English, vocabulary

#EngVocab: Phrasal verbs related to shopping

English, vocabulary

#EngTrivia: Confusing words

English, idiom

#IOTW: Idioms in K-pop Song Titles

English

#EngQuote: Go Set a Watchman

English, talk

#EngTalk: Social media

English, vocabulary, WOTD

#WOTD: 2021’s Word of The Year

January 15, 2022 alicesaraswati 1 Comment

How’s your 2022 so far? We hope that it’s your best year yet.

If you’re an Indonesian and have passed 6+ months since your second vaccination, be on the lookout for your third shot. It’s important to keep ourselves and everyone around us safe.

Speaking of vaccine, it is chosen by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as Word of the Year for 2021.

Another version, ‘vax,’ is the Word of the Year picked by Oxford Dictionaries.

Dictionary.com, on the other hand, chose ‘allyship’ amongst other popular words such as ‘vaccine,’ ‘critical race theory,’ and ‘burnout.’
The picking of ‘allyship’ is the first time that a new word to the dictionary gets chosen as Word of the Year.

Note: According to Dictionary.com, to become an ally is to ‘advocate and actively work for the inclusion of a marginalized or politicized group in all areas of society, not as a member of that group but in solidarity with its struggle and point of view and under its leadership.’

The Cambridge Dictionary has chosen ‘perseverance,’ with the word being related to NASA’s Perseverance Rover landing on Mars.

The last but not least, the Collins Dictionary chose ‘NFT’ or non-fungible token, which means ‘the unique digital identifier that records ownership of a digital asset.’

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, 15 January 2022.

conversation, English, vocabulary

#EngVocab #EngKnowledge: Various Christmas Greetings

December 24, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

Most English-speaking people use ‘merry Christmas’ in their Christmas greetings. There are many options to choose from, as follows:

“Season’s greetings from…”
According to Dictionary.com, the exact origin of the phrase ‘season’s greetings’ is unknown, but it is predicted to have risen in popularity during the same time as ‘merry Christmas.’
We normally use ‘season’s greetings’ in writing like cards, texts, or emails, to people who celebrate Christmas and other holidays around the end of the year, starting from Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and New Year.
‘Season’s greetings’ carries a neutral, non-religious tone, and it can be used interchangeably with ‘happy holidays.’
“Have a very merry Christmas!”
This Christmas greeting is also mostly used in writing. This sentence means to wish the receiver a joyous Christmas celebration.
“Happy Christmas!”
When the first Harry Potter movie came out, I was surprised by the use of ‘happy Christmas,’ as I had been more accustomed to ‘merry Christmas.’
Later, I found out that ‘happy Christmas’ is still widely used in England.
“Merry Christmas!”
While ‘happy’ is considered an emotional state, ‘merry’ gives a more active or playful connotation. The phrase ‘merry Christmas’ is widely popular in greetings, carols, and Christmas songs.
“Happy holidays!”
There are several other holidays around Christmas, from Kwanzaa to Hanukkah to Boxing Day and New Year, so we use ‘happy holidays’ as to commemorate all the celebrations that are being observed.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Friday, 24 December 2021.

English, idiom, knowledge

IOTW: ‘The Elephant in the Room’

November 29, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

Have you ever heard of the expression ‘the elephant in the room?’ Why is it elephant and why not other animals?

‘The elephant in the room’ is a metaphorical idiom that means an obvious or major problem that nobody mentions and seems to care about. Another version of this idiom is ‘the elephant in the living room.’

If we suddenly find an elephant in our room, we will have a lot of questions. But we will also do so if we find basically any animals that are supposed to spend their time outdoor. So why don’t we have ‘the tiger in the room’ or ‘the giraffe in the room?’

It’s because of the origin of the idiom itself. In 1814, a Russian fabulist and poet named Ivan Krylov wrote a fable titled ‘The Inquisitive Man.’ The story tells about a man who goes to a museum and notices everything except for an elephant. Since then, the phrase ‘the elephant in the museum’ became proverbial.

In the 20th century, the idiom has had many variations such as ‘the elephant in the living room,’ ‘the elephant in the classroom,’ and the more general ‘the elephant in the room.’

‘The elephant in the room’ doesn’t only mean a major problem that is ignored. It also refers to a situation where talking about that particular problem will cause embarrassment, controversies, or arguments, so everyone deliberately avoids discussing it.

Example:
“Her issues are caused by her unhealthy habits, but no one wants to tell her the elephant in the room as not to upset her.”
“If we are to slow down the virus mutation, we have to address the elephant in the room, that is vaccine equity.”

This is a handy chart of why there is an elephant in the room.

Source: https://www.redbubble.com/i/poster/parts-of-the-elephant-in-the-room-by-WrongHands/35268753.LVTDI

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Monday, 29 November 2021.

class, English, grammar, tenses, trivia

#EngTrivia: Adverbs of Time (Already, Just, Yet, and Still) (REVISIT)

November 22, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

This article is a revisited version of EngTips: Adverb of Time (Already, Yet, Just, Still)

We’re going to revisit adverbs of time, e.g., already, just, yet, and still. If you have ever wondered when we should use ‘already’ and ‘yet’ and when we use ‘still’ and ‘just,’ this article is for you.

