Words in the news – Loose ends

loose ends The expression loose ends refers to things with are not yet finished, discovered or understood.

“There are several loose ends: the explosives were not ready for use and the arrested officer doesn’t have any knowledge about bombs,” he said.

The former prime minister said many loose ends must be tied up, particularly in the area of sponsorship.

During the drug crackdown campaign the drug kingpins used the time to clear up all loose ends, leading to the killing of small dealers and talkative gang members.

When I am offline, I immediately go to My Computer Properties, click on Disk Cleanup and erase all my temporary files and other loose ends.

Click here for an explanation of what “words in the news” is all about.

Source – http://readbangkokpost.com/wordoftheday/

Animal sounds / Bunyi-bunyi haiwan

This is an updated vocabulary list for animals sound that I have gathered. I have also included the definition in bahasa Melayu based on the definition given by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. This is a very good vocabulary list for children learning English and bahasa Melayu at UPSR level.Do email me if you want to add to this list as this would help our children to master their English and bahasa Melayu at the same time.

	Type of animals (Nouns)	The sound it makes. (verb)	Bahasa Melayu (kata kerja)
1.	Cats	Miaow	Mengiau
2.	Pigs	Grunt, oink, squeal	Mendengus
3.	Dogs	Bark , yelp, yip, yap	Menyalak , mendengking
4.	Snake	Hiss	Berdesis
5.	Lions	Roar	Mengaum
6.	Tiger	Roar	Mengaum
7.	Insects	Chirp	Mencicip, menciap, mencicit
8.	Hound	Howl	Melolong
9.	Wolf	Howl	Melolong
10.	Mice	Squeak, screech	Mendecit
11.	Bull	Bellow	Mendenguh, melenguh
12.	Monkeys	Chatter	Mengerih
13.	Birds	Chirp, chatter, twirp, peep, chirrup (continuous chirps)	Mencicip, menciap, mencicit, berkicau
14.	Bee	Buzz	Berdengung
15.	Cow	Moo	Melenguh
16.	Elephant	Trumpet	Menderum
17.	Goat	Bleat	Mengembek
18.	Horse	Neigh	Meringkik
19.	Frog	Croak	Menguak
20.	Wolf	Howl	Melolong
21.	Hen	Cluck	Berketak-ketak, berketuk-ketuk, berketuk-ketak

 

Examples :-

 

1. The dog barked at me just now. (Simple past).
2. The dog is barking right now. (Present progressive).
3. Dogs bark. (Simple Present)

 

 

1.      Anjing itu menyalak tanpa henti malam tadi.

2.      Kucing saya mengiau kelaparan.

3.      Ayam peliharaan Pak Ali itu berketak-ketak setiap pagi.

4.      Saya terdengar bunyi ular berdesis ketika saya berjalan di tepi semak itu tadi.

Apa itu IETLS? / What is IELTS?

I have received a few inquiries on the IELTS and what is its syllabus.I have surfed the internet and here is some information that I have gathered about IELTS.

=============================================

About IELTS

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) tests the complete range of English language skills, which students will commonly encounter when studying or training in English.

Many professional organizations including the New Zealand Immigration Service, the Australian Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, the Australian Medical Council, the UK General Medical Council and the UK Ministry of Defense accept IELTS as also most Australian, British, Canadian and New Zealand academic institutions. American academic institutions are increasingly accepting IELTS for admissions purposes.

IELTS for admissions purposes.

 

Who conducts the test?

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) superseded the English Language Testing System (ELTS) in 1990. IELTS is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), British Council and IDP Education Australia: IELTS Australia. The IELTS test is conducted by the following educational bodies in partnership:

 

1. University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) is an internationally recognised body in the provision of academic and vocational examinations. In the field of English language alone, Cambridge ESOL examines more than one million candidates each year.

 

2. British Council has wide experience and knowledge of test administration. With a network of examinations offices in over 100 countries, British Council administers over 500,000 examinations overseas on behalf of British examining boards.

 

3. IDP Educational Body, Australia (it’s subsidiary is IELTS Australia Pvt.

Ltd.). IDP Education Australia is Australia’s international education organisation. It undertakes a broad range of activities from student advisory services and educational publications to project consultancy and English language teaching and testing.

 

Who can take the test?

>> Students applying to study in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US.

>> Medical professionals planning to work or follow further study in the UK, Australia or the US.

>> People planning to emigrate to Canada, Australia or New Zealand.

If I am under 16 years old, can I take the test?

You can take the test but IELTS is not recommended for candidates under the age of 16.

Is IELTS accepted in the US?

Yes! Around 700 American universities and institutions recognise IELTS,

Feminine gender in Nouns

When do we call people who take orders at the restaurant and serve us as waitress and not waiter?

What about Ali who got engaged to Aminah recently? Is Aminah his fiancée or his fiancé?

If Sofea is our sister’s or brother’s daughter, should we call her our nephew or niece?

A bit confusing, isn’t it? In English there are terms that we should use only for the feminine and masculine gender..

Here is a list of nouns used only for the feminine gender..

Vocabulary List – Feminine Gender – Digunakan untuk menamakan perempuan sahaja.

