Category: Editorial

Spoken English

Language is our primary source of communication. It’s the method through which we share our ideas and thoughts with others. Some people even say that language is what separates us from animals and makes us human.

There are several factors that make the English language essential to communication in our current time. First of all, it is the most common foreign language. This means that two people who come from different countries usually use English as a common language to communicate.

English skills will also help a person in any business ventures he or she chooses to follow. When we visit some offices, companies, governmental organizations etc we can see that if we know how to speak English we feel confident . Any big company will hire their professional staff after getting to know whether the people they are hiring are good at English or not. Companies who want to function at an international level only consider their staff well educated if they are good English speakers, writers, and readers.

Here in The Language Mill The spoken English classes are divided in to 30 sessions, 15 sessions a month. One session will be of two hours. By the end of this session we intend to make the person confident in formatting his ideas, and to express the ideas confidently in English irrespective of whether he or she is an expert in grammar or such basics of English

LEAVE ME ALONE, PLEASE!

teenaging

Parenting a teenager is never easy. But we as parents should find steps that can significantly reduce the chaos at home and help our teens’ transition into a happier, more successful young adult.

As teenagers begin to assert their independence and find their own identity, many experience behavioral changes that can seem bizarre and unpredictable to parents. Your sweet, obedient child who once couldn’t bear to be separated from you now won’t be seen within 20 metres of you, and greets everything you say with a roll of the eyes or the slam of a door. These, unfortunately, are the actions of a normal teenager.

 Keeping up with fashion is important to teens. That may mean wearing provocative or attention-seeking clothing or dyeing hair. Unless your teen wants tattoos, avoid criticizing and save your protests for the bigger issues. Fashions change, and so will your teen

As teens begin seeking independence, you will frequently butt heads and argue.

 Hormones and developmental changes often mean that your teen will experience mood swings, irritable behavior, and struggle to manage his or her emotions.

Friends become extremely important to teens and can have a great influence on their choices. As teens focus more on their peers, that inevitably means they withdraw from you. It may leave you feeling hurt, but it doesn’t mean your teen doesn’t still need your love

A teenager’s brain is still actively developing, processing information differently than a mature adult’s brain. The frontal cortex—the part of the brain used to manage emotions, make decisions, reason, and control inhibitions—is restructured during the teenage years while the whole brain does not reach full maturity until about the mid-20’s

Your teen may be taller than you and seem mature in some respects, but often he or she is simply unable to think things through at an adult level. Hormones produced during the physical changes of adolescence can further complicate things. Now, these biological differences don’t excuse teens’ poor behavior or absolve them from accountability for their actions, but they may help explain why teens behave so impulsively or frustrate parents and teachers with their poor decisions, social anxiety, and rebelliousness. Understanding adolescent development can help you find ways to stay connected to your teen and overcome problems together.

It may seem hard to believe—given your child’s anger or indifference towards you—but teens still crave love, approval, and acceptance from their parents. Positive face-to-face connection is the quickest most efficient way to reduce stress by calming and focusing the nervous system. That means you probably have a lot more influence over your teen than you think. Just open the lines of communication:

Be aware of your own stress levels. If you’re angry or upset, now is not the time to try to communicate with your teen. Wait until you’re calm and energized before starting a conversation. You’re likely to need all the patience and positive energy you can muster.

Be there for your teen. An offer to chat with your teen over coffee will probably be greeted with a sarcastic put-down or dismissive gesture, but it’s important to show you’re available. Insist on sitting down for mealtimes together with no TV or other distractions. Look at your teen when you speak and invite your teen to look at you. Don’t get frustrated if your efforts are greeted by nothing more than monosyllabic grunts or shrugs; you may have to eat a lot of dinners in silence, but when your teen does want to open up, he or she will have the opportunity to do so.

Find common ground. Trying to discuss your teen’s appearance or clothes may be a sure-fire way to trigger a heated argument, but you can still find some areas of common ground. Fathers and sons often connect over sports; mothers and daughters over gossip or movies. The objective is not to be your teen’s best friend, but to find common interests that you can discuss peacefully. Once you’re talking, your teen may feel more comfortable opening up to you about other things.

Listen without judging or giving advice. When your teen does talk to you, it’s important that you listen without judging, mocking, interrupting, criticizing, or offering advice. Your teen wants to feel understood and valued by you, so maintain eye contact and keep your focus on your child, even when he or she is not looking at you. If you’re checking your email or reading the newspaper, your teen will feel that he or she is not important to you.

Expect rejection. Your attempts to connect with your teen may often be met with anger, irritation, or other negative reactions. Stay relaxed and allow your teen space to cool off. Try again later when you’re both calm. Successfully connecting to your teen will take time and effort. Don’t be put off; persevere and the breakthrough will come.