Adverbs are used to add more details or explanation to verbs, and today we are going to discuss the ones related to time (keterangan waktu).

First, we start with ‘already’ and ‘yet.’ Both are usually found with the present perfect tense (subject + has/have + V3).

We use ‘already’ with questions and sentences that have positive meaning. It’s usually found between have/has and the V3.
E.g.:
“I have ALREADY finished my homework.”

In questions, it’s placed between subject and V3.
E.g.: “Have you ALREADY had dinner?”

Note: we can modify the sentence to, “Have you had dinner already?” or the less formal, “You had dinner already?”

‘Yet’ is used to enquire about something that hasn’t been done. It’s usually placed at the end of a sentence.
E.g.:
“No, I haven’t finished my work YET.”
“Have you watered the plants YET?”

‘Still’ implies an action has been performed on something but it’s not finished yet. The word generally works with any tense.
E.g.:
“I’m STILL trying to find my phone.”
“I STILL live with my parents.”
“They were STILL watching TV when I told them to go to bed.”

Lastly, ‘just’ is used for an action that is finished or completed in recent time, which means it goes with the simple past tense.
E.g.: “I JUST cleaned up my bedroom. Now my sister made a mess again.” Note: It’s of different use with the one that means ‘only.’

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Monday, 22 November 2021.

class, English, knowledge, vocabulary, WOTD

#EngKnowledge: Autumn and Fall

October 30, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

It’s nearing the end of October already. Have you ever wondered why British English uses the word ‘autumn’ while American English uses ‘fall?’

Autumn or fall refers to the season between spring and winter in countries, continents, or regions that have four seasons. It usually begins on 22 or 23 September in the Northern Hemisphere (northern part of the equatorial line) and 20 or 21 March in the Southern Hemisphere. The season generally lasts for 3 months.

Autumn is indicated by the leaves that change colour to yellowish or brownish shade, the falling leaves, shorter days, birds migration to areas with warmer weather, the last harvest before winter and thus harvest festival, and damp weather.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the older of the two words is ‘autumn’. It has been existing since 1300s. It probably came from the Latin word ‘autumnus.’

Over time, autumn was getting more commonly associated with the ‘fall’ of the leaves. By 1600, the word ‘fall’ started to gain popularity to call this particular season.

As years went by, the English spoken in Britain and the English spoken in America diverged. Even though ‘autumn’ and ‘fall’ both came from Britain, ‘fall’ is considered more American and continued to flourish in American English. In fact, it is regarded as carrying an ‘American identity’ to distinguish the continent from its former British occupant.

In both British and American English, the word ‘autumn’ and ‘fall’ can be used interchangeably, although ‘autumn’ is more popular in countries that use British English and ‘fall’ is more popular in countries that use American English.

Source:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/autumn-vs-fall

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, 30 October 2021.

conversation, English, vocabulary

#EngVocab: Many Uses of the Word ‘Like’

October 9, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

This article will discuss the many, many uses of the word ‘like.’

Generally we use the word ‘like’ as a verb, to state that we are fond of something or someone.
Example:
“I like the polka dot dress.”

We can also use it as a preposition to signify similarities.
Example:
“The baby’s face is like the mother’s.”

Let’s discuss other uses of ‘like.’

Noun
We use ‘like’ to refer to a thing or some things of the same kind.
E.g.:
“This is my first time coming across this flower. Have you ever seen the like?”
Lately, with social media being on the rise, ‘like’ also means the amount of positive reaction on a social media post.
E.g.: “Her YouTube channel rakes in/receives millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes.”

Verb
There are ‘to like’ and ‘to dislike.’
To like = expressing fondness of something or someone.
E.g.:
“I like your dress. Very summertime vibe!”

To dislike = expressing distaste of something or someone.
E.g.:
“I dislike loud vehicles. They’re just too noisy.”

Conjunction
As a conjunction, ‘like’ can mean ‘as’ and ‘as though/as if.’
E.g.:
“They travel abroad monthly like (as) visiting their hometown.”
“She spends money like (as if) it grows on trees.

Adjective
For this use, we inflect/modify ‘like’ to ‘alike’ and ‘unlike.’

‘Alike’ = having similar qualities.
E.g.:
“Her face is so alike her mother’s.”

‘Unlike’ = having different qualities.
E.g.:
“Unlike yesterday’s cloudy weather, today we had bright, blue sky.”

Adverb
We can inflect ‘like’ to ‘likely’ and ‘unlikely/not likely.’

Likely = expressing high probability.
E.g.:
“The match is likely to end with a draw.”

Unlikely/not likely = expressing low probability.
E.g.:
“The case is unlikely dropped, now that it gets public attention.”

