EDUCATION OR EXPERIENCE

The debate between education and experience is quite old. It is very difficult to say what is more important – education or experience, as they both have their own place in a person’s career ladder.

It is said that experience is the best teacher. There is no other great teacher as that of life. It teaches us practical realities of the world. However, having mere experience has limitations. A person with only experience and no education reaches the saturation point in his career very soon.
A professional qualification supports the inherent skills of a person to do his job effectively. It is a very essential to have a formal degree. Most employers prefer candidates with college degrees as they associate formal education with essential characteristics as that of good interpersonal skills, intelligence, good analytical skills, organizational skills etc. Formal education helps employees improve their potential in future.

However, people with mere degrees and no experience may find it difficult to handle the pressure at work and do their job successfully. It is good to have hands on experience of a job along with a professional degree.

Nobody is born with experience. One has to begin somewhere. A fresher may not have any work experience when he/she begins to work. He tries to apply what he has learnt in college while working for the first time. Here, he learns to put theory into practice. The biggest lesson one learns in his previous years of work is the difference between theory and practice. Experience changes people a lot after they start working. It helps them develop and grow not only professionally but also personally. They realize the importance of good communication skills at work and try to improve their communication skills. They also realize the need to keep their subject knowledge updated.

Thus, experience is nothing but education obtained outside the classroom. Whatever we learn outside our classroom trough trial and error is our experience. Both teach us but with a difference. Formal education paves way to experience and both further pave way to a successful life. They help us achieve our full potential as human beings. We need to strike a fine balance of education and experience to lead a successful and happy life. Most employers prefer to hire candidates with fine balance of education and experience.


Furthermore, one should concentrate on identifying and developing the required qualities that help him to achieve his full potential in his career and life. These qualities include intelligence, wisdom, good interpersonal skills, communication skills, analytical skills, organizational skills etc. He should ask himself whether the required competencies can be obtained through the process of earning a degree or can be acquired through experiences.
Education and experience are means to obtain these qualities. Developing these qualities is more important and not the means.

Thus, both formal education and experience play a very important role in a person’s career and life. They help him develop the inherent qualities in him which help him achieve his full potential as a human being. They both have their own distinct place in their life.

SIMPLE PAST AND PAST CONTINUOUS

Simple past tense is used when we want to refer to an action or event completed in the past. For example, a. I watched TV yesterday.
b. My friend called me yesterday.
c. He went to Mumbai on Monday.
d. I saw him at the supermarket.

Past tense form of the verb is used in past simple. For example,
Regular verb: watch – watched
call – called
Irregular verbs: go – went
see – saw

Past continuous is used to refer to an action or activity going on at a specific time in the past.
For example, a. I was watching TV at 9.30 pm yesterday.
b. They were dancing at 10 o’clock.
c. You were shopping.
d. He was helping me.

We use ‘was / were + -ing form of the verb’ in past continuous. For example,
I/He/She/It/Singular noun – was watching
We/ You/ They/ Plural noun- were watching

Using tenses alone is very easy. Challenge lies in using different tenses in context with each other. Consider the following example situation.

“ I started watching TV at 9 pm and finished it at 10 pm. I watched TV
from 9pm to 10 pm. I was watching TV at 9.30 pm. My friend called me
at 9.30 pm., i.e., the action of watching TV was already in progress
when my friend called me.”

So here we have two actions:
a. I was watching TV at 9.30 pm.
b. My friend called me at 9.30 pm.

We can combine these two sentences by using the connectors when or while. For example,
a. When my friend called me, I was watching TV.
b. My friend called me while I was watching TV.
Thus, the connector ‘when’ is used with simple past and the connector ‘while’ is used with past continuous.

Exercise:

Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with the appropriate form of the verb given in the bracket.

1. I _____ (go) to bed late last night.
2. When I arrived at the office, Jane and Paul ________ (work) at their desks.
3. I _____ (open) the window because it was hot.
4. The phone _______ (ring) while Sue _____ (cook) the dinner.
5. What ______ (you/do) at 6 o’clock last Sunday morning.

My Article

Commonly Made Mistakes in English

COMMONLY MADE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH

Language teaching practice often takes into consideration the first language interference as the reason of many errors made by learners while learning English as a second language.  They tend to superimpose their first language habits onto the second language consciously or unconsciously.  Of course, the first language influence is not the only reason for the mistakes committed by the second language learners of English. Thus, all learners of English make some mistakes while learning English as a second or foreign language.  These mistakes happen in the area of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.

Let’s discuss some of the commonly made mistakes that learners make while learning English as a second or foreign language.

1.      * He is angry on me.

In English you are not angry on somebody, you are angry with somebody.

So the correct sentence would be,

He is angry with me.

2.      * Mary is married with John.

It is not married with someone but married to someone.  So the correct sentence would be,

Mary is married to John.

3.      * I called him yesterday night.

It is not yesterday night but last night.  So the correct sentence would be,

I called him last night.

4.      * Tina spoke to me today morning.

It is not today morning but this morning. So the correct sentence would be,

Tina spoke to me this morning.

5.      * I am agree with you.

The correct sentence is,

I agree with you.

6.      * He play football everyday.

We are suppose to use –s form of the verb (plays) with third person singular in simple present. So the correct sentence would be,

He plays football everyday.

7.      * I didn’t spoke to him.

