Level-II_Reflection_0829

Exercise of “My Thesaurus” was wonderful to learn. When I started exercise, I thought that this is an exercise of synonyms. Looking it from a different angle, I comprehend that it was not just an exercise to find synonyms, but rather a tool to bring variety of words in writing. With the help of words like this, we can express our thoughts very precisely (also called as crisp writing). Generally it happens while delivering speech that person speaks longer sentence to express his thoughts. Audience can easily judge that he is hunting for words. If person is having good amount of vocabulary in hand then he can pass clear and precise message to the recipient. Even communication may become more effective. Especially while delivering presentation at a higher level all these things are very important. We all have seen presentation of Santosh Nair, where in for a word “Devotion” he has used several adjectives and synonyms like (Dedication, Killer instinct, patience, commitment, loyalty, affection, fidelity etc…) and made his presentation effective that is what we all know about.

Presentation on different topics of Prof. Randy Pausch was really nice one. Over and above a story, it was a reality. In different presentations, I observed variety in way of delivery. Different way of presentation by Payal was remarkable. Even we could judge very easily who did preparation and who did last time preparation. Some members felt very serious at the time of delivery. Sanjay has rightly said “Seriousness should be there in the preparation not in the presentation”.

The learning objective from the story was usage of idioms, way of thinking, planning and looking a dream. I should ask question to my self”Do I have dream? I so, then am I working on it?” Why Prof. Randy did all those things when he was a limited time period to live? He could enjoy his family life. How Prof. Randy was different from others? Questions are quite alarming. He was the person who saw dreams and fulfilled all his dreams. He was thinking that no one can stop you from watching the dream. By ding this thing, he wanted to show his children who may remember him even after his death. What a deep thinking….!

Seema and Nehal have delivered presentation today. Content was good however variety needs to brought in delivery. Both of them were loosing eye contact and standing at the corner. Even one minute presentation of Nehal was better than his presentation. Q & A session could have been handled effectively. There was no need to give answer of Ankur’s question which has no relevance with topic. Lacking of aggressiveness and feeling of nervousness were areas call for improvement. In case of Seema, she did lesser use of PPT and more focused on delivery part. It is worthwhile to quote example of presentation of Prof. Randy Pausch here. He has written that he was very nervous before delivering presentation. Even he was not finding a topic since last three months and how he made it more interesting that is what we all have seen about.

Level-II_Reflection_0826

We learned formal and informal way of communication through Asia Pacific Video. While speaking, we use informal words and abbreviate combinations (Eg. We’ll). During the course of writing we use formal words. To make communication stronger, we should bring improvement in our writing style. As mentioned in the earlier blog, we don’t speak words in the way in which we write and vice versa. Certain language choices, words and structures are more formal than others and are reserved for more formal situations. I learned as to how I can bring development in writing by using formal words. E.g.; Rise is less formal than expansion. In a real scenario, we normally speak and write in informal language which may not turn in to effective writing.


Presentations were given by Hiren and Alpesh. Based past feedback on presentations given, I found pros and cons in both presentations. Presentation of Hiren felt better than Alpesh. Excessive usage of some of the words defeats the purpose. In presentation of Hiren, I observed that pauses are reduced and still he should make effort to bring further improvement. Frequent usage of “Right”, “ok?” defeats the purpose. He should still focus more on formulation of sentences and avoid grammatical mistakes. He needs to maintain eye contact. On the other hand, his charm was really good and he did good job in delivering presentation with the help of lesser number of slides.

Lots of improvement calls for presentation of Alpesh. Eye contact was not proper and lacking in charm. He was delivering presentation on Performance Measurement System where as he was frequently speaking “Performance Management system”. He stood at a corner. Movement was lacking. He has not done audience analysis and putting more stress on words was making presentation boring. He applied smart way to handle Q/A session. Overall I would say that it calls for lot of improvement.

Whatever feedback received by individual member in Task-2 were shared internally. While going though feedback, we came to know that almost all were lacking in mentioning flow of thoughts/ideas. Even I did one technical mistake for which I haven’t thought that some one can do critical analysis like this. I should cite example of AI after example of calculator. Some of the words I’ve used were redundant. I should avoid false starts like “There may be chances”. I’ll take care of feedback generally we’ve received in my next draft.