Informal use
‘Like’ can be used as a filler and as a person’s reported reaction to something or someone.
E.g.
“I was so, like, hyped up and excited.”
“I was like, ‘Why are you so obsessed with me?'”

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, 9 October 2021.

class, English, vocabulary

#EngVocab: Prefixes ‘un-‘ and ‘in-‘

September 24, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

Prefixes un- and in- are two similar prefixes which, if attached to a word, will create an opposite meaning.

Examples of words with prefix un-:
Undo, meaning the opposite of do
Unsaid, meaning not said
Unnecessary, meaning not necessary
Unwanted, meaning not wanted
And many more.

Examples of words with prefix in-:
Inactive, meaning not active
Incompetent, meaning not competent
Indirect, meaning not direct
Indefinite, meaning not definite
And so forth.

You can find many more examples in the dictionary. So, our main question will be when we use either prefix. Why do we say ‘unfinished’ instead of ‘infinished?’ Why do we use ‘incomplete’ instead of ‘uncomplete?’ Besides, those two words have similar meaning, too.

Many scholars argue that words that have English/Germanic root will go with prefix un- and words that have Latin root will go with prefix in-. To ensure which prefix we should use between the two, I think we will have to read often to increase our vocabulary.

Other prefixes that are the variations of prefix in- are prefixes im- (e.g., ‘impartial,’ meaning not partial), ir- (e.g., ‘irresistible’), and il- (e.g., ‘illegal’).

Now, can you give me more examples of words with prefixes un- and in-?

@Marco_20July: Uncertain, meaning not certain
Unsure, meaning not sure

Source: https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-unv1.htm

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Friday, 24 September 2021.

English, knowledge, vocabulary

#EngVocab #EngKnowledge: Common Mental Health Vocabulary

September 10, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

TW/CW: mention of suicide and mental health issues.

Disclaimer: admin is by no means a mental health professional but is currently undergoing a treatment with both a psychiatrist and a psychologist. The content of this article is going to be cited from reliable sources, which are mentioned at the end of the article.

Today, 10 September is #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. On this occasion, we’d like to share some vocabularies related to mental health conditions.

Picture credit: International Association for Suicide Prevention (https://www.iasp.info/campaigns/world-suicide-prevention-day/)

We realise this is a very serious and sensitive topic, but we feel that it is only right to help start the conversation, especially during a pandemic that increases our stress level by multiple times. If you find the topic to be overwhelming, kindly take some time for yourself and skip this article.

To start, what classifies as a mental health condition?
It is a condition that affects someone’s thinking, mood, behaviour, and even personality, to the point of limiting someone’s capability to function on a day-to-day basis.

How did mental health condition start to develop?
There are a variety of possible causes, namely genetics, past traumatic events, a stressful environment, unhealthy coping mechanisms, or biological causes.

What is trauma?
Trauma is our emotional response, or as I would like to call it, a ‘psychological scar,’ that is caused by terrible events. For example, abuse, accidents, war, or natural disasters.

What is coping mechanism?
Coping mechanism is a strategy that we use to face difficulties or resurfacing trauma. Generally, there are healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Example of healthy coping mechanism:
– talking to an old friend
– spending time with loved ones
– going to therapy
– having a me time
– taking a break/removing ourselves from the stressful environment
– exercising
– eating healthy food
– finding a new hobby

Example of unhealthy coping mechanism:
– drinking or using mind-altering substances
– binge-eating
– splurging/overspending
– gambling
– avoiding our issues/running from our problems
– reckless behaviour with no regards to the consequences

What is the most common mental health condition?
There are two that one would say off the top of their head: anxiety and depression. These two conditions can also coexist with or be the symptoms of a deeper condition.

What is anxiety?
Anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder) is excessive worry, nervousness, and fear that interferes with someone’s life. It is more complex than feeling nervous on our first day of work, for example.

Occasional worry, anxiety, or nervousness is a part of our survival instinct. They alert us to a possible threat or danger and they help us to be more aware or prepared. However, those who live with anxiety disorder are too focused on the things that worry them.

This can manifest in avoiding a situation that can trigger them, excessive pounding of the heart, excessive sweating, avoiding social interaction, not wanting to leave one’s home, not wanting to go to work or school or fulfill one’s responsibility.

Consequently, anxiety can alter our sleeping pattern (overthinking at night), causing sleeping problems like insomnia, resulting in excessive fatigue or frequent headache, and affecting our mood. At this stage, we definitely need to meet a mental health professional lest the symptoms worsen. A panic attack is a sure sign that one is dealing with anxiety issues.

What is depression?
Depression (clinical depression/major depressive disorder) is a persistently depressed mood, generally accompanied by a loss of interest to things we normally like and a intense feeling of emptiness, helplessness, or hopelessness.

One can have a natural sadness; one can also have a depression. While we can take time and do something interesting to deal with sadness, people who live with depression cannot find excitement or joy in anything.

