Online English courses in India

In the age of internet people have the option of learning online. We do not need to go to classes if we wish to learn something. This is true for anything that we want to learn. Internet has been in India for quite some time but online learning also known as e-learning is a recent trend in India. E-learning holds a promising future in a country like India where many people cannot afford traditional classes and is not convenient for many people to travel long distances. 

English language learning holds a special significance among Indian people. In today’s time communicating in English is an added benefit whether you want to apply for a job or you want learn English simply for the love of it. Applicants who are able to read, write and speak in English have the higher prospects of getting the job. It has been found that large percentage of youth lack the skill of communicating in spoken and written English during interviews and eventually lose out at the prospect of getting the job. This is because most of the applicants either didn’t have their education in English or they are unable to converse in English with confidence and fluency. 

In this view, many language learning websites have come up offering all kinds of English courses to learners. These days people are turning towards these online learning websites that are faster, easier, more convenient and affordable method of learning. Learning online is faster and easier because information or learning material is available at the click of your mouse whenever you want. It is convenient because the learner can access the website from where ever s/he is (provided s/he has internet access on mobiles or laptops or desktops).

Following are the key features of a good English learning website:

The websites offer course material most of which is free of cost. But if the learner wants to take up a course for a specific duration of time s/he may opt for one by paying a specified amount for it. 

Online courses (ones that are paid) helps you improve on all the four skills that is required for learning any new language namely listening, reading, speaking and writing. 

A good website has lot of exercise material and quizzes which help you to improve your vocabulary, grammar concepts, and pronunciation skills. 

The websites also help you to improve listening and English speaking skills for which the learners require a headset and a microphone. 

Learners have the option taking up the course that best suits their level. Usually, there are multiple courses that are offered by the websites like beginner’s level, intermediary, advanced etc. Before you decide to pay for the course, you will find demo lessons which give you an idea of how the course is like. Only if you find the course promising through the demo lessons you can opt to pay for the English course. 

Some websites also teach through video conferencing. In video conferencing, learners are given time to come online on Skype or some other video conferencing software by the teacher. This way there is face to face learning that is happening between the teacher and the learners. The group might have five to six learners.

How to pronounce

Pronunciation is a vital section of learning a Language. It is essential to know the correct pronunciation in order to have a good command over a language. There are certain rules in English to pronounce the words. You cannot pronounce a words based on its spellings as there are heteronyms which are the words having same spelling but different pronunciation like the words read has different pronunciation with different tenses. It is pronounced as ‘red’ when used in past tense.

Following are some guidelines for correct pronunciation:-

1. Pronunciation of the alphabet ‘Y’ : It is pronounced in the same sound ‘y’ in the words like yet, yummy, yesterday  etc. But at some places ‘Y’ is pronounced as ‘ee’ or ‘ai’.

Example:

It is pronounced as ‘ee’ in the words like copy, tasty, lazy, tricky, naughty, baby etc.

It is pronounced as ‘ai’ in the words like sky, cry, notify, sky, try etc.

2.  Pronunciation of the alphabet ‘C’: It is pronounced like ‘s’ or ‘k’.

It is pronounced like ‘s’ when it is followed by the alphabets ‘e’ or ‘y’.

Examples: city, cycle, ice, cell, cistern, civic etc.

It is pronounced like ‘k’ when it is followed by the vowels  ‘a’, ‘o’, ‘u’, .

Examples: Cat, cap, current, cabbage, country, control, cup etc.

3.  Pronunciation of the alphabet ‘S’: It is usually pronounced as in ‘source’, ‘sun’, ‘serious’.

But it is pronounced as ‘z’ in some words like close, Was, rose, Result, His, boys, girls, as, etc.

In a few words it is also pronounced as ‘zh’ like leisure, pleasure, treasure, whose  etc.

4. Pronunciation of vowels: -

Vowels can be pronounced with a long and a short sound.

 Examples:

Short ‘a’ – Examples: Car, Jar, far, at, sat, bat,

Long ‘a’ - When a word having the vowel ‘a’ ends with the alphabet ‘e’ , the vowel ‘a’ has long sound.

Examples: tape, shape, face, cage, gate, made

Short ‘I’ :  Examples: bid, kid, lid, big, pig, hit, sit, lit

Long ‘I’ - When a word having the vowel ‘i’ ends with the alphabet ‘e’ , the vowel ‘i’ has long sound.