Level-II_Reflection_0822

Session started with a small test on “Bagging the question”. I find it a brainstorming exercise to justify how much through reading we have done. I like different ways of getting question. This exercise may especially useful while delivering presentation, explaining guidelines, where it is significant for us to confirm better understanding of audience. I like tricks to get answer in assertive way, which is a one sort of convincing audience on our approach/thinking.

Again feedback exercise on blog was carried out in the session. Feedback exercise has alerted us. I could dig out carelessness out of it.Several pros and cons were discussed but the learning objective from the session was to be creative and careful while writing blog. To avoid mistakes, it would be a best practice to review our writing once.

Looking to carelessness in submitting assignment, we have been asked to design norms. I understand how Sanjay would be aggrieved because of such sort of carelessness of senior level Managers like us. I believe that it is not important which type of norms we are preparing but how much we follow it. It is rightly said, “Rules are easy to frame but difficult to follow”.

It was good effort from Ankur to deliver presentation w/o PPT. Every one was expecting PPT but he applied different view. Of course, he could make it more interactive and live by sharing his experience and giving examples to audience. Still it was a good effort on his part to memorize the whole presentation. He could do better if he would have managed his time and created some hypothetical scenario. Even no real example of writing a business plan was given in whole of his presentation. He was bit disturbed with my smiling faceJ but still I appreciate Ankur for keeping smile through presentation.

I saw charm in the presentation of Pragnesh. He has tried his best to make it more and more interactive by asking questions but unfortunately he didn’t get proper response. I believe that such situation gives opportunity to presenter to tackle situation.

Level-II_Reflection_0819

Asia Pacific Video:

Pronunciation exercise we learned sometimes back was very helpful. In a common parlance, we don’t speak word in the way in which we write. To justify a difference, we heard different sentences and came to know how pronunciation differs based on usage of “strong form” and “weak form”. Some times back, we have carried out exercise on sounds (44 sounds). I had a question at that time as to how we can identify sound we need to use? In today’s session, I came to know the real nexus. Based on the session, I feel that now I will be able to encode some of the words from “The Office Video” and the video of “Prof. Randy Pausch”.

I want to share one funny thing here. After going through the session, I’ve tried to apply strong forms during the course of conversation with colleague. He requested to repeat the sentence for a twice/thrice. I realized there that I’ve properly understood and learned itJ.

Panel Discussion on Inflation:

Basically inflation is not my favorite topic. However we (me and Ankur) got the role as per our choice. Role has encouraged us to capture as many details as we can. We have gathered lot of stuff to argue and put others in to defensive but because of time constraint, we could not be able to put all points in to discussion. There was a wonderful participation by all the groups. Of course within the time limit allowed to us, we remained successful to put majority of our points among them. I am excited to see the video and get a “critical” feedback from Sanjay in the next session.

Blog writing:

It was a brain storming exercise for us to see how we commit mistakes while writing a blog. Sanjay gave sample of blog to identify mistakes. We could trace out mistakes. I think this will alert us to review once again whatever we have written. Next time we will receive sample blog with name of candidate. Considering the same, I’ve reviewed writing of my blog for a twiceJ.

Well, take out from this exercise is to review our writing once again. This exercise will help us to find out our own mistakes in formulation of sentence.

Level-II_Reflection_0808

The guests of the session were Nate Haskins and Khurram Shahzad. Class started by recapitulating activities done in the last session. Members were divided in to two groups and they need to scribble down activities carried out in the last session. Both the groups have jotted down their points in to separate sheets. At the end, we observed that several things were missed out by the other group to cover. I think the purpose behind the activity was to taste memory power.

I liked the video on Vitamin D & Cancer. The learning objective was Facts & Opinions. Based on usage of some of the phrases in to a sentence justify as to whether it is a fact or an opinion. Phrases generally used to frame an opinion are Believe/think/feel.

Secondly, we’ve started with a grammar exercise where in we learned use of some model verbs like as; can, could, may, might, should, must etc. I learned as to where I can use those model verbs. While speaking/writing, generally I was not taking much care about using specific verbs because I was not finding major difference among them. My intention was just to convey the message. Here I learned as to when and how I can use Model Verbs like as; Can, May etc… Exercise of Episode 2 Vitamin D-made all my doubts clear after lots of debates especially where I was wrong.