Oftentimes, they don’t have enough energy to even get out of bed, which is why depression is often mistaken as ‘laziness.’ More symptoms include withdrawing from social interaction, isolating oneself, lack of focus, no sleep or excessive sleep, irritability (easily angry), and suicidal thoughts.

Can mental health conditions be cured?
Therapy with mental health professionals, be it individual or group therapy combined with medications can help someone ‘get back on their feet.’ Healthy lifestyle and supportive environment also play a big role.

What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
Admin receives this question a lot when I open up to other people about my mental health treatment.

A psychiatrist is a mental health professional who handles the medical aspect of a mental health issue, which may include physical and psychological assessment, diagnosis, and prescribing medications.

A psychologist handles the mental and emotional state of an individual. In some cases, a psychologist may issue a referral for us to be diagnosed by a psychiatrist. A psychologist is also commonly known as a therapist.

Can we avoid taking medications?
Most people are concerned of the idea of taking medications because there is a stigma that we can be ‘addicted’ or that the medications will have side effects or cause harm to our internal organs. This is not the case, as long as we take the medication by the prescribed dose and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is something we need to discuss with the mental health professional who is taking care of us, so communicate it openly.

Can someone have suicide ideation/ suicidal thoughts even though they don’t have mental health conditions?
It is possible. Therefore, I would implore you to regularly check on your loved ones and open up about whatever difficulties you are facing. We are not alone.

Some signs if someone may be having suicidal thoughts:
– recently experiencing an emotional shock or facing a big life problem, for example, losing a loved one, having a life-threatening illness, or losing a job
– drastic drop of mood and appetite
– constant mention of death or wanting to end their life
– self-isolation and withdrawing from society
– feeling useless and perceiving oneself as a burden to their loved ones
– oversensitivity (easily sad, angry, or annoyed)
– seeing no hope for the future
– engaging in self-destructive behaviours
– attempting self-harm

This is not an exhaustive list, but it could provide a good timing to start a conversation with a person who might be having suicidal thoughts.

The last but not least, there are several resources that we can use to reach out for help if we feel something is wrong with our mental and emotional well-being. The 119 emergency line is Indonesian first responder for health-related emergency, including suicide attempt.

A general practitioner is someone we can have a preliminary discussion with regarding our mental health conditions. They can give a reference to a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Lucky for us, we have the JKN (national health insurance), so make use of it.

Otherwise, we can try contacting NGOs or independent psychologists.
Into The Light Indonesia provides mental health education; ibunda.id provides online counseling.

Even though our conditions make us think so, remember that we are not alone.

Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-20374968
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-causes-mental-illness
https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma#:~:text=Trauma%20is%20an%20emotional%20response,symptoms%20like%20headaches%20or%20nausea
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559031/
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders/what-are-anxiety-disorders
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/suicide-prevention/feeling-suicidal/suicidal-warning-signs

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Friday, 10 September 2021.

conversation, English, speaking, vocabulary, WOTD

#WOTD #EngTips: How to Speak Eloquently

July 11, 2021 alicesaraswati 1 Comment

Sometimes, when I look at someone who speaks English, I admire how eloquent they are, and sometimes, it’s not a matter of whether they are using a perfect grammar or the right vocabulary. It’s the way they express what they want to say with such confidence.

This article is going to discuss the word ‘eloquent’ and how we can speak eloquently.

Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

‘Eloquent’ means having the ability to use language clearly and effectively. When the word ‘eloquent’ is used to describe a speech or a writing, it can also mean clearly expressing the feelings or meaning.

An eloquent person is good at speaking and persuading people. Words synonymous to eloquent are articulate, expressive, and fluent.

So, the next question we have is how to be eloquent.

From my experience, even though I was interested in learning English and I tried to study from as many textbooks as I could, I still lacked in one thing: practice.

When I was faced with the possibility of speaking English real time, especially to native speakers, I always felt shy and said, “No. Please let other people do it.”

That was the case until I joined a group of friends who encouraged me to speak English.

Learning from reading and writing is a good start, but to be able to speak English eloquently, we have to practice with other people. It’s important to be within a community or a group where everyone encourages us to learn even if we make mistakes.

So, always practice and don’t let our mistakes hold us back.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Sunday, 11 July 2021.

English, talk, tips

#EngTalk #EngTips: How to Master English (2)

June 21, 2021 alicesaraswati 2 Comments

When I was at school, a lot of people complimented me for my English proficiency. Sometimes I got asked, “How do you manage to speak so fluently in English? How can I be like you?”

I never really knew how to answer that questions because to me, learning English was just as natural as learning other subjects, like Mathematics or Geography. So, I was thinking, how can I help other people who have the same questions?

And then it struck me. What motivated me to learn English was that I was interested in the language. I love learning English.

I realised that some people around me perceived English as a scary subject, something that they could never be good at. This is where the first barrier is. By looking at it from a different perspective, we are allowing ourselves the chance to learn.

Keep in mind that learning is a process. We could be successful at one point and then facing difficulties afterwards. The result might not always be linear (always good), as shown in the meme below.