Examples: Kite, Site, Quite, Decide, Reside, Precise etc.

Short ‘o’:

Examples: dog, fog, hot, got, job, not, lot,

Long ‘o’ - When a word having the vowel ‘o’ ends with the alphabet ‘e’ , the vowel ‘o’ has long sound.

Examples: Mode, Rose, Close, Pole, Hope, Rope,

Short ‘u’:

Examples: put, cut, tub, rub, bus, mug , rug etc.

Long ‘u’: When a word having the vowel ‘u’ ends with the alphabet ‘e’ , the vowel ‘u’ has long sound.

Examples: huge, Fuse, Tube, Cube, excuse, misuse etc.

Unpronounceable initials:

In the words starting with ‘kn’ and ‘ps’, leave the initial alphabets and pronounce from the second one.

Examples:

Kn:  Knight is pronounced as “night” and Knife as ‘nife’.

Ps:  Psycho, pseudo,

How to use exclamation mark?

An exclamation mark (!) is used to describe strong emotions or feelings like surprise, anger, grief or joy. They are usually used within quotes. Though they enhance expressing emotions and also add hues to the text, one should avoid using them in formal writing, unless absolutely necessary.

Exclamations marks are not used abundantly. There are certain rules behind their usage. One should keep these rules in mind before deciding whether to use an exclamation mark in a sentence or after a particular word or not. Some of them are as follows:

1.    If you want to describe strong or extreme feelings, then use exclamation mar. For example:
-    She exclaimed, “What a beautiful painting!”
-    “Help!”

2.    Interjections are words used in interjections are usually followed by an exclamation mark. For example:
-    “Hi! How are you?”
-    “Eww! That’s really dirty.”

3.    When ‘what’ or ‘how’ are not used to question, they are often an exclamation and requires an exclamation mark. For example:
-    “What a lovely house!”
-    How great he looked in that movie!

4.    More than one exclamation mark is sometimes used in very informal writings. For example:
-    Listen, don’t be late tonight ok!!!
-    I don’t understand you!!

5.    It is also permissible to use an exclamation mark to draw attention to an interruption. For example:
-    On the (rare!) occasion when you use an abbreviations, be sure to punctuate it properly.

6.    Try to avoid exclamation mark in formal english writing.

Tips to improve vocabulary in English

Learning new words and building a sound vocabulary is an important aspect of learning English. They not only help us socially and professionally, but also add colours to our communications skills by enhancing the power of expression. There are many ways to learn new words and retain them in our memory. Some of them are mentioned below:

1. Sign up for a new word every day: The easiest way to learn new words is to sign up for daily English lessons on the many websites catering to English learning on the web today.  This is an excellent way to enhance English vocabulary. Plus, there are also many vocabulary sites that send some words and their associated meanings every day to your email inbox. Most of the sites will tell you not just the meaning of new words but also how to use them in daily conversations. If you don’t like a particular website, you can always try another site as there are plenty of good sites available on the net. You can also try special software developed for vocabulary enhancement.
2. Try out novel methods like blogging: If building vocabulary through flash cards, reading books, listening to English shows and movies seem old school techniques for you, then you can try something as novel as writing and reading blogs. Writing is an excellent way of improving self expression. Therefore, blogging can help you use the new words that you have been learning till now. You can blog about any topic you like. You can dedicate your blog to a particular topic or subject, or can also try out random topics every day. The choice is yours. All you need to do is write a short post every day or a few days a week and you’ll find that your language is improving leaps and bounds.
3. How about writing a diary?: Some people might feel intimidated about putting their thoughts and details about their life on the internet. This might encroach onto their personal space. Such people can write a personal diary instead of an online diary or blog. A diary has all the advantages of a blog plus it is also private – and it is also portable, i.e., you can carry it around everywhere. In addition to all this, it might also help you in keeping the nostalgia of writing on the paper alive in this age of keyboard typing.
4. Take advantage of the boons of the internet: Your English vocabulary building exercise will anyway include the traditional ways of increasing your stock of words. What you can do side by side is make the most use of the online medium. You can do so by downloading audio books and speech radios, listening to podcasts and reading e-books. Audio books, speech radios and podcasts are particularly beneficial because you learn not only the new word, but also how to correctly pronounce it.