There was a turn of three members (Me, Chirag and Jasveer) to deliver presentation on topics already assigned. After the presentation, hordes of conversation took place. I acknowledge feedback given by the group as well as Sanjay to bring improvement on the areas specified. As per the feedback, I still need to bring improvement in handling questions bring an improvement on pronunciation. I will certainly work on feedback received and make sure that in my next presentation those two things are completely vanished.

We got glimpse of activities to be done in the next session. In next session we have to do panel discussion where in myself and Ankur have to play role of businessman. This will be a thrilling exercise for both of us to work upon. We have gathered different information to discuss.

Level-II_Reflection_08/05

Discussion on Video-The Office-2: As far as conversation is concerned, I find Part 2 more difficult than 1 in understanding pronunciation. Speed of conversation found little faster than first. After repeating video again and again, I could be able to trace some of the words spoken by David and Gareth. In addition to conversation I’ve noticed use of compound, collocation and idiom which we used in the session of 7/31. As such it was an amusing video which thrown lots of points for discussion among us like as: Handling appraisal process, misunderstanding, passing on wisdom truth, dealing with subordinates etc.

Video of Study English: While learning verb, adverb, noun, pronoun with the help of video, I found that I came back to my schooling days. I find it more useful and meaningful exercise. I could easily understand the way in which an example of word “Crime” was given in the video. Spelling is very important in studying and therefore one should be cognizant with related association. While talking about “Association”, there are two types of association as under:

Semantic Association-Associated with meaning
Phonetic Association-Associated with sounds

I learned about different pronunciations. In US, generally a word comes up with double spellings like: (Offence) then they pronounces both the spellings separately where as we speak both the spelling together. (E.g. electronically, harassment, different etc…). Some of the tips given in the presentation to remember words were really meaningful and I find it useful. It’s a six step process elucidated as under:

1) Write down new words

2) Check spelling

3) Find other words that belong to the same family

4) Speak loudly

5) Write down 5 times

6) Pronounce it.

Video of Prof. Pausch: It was a great learning experience for me to capture words from his speedy speech. We’ve seen clipping of about 10-15 minutes out of video of approx 1.2 hours. I’ve observed his body language; spreading humor even in the sad situation. The humor he has catered within the audience by giving an example of “Mackintosh” was awesome. Most important thing touched me over and above presentation is his level of confidence. He knows that he is going to alive for 3 months only because of brain tumor; he has delivered speech so energetically which was really remarkable.

Level-II_Reflection_07/31

Corpus: Words have different meanings. Unless we put into practice, we can’t comprehend where and how effectively we can apply. In the second session, an exercise of spelling was given to us. The learning objective was to know the connotation (synonyms and antonyms) and memorize it. Today, Sanjay gave brief overview about website of www.americancorpus.org (The Corpus of Contemporary American English-COCA). It was a wonderful learning experience for me to know where and how words have applied in different situations. I’ve gone through site as directed by Sanjay and learned it’s different application.

Graph Reading : Initially when this exercise was given for homework, I thought, it would be a same exercise for me, which I learned during Sanjay’s written English classes. But the way in which session on graph reading went ahead, I find it totally different. I really enjoyed the session. Graph reading was backed by a technical analysis. I was partially successful in doing technical analysis. Although I didn’t find enough clues from the charts to do analyses further. I was successful in comparing first two charts but could not encompass comparison of four charts together. After a lot of discussion, it gave an insight as to how charts can be interlinked and compared. Almost all of us failed to do inter-comparison of charts. It was a great learning experience when Sanjay shown technique to do analysis. It gave an imminent as to how critical analysis should be done based on details available. If graphs are shown to a layman, he will focus simply on diagrams and data. A person from a technical background should use coherence in written English.

Level-II_Reflection_7/29

Business Pronunciation: It was a great exercise to pronounce different words. I learned on which word I should put stress to pronounce properly. I learned three sounds /p/ /t/ /k/ having two verities:

(i) Aspirated and

(ii) Non-Aspirated.

I learned the basic difference between them. The first one encompasses sound to be pronounced with extra puff of air and the other is ordinary sound. In a regular course of action, I was not emphasizing on such things. I learned where I was committing mistakes during the course of conversation.