*Progress is not always linear. Credit: @WholesomeMemes on Twitter*

The first step towards improving our English is liking what we are learning. If you find textbooks to be too formal, you can look at popular sources, like movies, songs, memes, or other internet contents. Of course, this should also come with a mindset that popular sources might not be correct, so textbooks and dictionaries are always handy.

Secondly, we should practice what we have learned. All skills will become rusty (not as good as they used to be) if we never use them. Make time to practice, either by reading, speaking, listening, or writing.

My favourite method when I was at school was speaking in English to my classmates who were also interested in learning English. I also attended English courses twice a week.

Third, we have plenty of resources to use in our learning process. Now, I acknowledge that I had quite a privilege because my interests in English were started and then nurtured by my parents who wanted me to succeed.

But, luckily, the internet has now become a lot more powerful than how it used to be when I was at school. Google, YouTube, and other social media platforms have given us an unlimited access to learn anytime at our convenience.

@sarishara: whatever it is, when you decide to learn a foreign language, don’t be afraid to make mistakes & practice it every day. Importantly, don’t take personally what other’s assumption about your learning journey, some people might think you act pretentious. Just keep going, don’t stop

The last but not the least, don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Don’t worry about what other people say about your learning process, unless it’s a constructive feedback. If you want to learn something, no one can stop you.

Some more useful tips from our Twitter followers:
@sarishara: This is my personal experience, I thought self-learning is difficult and frankly, quite lonely. Somehow, I think it would be easier if you learn a foreign language with some friends and having moral support is really matter. It’s beyond joy when you able to reach the goals.

@sshaikhsohil: Best way is to talk with people who speak English well. It doesn’t matter if it’s audio or video call. This makes you think and sometimes when you come new vocabulary it’s easier to know the meaning in context for that particular situation.

@tangerineeye: I play online games so I can talk with people all around the world

@dinomyno: I like to talk in english with myself when I’m alone. It helps me to boost my confidence bcs I’m still shy to talk in english with other people.

@mrivaldi__: My personal experienced to learn english is from music. When i was kid ( 3 sd kalo ga salah ) , my cousins had luar negri songs. Then, i determined to menghapal the lyrics, bcs i really want to sing well. Until now, i love (and still learn) english.

@MissGanis_RIS: Things have changed.. Now kids in some private schools are taught using English for Math, Science, Social studies…They don’t go to courses anymore

@NituYumnam: What’s one valuable piece of advice you received as a student? A professor, owning a collection of encyclopedias and dictionaries, in the 1980s advised:
– Just learn one word a day, refer to dictionaries for its definitions, including its part of speech, word formation, and origin.
– Make a journal. Relate the word with things/people around you, be creative and write a meaningful sentence out of it.
– Show your work to your teacher/parents on a daily basis for approval, correction, and praise.
– Engage those words in your writings at school and verbal communication when applicable.

If this method/practice is adopted by a pupil at an early age, the child would learn 365 words by the end of a year, and over the years, he/she would have learned numerous words when adult. Plus, the enormous amount of knowledge he/she would have gained over the years—you can very well imagine the benefits of this pattern by yourself.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Monday, 21 June 2021.

class, vocabulary, WOTD

#EngVocab: Thou, Thee, Thy, Thine

June 13, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

“Ask and thou shalt receive.”

This sentence has been my mantra for most of my adulthood. It always reminds me that to achieve something, I must be ready to fight for it.

This article is discussing the archaic (old, no longer used) form of ‘you,’ that is ‘thou,’ along with its variations, ‘thee,’ ‘thy,’ and ‘thine.’

As you might have guessed, the word ‘thou’ is a second person singular pronoun. It’s an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious version of ‘you.’ ‘Thou’ is the nominative/subjective case, meaning it’s a subject pronoun.

Example:
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

Meaning:
“You should not lie or spread rumours about your neighbours and the people around you.”

What do we do if we need to address more than one person?
We use ‘ye.’

Example:
“I forgot to introjuice him to ye.” – William Makepeace Thackeray in Vanity Fair (1837).

Our Indonesian followers might be familiar of the Dutch version of this word, ‘jij,’ as it has similar pronunciation.

So, what is ‘thee?’
‘Thee’ is the accusative and dative form of ‘thou,’ which means that it is the object pronoun, the receiving end of an action.

Example:
“I salute Thee, oh, Mother of the Universe.”

Meaning:
“I pay my respects to You, oh, Mother of the Universe.”

Possessive pronouns ‘thy’ and ‘thine’
If we want to refer to something that is owned by the second person, we use ‘thy,’ the possessive adjective pronoun of ‘thou.’ If the possession starts with a vowel, we use ‘thine.’

Example:
“Honour thy parents.”
“Thine eyes shall behold strange things in this land.”

Meaning:
“Honour your parents.”
“Your eyes will see strange things in this land.”

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Sunday, 13 June 2021.

conversation, English, idiom, trivia

#EngTrivia: Spilling the Beans vs. Spilling the Tea

June 1, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

What’s the difference of spilling the beans and spilling the tea?