Ensure your teen gets enough sleep. Sleep deprivation can make a teen stressed, moody, irritable, and lethargic, and cause problems with weight, memory, concentration, decision-making, and immunity from illness. You might be able to get by on six hours a night and still function at work, but your teen needs 8.5 to 10 hours of sleep a night to be mentally sharp and emotionally balanced person. Encourage your teen to sleep properly by setting consistent bedtimes, and removing TVs, computers, and other electronic gadgets from your teen’s room—the light from these suppresses melatonin production and stimulates the mind, rather than relaxing it. Suggest your teen tries listening to music or audio books at bedtime instead

It’s worth reminding your teen that no matter how much pain or turmoil he or she is experiencing right now, with your love and support when it’s needed, things can and will get better—for both of you. Your teen can overcome the problems of adolescence and mature into a happy, successful young adult.

O N V Kurup Sir

The following poem may not be the best elegy, dirge and lament of all time. But it

comes from the heart, not of an individual but the lament from the heart of a society.

ONV

You say

He is dead !

He left us!

He passed away!

But …

At the rising sun and at its going down; he is there
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; he is there
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring; he is there
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; he is there
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn; he is there
At the beginning of the year and when it ends; he is there

Still you say

He is dead ?

He left us ?

He passed away ?

He..

Is not dead

Death is nothing at all.

It does not count.

Has only slipped away into his world of fantasy

Nothing has happened.

Jyothirgamaya salutes Ashraya and the entire team

Since its inception in 1999, Ashraya has been relentless in the pursuit of welfare of specially gifted girl children. The organisation has been instrumental in rehabilitating empowering and educating these children. This “Innovative Conceptualization of Ideas in Social work” award has been presented to Mr Venugopalan Nair and the entire team at Ashraya, honouring their efforts for the cause. Jyothirgamaya salutes the endeavour and spirit of everyone associated wth Ashraya.

ashraya01

Happy Teacher’s Day to all the Teachers in the World

 The most memorable day in my teaching career was the day when I saw Amr reading a book. I was then the anchor teacher of Godavari, a mixed age group class in The School, Chennai. Amr was in fifth standard then. He was a child with dyxlexia. He couldn’t read at all. But he had a good rapport with me. Actually I had a very good rapport with all the children in my class. There were ten fron class 5 , ten from class 6 and ten from class 7. I used to read out stories for Amr while others used to read for themselves. I used to make him enact the incidents in the story to make sure that he understood it clearly. We both used to play spelling games to give him confidence in his spelling abilities. Everyday I used to sit with him for half an hour while I assigned work for the others.

After about four months, once while I was reading, he asked me to give the book to him. First he went through the pictures. Then he asked me whether he could try reading it. Then suddenly he started reading the book slowly, letter after letter, word after word. I just watched him without making even a small sound. Once he finished a paragraph we both looked at each other and found that we both were crying. Only thing we could do at that moment was to hug each other tightly.

I am sure no words can express what I really felt at that moment.

Even now, after three years, when I get birthday wishes from most of my children in Godavari, I feel confident about myself being a teacher, I feel happy that I got the opportunity to teach them.

Anuradha

A Happy New Year 2013

The  triumphant moments of elation for India in the year 2012 is blackened by the shocking, abhorrent incident in the country’s capital city, a country known for its truthful valor, a country known for its humanity, a country known for its respect towards women, a country where Vivekananda, Bhagat singh, Mahatma Gandhi and above all Jhansi Rani were born and shaped. That too in  a city which always boasts about its rich culture and deep rooted tradition. Yes we do understand that everything, everything is a farce. This single incident tears away the mask of dignity that the whole country hides itself in. See the true  India which is made ugly by the manhandling of its own politicians, bureaucrats and above all the crime minded citizens. The truth that each and every female in the country should fear her own shadow overshadows the much sung Mother India concept that Indians value in their minds. It is time for us, Indians to take a decision, either you change this hypocrisy of freedom and safety for women or try to change the concept in to chauvinist India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday condoled the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim and expressed the hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests and agenda to make India a demonstrably safer place to live in.Describing the 23-year-old gang rape victim who died in Singapore as a “brave daughter of India”, President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said all steps to bring the perpetrators of this “ghastly crime” to justice should be taken to ensure that her death will not be in vain.Condoling the death, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said, “I am profoundly saddened at the passing away of the young girl, rightly being referred to as India’s daughter”.Condoling the death of the gang-rape victim, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, on Saturday, pledged to strengthen laws to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.Terming the gang-rape of the 23-year-old girl as a “shameful incident” for her as an administrator, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, on Saturday, condoled the death of the victim and said one must ensure that such “ghastly” acts do not happen again.Aren’t they ashamed to condole the death of a budding flower in this country with these senseless, meaningless words and phrases with which they try to show off their crocodile tears without any sense or sensibility. Whom are they trying to protect India from? This is not a first or single incident. Take the example of just this city, New Delhi has been dubbed the “rape capital” of the country, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures. This is just the case of one city. Things are worse in other cities. Will these political leaders who seemingly shed their tears for this girl, be able or will do something strong to safeguard our India and the safety of Indians. I DOUBT, THAT TOO VERY STRONGLY. If that was the case they should have done something years ago. If they are unable to protect this country and its people, they have no right to call themselves our leaders. We will be much better off without them, I am sure.With what mind should we greet each other with A HAPPY NEW YEAR, when we know that its is not and we are in great danger in this country.I don’t feel like celebrating in a country where such heinous crimes go on.DO YOU?