 

	Bahasa Inggeris	Bahasa Melayu
1.	actress	pelakon wanita
2.	aunt / auntie	makcik / emak saudara
3.	businesswoman	ahli perniagaan wanita
4.	damsel	perempuan muda yang belum berkahwin
5.	daughter	anak perempuan
6.	dutchess	bangsawan (wanita)
7.	dressmaker	tukang jahit wanita
8.	empress	maharani /isteri maharaja
9.	fiancée	tunang wanita
10.	girl	budak perempuan
11.	girl scout	pegakap wanita
12.	girlfriend	teman wanita
13.	granddaughter	cucu perempuan
14.	grandmother	nenek
15.	great granddaughter	cicit perempuan
16.	great grandmother	moyang wanita
17.	bride	pengantin wanita
18.	headmistress	gurubesar wanita
19.	heiress	waris wanita
20.	heroine	srikandi /wirawati
21.	hostess	tuan rumah (wanita) / pengacara wanita
22.	lady	nama yang sopan untuk ‘woman’ terutamanya yang lebih tua. / gelaran ‘Lady’
23.	madam	puan
24.	manageress	pengurus perempuan
25.	mayoress	datuk bandar (wanita)
26.	mistress	tuan (wanita)
27.	mother	ibu
28.	niece	anak saudara wanita
29.	policewoman	polis wanita
30.	princess	puteri raja
31.	queen	ratu / permaisuri
32.	sister	kakak / adik perempuan
33.	stewardess	pramugari / pengelola
34.	waitress	pelayan wanita
35.	widower	balu
36.	wife	isteri
37.	woman	wanita

Words in the news – Woo

woo  The verb woo means to try to get the support of someone.

Mr Surakiart will work to woo support from middle-class voters.

“Political parties and their candidates have held meetings of canvassers and given them money to organise activities to woo voters,” he said.

AT&T Inc, the owner of the biggest US mobile-phone service, plans to woo corporate customers away from Verizon Wireless with a new handset that uses its fastest internet network and can handle heavy e-mail use.

Cambodia is wooing overseas companies to invest in oil exploration and power plants to ease electricity shortages and ensure energy supplies.

Source – http://readbangkokpost.com/wordoftheday/

Idioms for the day…

ace: make an “A” on a test, homework assignment, project, etc.

“Somebody said you aced the test, Dave. That’s great!”

all right (1): expression of reluctant agreement.

A: “Come to the party with me. Please!”
B: “Oh, all right. I don’t want to, but I will.”

all right (2): fair; not particularly good.

A: “How’s your chemistry class?”
B: “It’s all right, I guess, but it’s not the best class I’ve ever had.”

all right (3): unharmed; in satisfactory condition.

A: “You don’t look normal. Are you all right?”
B: “Yes, but I have a headache.”

and then some: and much more besides.

A: “I’d guess your new computer cost about $2,000. ”
B: “It cost that much and then some because I also bought extra RAM and VRAM.”

antsy: restless; impatient and tired of waiting.

“I hope Katy calls soon. Just sitting around and waiting is making me antsy.”

as easy as pie: very easy.

“I thought you said this was a difficult problem. It isn’t. In fact, it’s as easy as pie.”

at the eleventh hour: at the last minute; almost too late.

“Yes, I got the work done in time. I finished it at the eleventh hour, but I wasn’t late.

Masculine gender Nouns.

This is a list of nouns for masculine gender that I can think of..The list might not be an exhaustive one so do email me if you know any other masculine gender nouns.

	Bahasa Inggeris	Bahasa Melayu
1.	actor	pelakon lelaki
2.	boy	budak lelaki
3.	boy scout	pegakap lelaki
4.	boyfriend	teman lelaki
5.	brother	abang / adik lelaki
6.	businessman	Ahli perniagaan lelaki
7.	duke	bangsawan (lelaki)
8.	emperor	maharaja
9.	father	ayah
10.	fireman	ahli bomba lelaki
11.	gentleman	lelaki budiman
12.	grandfather	datuk
13.	grandson	cucu lelaki
14.	great grandfather	moyang lelaki
15.	great grandson	cicit lelaki
16.	groom	pengantin lelaki
17.	heir	waris lelaki
18.	hero	Hero lelaki
19.	host	tuan rumah (lelaki) / pengacara lelaki
20.	husband	suami
21.	king	raja lelaki
22.	man	lelaki
23.	mayor	datuk bandar (lelaki)
24.	nephew	anak saudara lelaki
25.	policeman	polis lelaki
26.	prince	putera raja
27.	son	anak lelaki
28.	steward	pramugara / pengelola
29.	uncle	pakcik / bapa saudara
30.	waiter	pelayan lelaki
31.	widower	duda

Adjectives ending in –ED or –ING

In my earlier posting at https://knowledgecentre.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/114/I have given example on some adjectives ending with -ing.

Another form of adjectives are the ones ending with -ed. A common error is thinking that any word ending with -ed is a Verb in its Simple Past or Past Participle form. You have to be careful here as some words that end in -ed are also adjectives.

Then there is also confusion in using the -ing and -ed ending adjectives as you might think it is interchangeable. For example the word disappointing and disappointed.