If you spend enough time on the internet, you’ll find that people use the phrase ‘to spill the tea’ a lot, especially when there is a scandal or a controversy. How does it differ from ‘to spill the beans?’

Quick answer: both can mean the same thing, which is exposing or leaking private information that is not supposed to be made public. However, I tend to use ‘spill the beans’ for something that has an amount of truth in it, while I use ‘spill the tea’ for gossips.

‘Spill the beans’ is believed to have come from an ancient Greek voting system, wherein those in favour of something would put white beans into the jar. Those who opposed would put black ones. It’s not clear what type of beans were used.

If someone knocked over the jar and the beans were spilled, the results were out and were known to public before the voting ended. Thus came the phrase ‘spill the beans’.

We have a much clearer record of ‘spill the tea’. It first appeared in a 1994 non-fiction novel, John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. In it, he interviewed Lady Chablis.

The lady said she avoided being in a close acquaintance with certain men because once the found out the T about her, they tended to become more violent. ‘T’ here stands for truth.

In her autobiography which was published in 1997, Lady Chablis once again used the letter ‘T’ to refer to the truth. Later on, this ‘T’ was officially spelled ‘tea.’

Unlike ‘spill the beans’ that carries some truth in it, the phrase ‘spill the tea’ can mean the truth or gossips. It can also mean our truth/gossips and the truth/gossips about us. So be careful when ‘spilling the hot tea,’ lest we get burnt.

Source:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/tea-slang-meaning-origin
https://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/spill_the_beans.htm

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Tuesday, 1 June 2021.

class, English, grammar, tenses

#EngClass: Inflection

May 23, 2021 alicesaraswati 1 Comment

One of the branches of linguistic is morphology, that is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relation to other words in the same language. In morphology, inflection (also spelled ‘inflexion’) is a process of word formation.

In order to express grammatical categories, such as tenses, numbers, persons, animacy, definiteness, or others, a word is often modified. This modification is called ‘inflection.’

*Inflection as described by Britannica.com (https://www.britannica.com/topic/inflection*)

The inflection of verbs is called ‘conjugation.’
Example:
‘I have been WAIT all morning’ inflected to be ‘I have been WAITING all morning.’
Adding the suffix -ing to the verb ‘wait’ to form present perfect continuous tense is a type of conjugation.

The inflection of other parts of speech, such as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, determiners, participles, prepositions and postpositions, numerals, or articles is called ‘declension.’
Example:
‘I have so many book’ inflected to be ‘I have so many books.’
Adding -s to the noun ‘book’ for it to become its plural form is a type of declension.

‘My house is a lot SMALL than my parents’ house’ inflected to be ‘my house is a lot SMALLER than my parents’ house.’
Adding -er to form a comparative degree is also a declension.

Regular and irregular inflection
Does inflection only come with affixes (imbuhan)?

Not always. We have regular and irregular inflection.
Example:
1. The verb is ‘swim.’
The past form is ‘swam.’
The participle form is ‘swum.’
This is also an inflection, but an irregular one.

2. One CHILD —> many CHILDREN
One WOMAN —> many WOMEN
The changing of the nouns to their plural forms in the example is also an inflection.

Words that follow the regular pattern of inflection, such as adding affixes, are considered regular inflection. Other words that don’t necessarily follow the regular pattern are considered irregular inflection.

Conclusion: inflection is any type of word modifications.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Sunday, 23 May 2021.

class, English, grammar, vocabulary

#EngClass: Fewer vs. Less

May 18, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

When using degree of comparison, we refer to something having larger quantity or greater quality as ‘more.’ This applies to countable and uncountable nouns, which are represented by ‘many’ and ‘much,’ respectively.

In other words, we can use ‘more’ for both countable and uncountable nouns. This is not always the case with comparing two things with one having inferior quantity than the other.

By linguistic prescription/prescriptive grammar, or traditional grammar rules, so to say, ‘fewer’ is used with countable nouns and ‘less’ is used with uncountable nouns.

Example:
“There are fewer people living in this area now.” (‘people’ is a countable noun)
“I try to minimise deep-fried food, that’s why I use less cooking oil now than I used to.” (‘cooking oil’ is an uncountable noun)

When the uncountable nouns are presented with measurement units, we can go with both ‘fewer’ and ‘less,’ although in some cases, using ‘less’ sounds more natural.

Example:
“I drank less than 6 cups of water today. No wonder I felt tired.” (‘6 cups of water’ is a measurement unit)

‘Water’ is an uncountable noun, but in the example, it came with a measurement unit, which is ‘6 cups.’ Using ‘fewer’ is still correct, but it sounds less natural.

‘Less’ is also more generally acceptable to use with nouns that are intangible or inexplicit.

Example:
Forrest Gump said, “One less thing.”
Ariana Grande also sang, “One less problem.”

