Mind Our English

MIND OUR ENGLISH

The Star's Mind Our English Campaign

Co-ordinated by SIMRIT KAUR
Let's face it. Our English could do with a leg up. Especially in this fast-paced world of the Internet, when access to knowledge requires proficiency in the language. That is why The Star has, since April 2001, embarked on a campaign to promote the correct use of English. As we are inviting every Malaysian to come in with us on this, we're calling our campaign Mind Our English. The campaign is being promoted in our print version but you can also check us out on this site where we will include useful links and also multi-media clips when appropriate. To get in touch with the campaign people, email english@thestar.com.my

Feb 10: Out with the ‘R’ word

The controversy over a politician’s use of ‘retarded’ has led to a movement to ban the word altogether.

Feb 10: The frog prince

Fun With Puns: By OH TEIK THEAM

Feb 5: Mind your own language

Readers write in and share their opinion.

Feb 4: Be, been and being

Your Questions Answered: By FADZILAH AMIN.

Feb 4: Rain check surprise

Dr Lim Chin Lam of Penang writes in.

Feb 3: Bad teacher

HOW can he teach good English when the grammar in his advertisement is wrong? – Maarof

Jan 29: Oh oh! Oh no! Onomatopoeia

Turning sounds into words and the use of such words.

Jan 29: Capsize as a noun

Fadzillah Amin answers the question from our reader - nkkhoo.

Jan 28: Revert revisited

Your Questions Answered: By FADZILAH AMIN

Jan 27: The bank teller

IDIOMANIA - By OH TEIK THEAM

Jan 22: Open channel

Sent in by our readers.

Jan 21: Anything or everything?

Yout questions answered by FADZILAH AMIN

Jan 20: Preposition primer

‘Of’, ‘to’ and ‘in’ are among the 10 most frequently used words in English.

Jan 20: Hints to creativity

WORDWISE - By SH LOKE

Jan 15: Nicknaming time

Discusses possible names for the current decade.

Jan 14: Articles and acronyms

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN.

Jan 13: Open channel

Sent in by our readers.

Jan 8: Ban these words

Tweets, sexting ‘unfriended’ in US banned word list.

Jan 7: Stepbrother and half-brother

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN.

Jan 7: More about modifiers

From Dr Lim Chin Lam, Penang.

Jan 1: Participles gone wrong

Continues from Part One and shows where participles and participial phrases can go wrong.

Dec 31: Cleft sentences

Your questions answered by FADZILAH AMIN

Dec 25: Open channel

Sent in by our readers.

Dec 24: Mind matters

Your Questions Answered: By FADZILAH AMIN

Dec 23: Phone tutor

Mobile phone English lessons provide a passport to a better life.

Dec 18: Modifiers awry

The generic term modifier and how adverbs, adjectives, and participles – as well as their phrases – can go awry or ‘dangle’.

Dec 18: Contest winners

MOST people got caught out by the second question in the MOE Logomania Contest. To the statement, “When you give a really loud scream, you’ll scream like a .....” Instead of the correct answer, banshee, many wrote hyena, siren, baby and girl instead.

Dec 17: ‘Spend’ as a noun

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN

Dec 10: Bring and take

Your questions answered by FADZILAH AMIN.

Dec 9: A matter of choice

British and American English have some distinct differences.

Dec 4: The ‘airy’ suffixes

Ambling down the road of etymology, DR LIM CHIN LAM picked up some notes about the three groups of suffixes, as elaborated here.

Dec 3: When to use bath and shower

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN

Dec 2: Words from the Good Book

Everyday words and phrases that originated from the Bible.

Dec 2: Open channel

From Khim.

Nov 26: Tenor and tenure

Your questions and answered by FADZILAH AMIN

Nov 25: Words of the decade

Many new words and phrases this decade are related to technology.

Nov 25: Open Channel

Sent in by our readers.

Nov 20: More soundbites

RAMBLINGS - By DR LIM CHIN LAM

Nov 19: Tense confusion

Your questions answered by FADZILAH AMIN.

Nov 13: Latin quips and quotes

Many Latin expressions have survived the test of time.

Nov 12: Why ‘airlines’?

Your Questions Answered: By FADZILAH AMIN.

Nov 11: Fun with synonyms

EACH sentence here contains a synonym of the italicised word(s), spelt out in consecutive letters. Can you spot it?

Nov 6: Why ‘y’ is special

On why, out of the 26 letters of the English alphabet, this one is special.

Nov 5: Pythagoras’ theorem

Fadzilah Amin explains how this is pronounced.

Nov 4: Getting it right

Notes from the Language underground

Oct 29: Buy more house?

Your Questions Answered: By FADZILAH AMIN

Oct 28: The whole enchilada

There is a wealth of food-related phrases that add flavour to the English language.

Oct 23: Flexibility – and beyond?

RAMBLINGS - By DR LIM CHIN LAM

Oct 22: Error in PMR paper

Your Questions Answered: by FADZILAH AMIN

Oct 21: Underworld lingo

Criminal jargon has become part of our everyday lexicon.

Oct 15: Prescribe vs proscribe

Your Questions Answered: By FADZILAH AMIN

Oct 15: Look and Learn

Mistakes spotted by our readers.

Oct 14: Out of the blue

Idiomatic expressions add seasoning to one’s language, but should be used judiciously.

Oct 14: Point of view

Many different words can be used to describe the way we look at things. Test your vocabulary skills with this exercise.

Oct 9: Combination words

Often I wonder how easy it is for the mind to wander and ramble and delight over the vast terrain that is the English language. It is quite another thing to gather the interesting bits and pieces and put them together in an article – which brings me to one aspect of etymology, viz. combination as a strategy in word-building.

Oct 8: I, who am ...

Your Questions Answered by FADZILAH AMIN 

Oct 7: Be flexible

Some words have broad meanings.

Oct 7: More on expletives

From Dr Lim Chin Lam, Penang

Oct 2: Troublesome words

In his introduction Bill Bryson states that the purpose of the book Troublesome Words is to explain distinctions between words that are easily confused in usage.

Oct 2: Look and Learn

From David Yeoh AND Ong Eng Hock

Oct 1: Hook, line and sinker

What is a ‘sinker’? Fadzilah Amin answers this, and other queries from readers.

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