , self-in ‘ flicted , self- ‘ governing
Most compound adjectives with main stress on the second part can have stress shift. Compare:
- The tiger was fully-GROWN. but: It was a FULly-grown TIger.
- The prices were sky-HIGH. but: They were SKY-high PRIces.
5 Reasons Why Good English is Essential in Business!
English is the language of communication: English is the most widely spoken language in the world with over 1 billion people using it as a foreign language.
English spoken in business is different from English spoken in daily lives, as certain industries have certain vocabulary or jargon. For example, English vocabulary is different in business administration, finance, law or retail.
Mastery of English is beneficial even though you are working in your home country. Many businesses are international in scope and English is official language in the company.
Better job opportunities: if you work in English-speaking countries, English is a must. In non-English-speaking countries, it would be another skill that you can add to your resume and would boost your chances of job promotion.
More confidence in working: Business English with Sydney Language Solutions will improve your confidence in presentation, negotiation, conversation, better comprehension and pronunciation in Business context. All of these will boost your confidence in conducting Business in English.
10 Most Helpful Tips for Achieving a Better Band Score in Writing
- Read the questions very carefully. Often the question will ask you to do three or four different things, aside from the main question. Write them down and make sure you address all of them in your answer. The IELTS examiner will be checking for this.
- Practice writing tasks within the given time limits. It really doesn’t matter if you can write a beautiful answer in two hours. Always recreate the conditions of the exam as closely as possible, when doing any kind of practice exercises.
- Plan before you write. Even though you feel under pressure for time, spend the first few minutes planning your writing. Decide what you’re going to say and how you’ll expand on it. When you know what to write, you can concentrate on how to write it best. Experiment with the great variety of outlining and mind-mapping techniques to help you sketch out a plan quickly. I’d recommend allocating up to 5 minutes for planning your essay.
- Write in an organized way. When you’ve planned in advance, you’ll end up with a more organized, logical piece of writing, which will earn you higher marks. There are many ways to be organised – linear, circular, etc. – but in the end the final product must be cohesive which means that there must be a clear flow from the introduction through the body to the conclusion.
- Stay on topic. You will be penalised if you stray off topic. This is where the initial few minutes of planning can help you a great deal.
- Divide your writing into paragraphs. It is confusing to be faced with a block of writing, with no divisions. You wouldn’t expect to read a magazine article or book like this. Always divide your writing into paragraphs. Depending on the essay type, two or three paragraphs for the body of your essay.
- Write clearly. This is not the time or place to experiment with new vocabulary or idioms. Use simple, clear English to get your ideas across in a powerful way.
- Write legibly. Though marks are not granted or taken away for poor or messy writing, the examiner should be able to read what you have written without undue difficulty.
- Spell correctly. Yes, this does affect your score so avoid careless mistakes. A careless mistake is when you have spelt the same word in various ways in the same piece of writing or when you misspell a word which is already given in the exam topic and all you have to do is copy it correctly. That’s not okay. Watch for this when you’re practising and resolve to overcome it.
- Edit your essay. This part is often neglected by students, but it can end up paying out for you. Make sure you don’t just randomly review your essay. Understand your weaknesses and check specifically for them.
Example of a Writing Task OET for students to practice during Christmas holiday
You are a health professional at the Royal North Shore Hospital. Read the case notes and complete the writing task as follows:
Patient: Mr James Naismith
DOB: 25.12.1940
History:
1.1.2010
Symptom A, symptom B, symptom C
Examination shows sign A and sign B
Diagnosis: disease A
Prescribe drug A 25mg tid
1.1.2011
Reports compliance with therapy A
Symptoms B and C are worse
Examination shows sign C
Increase dosage of drug A 50mg tid
PMHx:
Chronic condition A since 2002
Surgery A in location A – 1996
Episode of acute condition A in 1995, resolved
FMHx:
Father died of disease B at age 65
Social history:
Widower, lives alone in Sydney Retirement Solutions
Quit smoking in 2005
Emergency contact is son who lives in Homebush, mobile: 0555 555 555
Plan: refer to specialist to discuss possibility of therapy A
Using the information in the case notes, write a letter of referral for further investigation and discussion of a new management plan to the specialist Dr Michael Jordan, at 55 Main Street, Newtown.
In your answer:
– Expand on the relevant notes in complete sentences
– DO NOT use point form
– Use letter format
The body of the letter should be approximately 180-200 words
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