This is because ‘thing’ and ‘problem’ are still intangible; we don’t have enough information about how many ‘things’ or ‘problems’ the speakers are talking about. What we know is only the quantity of ‘thing’ and ‘problem’ has decreased.

All right, that’s quite a deep dive into the usage of ‘fewer’ and ‘less.’ Hope it helps.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Tuesday, 18 May 2021.

English, talk

#EngTalk: Improving Education System

May 2, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

Happy National Education Day! Selamat Hari Pendidikan Nasional, everyone! One of my wishes for this year’s #Hardiknas is that may we contain the pandemic soon so students and teachers can go back to school in person.

I realise this is a delicate and complicated situations with the risk of students being infected while at school, but I guess we can agree that at the moment, remote learning is not yet on a par with in person attendance.

With that being said, we’d like to invite you to share what your thoughts are on Indonesian educational system and what you would suggest to improve it.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

For a start, I wish students would not have to upload their assignments to social media platforms that can be easily accessed by the general public, as it can pose a threat to their privacy. Private links accessible by the teachers are preferred.

Secondly, many teachers are still earning less than minimum wages, with sometimes the payment being delayed for months. This is definitely something that needs to be fixed.

Now, on to the more practical side. I notice that we are still focusing on ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘true’ or ‘false’ thinking, while the world often presents multi-dimensional situations. Instead, we should give the same attention to the ‘whys’ and ‘hows.’ This will allow students to elaborate their arguments and start thinking from many different perspectives, as well as cultivating critical thinking.

Social media and schools should not be two different, opposing entities. Instead, educational bodies can actively encourage students on how to use social media safely. This could also involve fact-checking to reduce the spread of hoaxes and disinformation.

Next, we have counselor office at school, but if I remember correctly from my school days, being sent to counselor office almost always meant a punishment or a warning letter to give our parents. I just wish that students would actually be confident to open up to the counselors about any issues they are facing, without the fear of being judged. Who knows, a student can secretly be a victim of bullying or can have problems at home with no one to turn to.

It’s also important to bring up discussion about mental and physical health, including our bodily functions. Some discussions are still deemed as taboos, leaving students searching information from non-reliable sources.

The last but not least, education should not only be about results (e.g., marks or grades), but also process. All of these require hard work, for sure, but with commitments from parents, the government, and the educational bodies, we can do this.

Leave us some comments on what you would suggest to improve our educational system.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Sunday, 2 May 2021.

business, English, knowledge, tips

#EngKnowledge: Labour Day 2021 and Improving Working Conditions

May 1, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

The first day of May is internationally celebrated as Labour Day, so let’s take a moment to honour and commemorate those who have struggled and advocated for better working conditions and let’s work harder to create a no-discrimination and safer workplaces for everyone.

We as today’s workers can enjoy around 40-45 hours of work a week (8-9 hours daily), receive minimum wages, social and health benefits, and paid leaves thanks to those who worked hard for these changes in the past.

Does this mean that the work is done for us? As the world is constantly changing, we also need to adapt. There are still works to do to cultivate healthier working conditions. What are those?

International Workers’ Day illustration inspired by Frederick Douglass.
Source: Facebook CWA Local 1033

1. Environmentally-friendly industries
As the climate change poses a threat to everything on earth, we can start by adapting environmentally-friendly policies in our offices. Things like reducing carbon footprints, unplugging devices when not used, maximising natural light, minimising the use of papers and plastic wrappings, as well as giving back to the environment through social works and charities can help.

2. Humanisation
Except for artificial intelligence, all workers are humans and not machine or robots. Sometimes we get tired, we underperform, or we have health issues that could affect our performance. The best way to handle this is to treat our coworkers sympathetically.

3. Open the door
Open more opportunities for people with physical challenges. Try to connect with NGOs that empower people with physical challenges to see if we can give some training and eventually employ them.

4. Stand up against discrimination, harassment, or alleged abuse
Discrimination in workplaces can be in any forms: race, skin colour, ethnicity, gender, or other social backgrounds. Harassment and abuse can also happen in verbal or written forms, from microaggression, bullying, to sexual misconduct. If anything like this happens in the workplace, please stand with the victim and bring up the issue to people team or the higher management.

5. Support career advancement
A good workplace should not only obligate us to come to work and get paid. Trainings and opportunities to learn new skills that can be beneficial to our careers are also important.

6. Interns are workers, too
The year is 2021 and we should have moved past the mindset that interns are paid with working experience. As they usually do a portion of work for the company, they should also receive payment and benefits.

7. Working overtime is not to be glorified
Some still think that working as long as possible, whether it is at the office or from home, is a sign of dedication, while it could be stressful and detrimental to our health in the long run. Remember that burnout is not a badge of honour. Instead, try using our regular working time as effectively and as efficiently as possible so we don’t have to carry the workload to home, to later hours, or to the following days.

8. Leaves are for taking a break
People who are on a leave should take a good rest without their workloads looming over their heads. Whether the employees are single, married, or have children and family of their own, their leaves are for them to use.