Video of Human Rights: It gave insight in to observing things based on videos. Videos were throwing lots of messages. I learned to interpretate them based on, using wrong English in advertisement, expressions, dialogues, colour, background music etc. The real learning part in all those videos is to develop critical observation power. It gives insight in to critically observing message/theme behind it. Video presentation makes the proverb true “Action speaks louder than words”.

Grammar: It is rightly said that we write English in the way we speak. We learned how we are making lot of common mistake in communication. We commonly use word “having” “getting” etc. I came to know that there is no word “having” but this is wrong English which is usually spoken and accepted. I also learned the difference between Present Tense, Past Tense and Past Participant. An Example of: when I reached to station, train had already been left” made my all doubts clear.

Level-II_Reflection_07/25

Video on Human Rights: It was a video of around 2-3 minutes and conveying quintessence of Human rights. I learned from the video of presenting things in an effective way within a span of 2-3 minutes. There should be a creativity to explore thoughts by way of advertisement or clipping like this. Sanjay has cited one another example of advertisement of a Bike. It’s nothing but expressing of thoughts in an effective way. Whenever I will see video I will focus on critically observing dialogues, background, dressing, music and the most importantly understanding theme.

Vocabulary Test: It was a great learning exercise. Of course I can’t escape from appraising in this way only. At the same time I would acknowledge that I was not so good on vocabulary part. The way in which it was played, was wonderful. There was ambiguity in some of the words. I’ve never tried to use new vocabulary. In a nutshell “I would say I was using the words which I had but never tried to earn more and more words and put in to my bucket”. My attempt will be to apply those words in a daily routine and memorize it. I think that’s only the solution. I would admit, that as a stepping-stone, I’ve used some of the words this reflection.

Tenses: The story of “Kanhaya” was all about using of present tense. It gave an insight as to how we can use grammar to make sure that sentence may not feel bad. It is an experience that we are writing in the way what we speak. E.g. Letter of Gopal. That leaves a bad impression. I don’t love grammar but really I enjoyed the session the way it was explained. By way of different examples, I learned as to how we are using grammar in a wrong manner. I’ll ameliorate by working on it. Using of OWN ESL was a great exercise of learning English. One good thing I learned is use of HAVING. It’s an improper use of grammar and we are used to use improper grammar.

Blog Writing: It’s a reflection diary and based on feedback received from Sanjay, I tried to implement here. I was using “We” rather than I. I should mention what I felt. I will do my best in forthcoming reflections to implement this.

Level-II_Reflection_07/22

Discussion Skills: In a common parlance, it is seen during the course of general discussion or in a meeting, that a person who speaks for a longer duration or loudly attracts attention of others. In a professional environment, this notion may not hold true. It's immaterial as to how much you are speaking, rather how much effective it is? The learning objective from the game (game of thread) we have played is to understand how many times we have given chance to others to speak or express his/their thoughts.

During the course of conversation, one should use phrases to express certainty or uncertainty of any incident. It expresses thoughts as to how much one is confident/assertive on his expressions. Normally we give emphasize on vocabulary or grammar while speaking. Using of phrases makes the task very simpler and easy for recipient to understand.

Discussion on clipping of "The Office": Keeping the other funny things aside, I would like to emphasize on the crux. The learning objective here is use of Phrase/expressions during the course of discussion with David (E.g.: Could you...? I mean..., I'd say etc...).

Belief on learning English: Different heads, different opinions. May be it's a myth. What I feel is...learning of language is a continuous process and it has nothing to do with age, sex, region or education. I firmly believe that untiring effort to learn English as a language (rather as a subject) may lead to sure success.

Level-II_Reflection_07/18

Control a Conversation:Generally during the course of conversation with foreigners, it's observed that either some of the words are skipped to hear because of speed or lack of understadning their ascent. Here the best way to overcome the situation is to use phrases that we leared during the session. It's having a vital importance because these are the usual terminilogies which are being used to communicate in a US ascent. Of course over usage may pose difficulty too.I believe, at the learning stage it is good to use these phrases to know the real meaning or proper understanding of word/sentence. In a practical scenario, over using may create wrong impression on the other person.