November 23, 2009
Need to brush up on English marketing terms for a project, meeting or an upcoming trip? Here’s a list of common marketing vocabulary that every ESL speaker should have learned from their business language software and are keeping in their arsenal.
Brand. A noun that denotes a type of product made by a particular company (e.g. “Our brand of soap was first in sales last year.”)
Brand Identity. A noun that encapsulates how a company wants consumers to see their products. Are you a luxury item, a product for technical types, a bargain or something intended for women?
Brand Image. In contrast, with “brand identity,” this refers to how consumers actually perceive your products (e.g. “We need to change our brand image.”).
Launch. A verb that’s used to refer to the introduction of a new product, along with a complete advertising and marketing effort (e.g. “During the launch of our new product next month..”).
Consumer. A noun that refers to a person who buys the company’s products (good and services)both in retail and wholesale (e.g.”Our consumers were unhappy with the price hike.”).
End User. A noun that refers to a consumer who uses a product, instead of selling it (e.g. “The end user feedback was very positive.”).
Market Research. A noun that describes the process of collecting and processing information about customers, primarily concerning their feelings and attitudes about a particular product (e.g. “Market research indicates that consumers want more of the old version.”)
Public Relations. A noun that refers to the act of creating and maintaining a positive image for your company in the eyes of both customers and the general public.
June 22, 2009
The English language has one of the largest vocabulary among the world’s languages, with close to one million word items estimated to be available in its arsenal. As such, mastering the English vocabulary typically takes a very long time, especially for those starting their English education from scratch.
Despite that, gaining a good enough mastery of the English lexicon isn’t an impossible task. In fact, if you put in the time for study and use the proper tools, you might just surprise yourself with the amount of vocabulary you find yourself equipped with.
One way of enriching your facility with the English language is to write in the vernacular on a frequent basis, all while employing new words within your sentences every time. Whenever you sit down to write something in English, whether an email or a essay, put the thesaurus included with your language software to good use, employing it to help you discover new words to express your ideas.
While vocabulary mastery isn’t the easiest thing in the world, it’s definitely something you can integrate into your everyday life, making it an achievable goal to aim for. Apart from the exhaustive thesaurus, writing software (such as Whitesmoke) usually includes a suggestion feature that recommends replacement words and phrases, for both clarity and better reading.
June 2, 2009
When practicing your English pronunciation, one of the tricky areas are those of silent letters. While the rules governing which sounds remain unpronounced can feel arbitrary, the English language actually follows strict guidelines when it comes to silent letters. Use this list as a guide whenever you’re practicing your vocabulary skills, either in front of a language learning software or just by yourself.
- The letter B is silent when it’s at the end of the word and is immediately preceded by the letter M (e.g. dumb, comb).
- The letter C is silent only in words ending in “scle” (e.g. muscle).
- The letter D is silent in only three words of the language, namely sandwich, Wednesday and hendkerchief.
- The letter E is silent when used at the end of words and is immediately preceded by a consonant (e.g. mine, drive).
- The letter G is silent when followed by N (e.g. foreign, sign).
- The letters G and H are silent when used together and are followed by T (e.g. daughter, right).
- The letter H is silent when used after W (e.g. whether, why) and, sometimes, when used in the beginning of words, followed by a vowel (not always, though, so it’s tricky).
- The letter K is silent when followed by the letter N at the start of a word (e.g. knife, knowledge).
- The letter L is silent when used before the following letters: D, F, K, L and M (e.g. talk, calm).
- The letter N is silent when followed by M at the end of a word (e.g. hymn).
- The letter P is not pronounced at the beginning of words when it is followed by N or S (e.g. psychiatrist, pneumatic).
- The letter S is not pronounced only in the following words: island, isle.
- The letter U is not pronounced when used after G and before the following vowels: I, E (e.g. guitar, guest).
- The letter W is not pronounced when used at the start of a word and followed by the letter R (e.g. wrangler, wrong). It also isn’t pronounced when used in the following pronouns: who, whose, whom.
April 27, 2009
A powerful vocabulary usually takes time and experience to build. While that holds true for most folks, it doesn’t mean you can’t help accelerate the process a bit along the way. These practical tips should help you develop a robust vocabulary store faster than your average English learner.
1. Derive relationships
Words based on a common theme or concept are easier to memorize than those with no concept to tie them together. Most vocabulary lessons found on language learning software are structured this way for a reason – they work exceptionally well.
2. Write it down
Writing, for some reason, has a way of imprinting words into your consciousness. Instead of just reading words off a page, try putting them to paper yourself – the effect can be downright amazing.
3. Use your creativity
Employ your creative side and relate words to drawings, photographs, dance moves or whatever art form feels most natural to you. This can create a relationship that will help you pull out the right words at just the right time – most of the time, anyway.
4. Find relevance
Study words that carry a certain relevance to certain areas of your life. If you’re into basketball, for instance, words that relate to the game will usually prove easier to memorize than words often used in engineering pursuits. Whatever hobby, life event or situation carries meaning for you, use them to your advantage in vocabulary-building.
5. Be reasonable
Your vocabulary is not going to go from zero to hero in one day. As such, set reasonable goals that you can succeed in to build your confidence. That will prove 10 times better than failing over and over while trying to pursue unrealistic ideals.
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