9. Medical benefits for workers
This should be of a top priority especially for high-risk jobs. Not only should it cover physical injuries, it will be ideal if the medical benefits also provides support for psychological treatment.

10. Transparency
There should be a clear understanding between the employees and the employers regarding the company’s policy. Policies made should be socialised before applied to allow for any input from the employees.

11. Support for working parents
The needs of working parents, especially mothers, to care for their children as well as provide for the family are often neglected. Instead, we can try to support the parents by allowing a place for children in the office, providing nursing room, or flexible parental leaves for both mothers and fathers.

12. Empower women
There are still many issues related to women and those who identify as women in the workplaces, whether it is discriminative treatment, unequal opportunities, or even pay gap. We could try to allocate a certain percentage of female employees especially in the role of decision-making.

Those are what we can suggest to improve our working conditions. Try to propose them to the people management team in the company that we are working for to see if we can make any changes.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, 1 May 2021.

class, conversation, English, grammar, speaking, vocabulary, writing

#EngClass: Analogy

April 17, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

This article will discuss something that is still related to writing: analogy.

What’s an analogy?
An analogy is a comparison between two similar things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.

In English, there are other purposes of making a comparison, but an analogy emphasises on giving an explanation.

Forming an analogy
To form an analogy, we need to make a comparison between two things, using ‘to be like’ or ‘as (adjective/adverb) as.’

Examples
Now, on to some examples. Here is my favourite analogy in case I need to explain a mental health condition to someone who’s not yet aware of it.

“Telling someone with mental health conditions to be grateful because ‘other people have it worse’ is like giving a candy to someone who just fell and hurt themselves. The candy is tasty, sure, but it doesn’t solve the main problem.”

By saying that sentence, I don’t necessarily mean to give a candy to someone who just fell. Instead, I’m explaining to my interlocutor that to treat mental health issues, we might need to go deeper than giving advices.

“Many people told me to go have fun or travel or treat myself with something nice whenever I’m depressed. I’m thankful for the advice, but it’s like telling me to have fun whilst my leg is broken.”

Another popular, albeit debatable, example of an analogy is this line by Forrest Gump:

“My momma always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.'”

Forrest Gump (1994). Image credit: on the picture

On one hand, the line was meant to say that when opening a box of chocolates, we never know what flavour we will get. This is just like life, when many things are unpredictable.

On the other hand, a box of chocolates contains chocolates, that surely taste similar, so a box of chocolates is not really comparable to the unpredictable life. Which is why some might say that the line could be an example of analogy, but it’s a weak one.

Does an analogy have to be long and detailed?
Not always. Sometimes, it can go just as simple as the following examples:
“My puppy’s coat is as white as snow, so I call it Snowy.”
“The ballerina looks like she’s as light as a feather.”

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, 17 April 2021.

class, English, grammar, vocabulary

#EngClass: ‘Very’ vs. ‘So’ (REVISIT)

April 10, 2021 alicesaraswati Leave a comment

This article is a revisit and rewritten version of #EngClass: “very” vs “so” (2012).

“The weather is very hot.”
“The weather is so hot.”
“The weather is so very hot.”

Is there any difference in using ‘very’ and ‘so’ in a sentence?

1. Adverb of degree
As adverbs of degree/degree adverbs, also known as intensifier (adverbs that tell us the intensity of a state), both ‘very’ and ‘so’ can be used interchangeably. They are followed by adjectives or adverbs.

Example:
Followed by adjective
“The painting is very beautiful.”
“The painting is so beautiful.”

Followed by adverb
“The painting is very nicely done.”
“The painting is so nicely done.”

NOTE:
Some would argue that ‘so’ signifies more intensity than ‘very,’ whilst I personally think that ‘very’ is more intense. Regardless, both uses are correct. However, whilst ‘very’ can be followed by adjective + noun, rarely do we find such use for ‘so.’

Example:
“That is a very beautiful painting.” (common)
“That is a so beautiful painting.” (uncommon)

We can fix the second sentence by moving the article (a/an), but even so, replacing ‘so’ with ‘such’ is more common.

Example:
“That is so beautiful a painting.” (correct, but less common, unless followed by another clause. See point 2: cause and effect)
“That is such a beautiful painting.” (correct and common)

What about ‘so very?’ This form is used to further intensify the situation.
“I’m so very worried about you.”

2. Cause and effect
Even though ‘so… that’ is more commonly used to introduce cause and effect, we can also use ‘very,’ ‘such,’ and ‘too,’ to some extent.

Example:
“The painting was so beautiful that we couldn’t look away.”
“The painting was very beautiful that we couldn’t look away.”

I hope you feel confident now using ‘very’ and ‘so’. Remember that their roles as adverbs of degree or intensifier can be replaced with a more suitable adjective.

Example:
Very/so pretty = beautiful.
Very/so bad = terrible
Very/so cute = adorable, etc.

Compiled by @alicesaraswati for @EnglishTips4U on Saturday, 10 April 2021.