“The movie was disappointing.” This means that the movie you have watched has caused disappointment and therefore you are disappointed with the movie as it was not that good.

In the above sentence,disappointing, is used to describe the noun, movie. Even though disappointed is also an adjective but you can’t use it to describe the movie such as :-

“The movie was disappointed.” As movie is a thing, you cannot use disappointed to describe more about the movie. A movie or any other object cannot feel the disappointment.

You can however use –ing or –ed adjectives for people or animals, but be aware of what you are expressing.

You can say a person is interested which means that the person feels interest.

It is different if you say a person is interesting which means that the makes others to feel interested.

Try this out.

I. CHOOSE THE RIGHT ADJECTIVE.

1. I was really looking forward to seeing that movie, but unfortunately it was lousy. I was disappointed/disappointing with it because it was bored/boring.

2. It’s sometimes embarrassing/embarrassed when you have to ask people for money.

3. Are you interesting/interested in speaking English fluently?

4. I enjoyed going to the football game which ended in a draw. It was very excited/exciting.

5. It was an extremely terrifying/terrified mishap. Afterward every single person was shocking/shocked.

Answers.

1. A -disappointed -describe more how “I” feel

B -boring -describe more about “it” or the movie

2. embarrassing -describe more about “it” where it refers to the “situation” when you don’t have money and have to borrow money from others.

3. interested -describe more how “you” feel.

4. interesting -describe more about “it” where it refers to the “football game.”

5. A. terrifying -describe more about the “mishap”
B -shocked -describe more how “every person” felt after the incident.

I. OTHERS PAIRS OF ADJECTIVES ENDING IN –ING AND –ED ARE:

fascinating exciting amusing amazing astonishing shocking disgusting embarrassing confusing

fascinated excited amused amazed astonished shocked disgusted embarrassed confused

horrifying terrifying frightening depressing worrying annoying exhausting satisfying

horrified terrified frightened depressed worried annoyed exhausted satisfied

Maximizing the use of your Savings Account

When I was a banker we would be happy to see if a customer put a lot of their money in the savings account. This is because the more money we have in the form of savings account, the more money we have in the category of “cheap money” where the bank can use this type of money to give out loans at a much higher rates. For example if the loan rate is 7% and the savings rate is a flat 1% then the bank is making a 6% gross profit! Imagine if there is a deposit of RM1 billion and therefore the bank will make a cool RM600 million gross profit from your deposits.

Therefore it is much wiser if you use your savings account just for your daily transactions and never ever use it for your investment purposes. As you should already know how much you are going to use for paying bills and expenses you can easily set aside an amount to put in FD or under investment assets such as ASB, unit trust or others.

As an example, just look at the rate that Maybank and CIMB are paying for Savings account.

Balance	Nominal Interest rate
Up to RM 1,000	0.20
Up to RM 5,000	0.40
Up to RM 25,000	0.50
Up to RM 50,000	0.85
Up to RM 100,000	1.50
Above RM 100,000	2.00

CIMB Bank’ Savings rates

 

 

Balance	Nominal Interest rate
Up to RM 2,000	0.20
Up to RM 10,000	0.30
Up to RM 50,000	0.80
Up to RM 100,000	1.10
Up to RM 100,000	1.20
Up to RM 500,000	1.30
Above RM 500,000	1.51

Maybank’s Savings rates.

Kursus Pra-UPSR Bahasa Inggeris 15 Disember ini!!!

Anda ingin anak-anak anda mahir dalam bahasa Inggeris?

Anda ingin pastikan yang mereka menggunakan tatabahasa yang betul?

Anda ingin anak-anak anda bersedia untuk bahasa Inggeris UPSR?

Anda inginkan kursus bahasa Inggeris pada harga yang berpatutan?

OFFER ! – Daftar dua orang dan bayar cuma RM90!!

Jika jawapan anda semuanya YA, maka

 

Saya akan mengadakan Kursus Pra-UPSR Bahasa Inggeris pada cuti sekolah ini 15 Disember nanti.Penyertaan adalah berdasarkan first-come-first-served dan keutamaan diberikan kepada mereka yang membuat pembayaran awal.

Butir-butir adalah seperti berikut:-

 

1. Tarikh – 15 Disember 2007 (Sabtu)

2. Tempat – Rumah saya di Saujana Puchong (berdekatan dengan Puchong Utama n Bukit Puchong). Bilik latihan adalah berhawa dingin.

3. Yuran – Cuma RM50 untuk kursus setengah hari dan termasuk minum dan makanan ringan (snack).

4. Masa – Pukul 9.00 pagi – 1.30 petang

5. Jumlah peserta – terhad kepada 10 orang sahaja! Tinggal beberapa kekosongan sahaja!

6. Syllabus – Merangkumi aspek-aspek asas bahasa Inggeris bahasa Inggeris merangkumi Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives dan Adverb.

7. Peserta -Sesuai untuk mereka yang akan masuk Tahun 4-6 tahun hadapan.

 

Kepada yg berminat sila hubugi saya di 019-3090711 atau di cikgutuition@yahoo.com