When we make negative of the past simple, we use did and the base form of the main verb (not the past tense form). The correct sentence would be,

I didn’t speak to him.

8.      * I am teaching from 2004.

To talk about an activity started in the past and still going on, present perfect continuous (have/has + been + -ing form of the verb) is used. And the preposition since is used before the starting point and not from. The correct sentence is

I have been teaching since 2004.

9.      * I am studying from two hours.

To talk about an activity started in the past and still going on, present perfect continuous (have/has + been + -ing form of the verb) is used. And the preposition for is used before duration  and not from. So the correct sentence would be

I have been studying for two hours.

10.  * I am understanding you.

The state verbs are not used with –ing form.  So instead of the present continuous, present simple is used for these verbs. So the correct sentence is

I understand you.

Non-native speakers of English often consider it their right to take liberty with the language as long as the intended meaning is conveyed to the receiver. But the intended meaning can be communicated more effectively if one speaks the language appropriately. The abovementioned errors can be avoided if one is  aware and careful while speaking English.  No matter how good one is at English, there is always a scope for improvement.

At, On and In

At, On and In

When speak any language, we either speak about past time, present time or future time. We make references to time through the use of appropriate forms of verbs and other lexical items (adverbs and prepositions of time). In my previous article ‘Developing a Sense of Past, Present and Future’, I have discussed the forms of verbs.  In the present article, I am going to discuss the use of basic prepositions of time, namely, at, on and in.

We use the preposition ‘at’ before exact clock time. 

at	5 o’clock 6 p.m. midnight noon

 

  For example, I come to college at 9 o’clock everyday.

We use the preposition ‘on’ before the names of days and dates.

On	Sunday Monday 14th April New Year’s Day

For example, I will go for a movie on Sunday.

We use the preposition ‘in’ before the names of months, years and seasons.

In	May 2004 winter

            For example, I complete M.A. in 2004.

We do not use at, on or in when the adverb of time (August, Monday etc.) is preceded by this, last, next or every.

            For example, I called him this morning.

                                 We will go to Mumbai next Sunday.

                                 They attended the meeting last summer.

                                 I come to college every day.

We usually use in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening.

            For example, What do you usually do in the evening?

But, if these adverbs of time (morning, afternoon etc.) are preceded by the names of days, we use the preposition ‘on’ and not ‘in’

            For example, What are you doing on Sunday morning?

We use the article ‘at’ before the following adverbs of time.

·        At night

·        At the weekend

·        At Christmas ( on Christmas Day)

·        At the moment

·        At the end of May

Thus, the use of prepositions of time is as important as the use of appropriate forms of verbs to express time in English.  Verb forms, prepositions of time and adverbs of time and frequency help the speaker express time  effectively.

References:

Murphy, R. (1992). ESSENTIAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi.

DEVELOPING A SENSE OF PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

DEVELOPING A SENSE OF

 PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

According to Palmer (1974), ‘For almost any language the part that concerns with the verb is the most difficult’ (p.1).

When speak any language, we either speak about past time, present time or future time. We make references to time through the use of appropriate forms of verbs and other lexical items (adverbs and prepositions of time).

For example,

1. When we want to talk about something that we do everyday, we use present simple

 ( I/ we/ you/ they/ students  come

   He/ She / It/ Reena comes)

I come to college everyday.

He comes to college everyday.

2. When we want to talk about something that we did in the past (e.g. yesterday), we change the verb into its past tense form.

I came to college yesterday.

3. When we want to talk about something we will do in future (e.g. tomorrow), we change the verb into its future tense form.
I will come to college tomorrow.

Time = Simple

	Past	Present (habit)	Future
Question	When did you come yesterday? When did she come yesterday?	When do you come everyday? When does he come everyday?	When will you come tomorrow? When will Tina come tomorrow?
Signal words	Yesterday, on Monday, ago.	Everyday, always, usually, sometimes, never.	Tomorrow …
Sentence	I came at 10 o’clock yesterday. She came at 10 o’clock yesterday	I come at 10 o’clock everyday. He comes at 10 o’clock everyday.	I will come at 10 o’clock tomorrow. Tina will come at 10 o’clock tomorrow.
Negative	I didn’t come at 10 o’clock yesterday.	I don’t come at 10 o’clock everyday. He doesn’t come at 10 o’clock everyday.	I will not come at 10 o’clock tomorrow.

Regular Verbs	Present Simple	Past simple	Future simple
Walk	walk / walks	walked	will walk
Play	play / plays	played	will play
Ask	ask / asks	asked	will ask
Finish	finish / finishes	finished	will finish
Work	work / works	worked	will work
Watch Irregular Verbs	watch/watches Present Simple	watched Past simple	Will watch Future simple
Speak	speak / speaks	spoke	will speak
Buy	buy / buys	bought	will buy
Eat	eat / eats	ate	will eat
Send	send / sends	sent	will send
See	see / sees	saw	will see

      Following are the most commonly used verbs in English. Try to change them into their present tense, past tense and future tense forms.

accept allow ask believe borrow break bring buy cancel change clean comb complain cough count cut dance draw drink drive eat explain fall fill find

finish fit fix fly forget give go have hear hurt know learn leave listen live look lose make/do need open close/shut organise pay play put

see rain read reply run say sell send sign sing sit sleep smoke speak spell spend stand start/begin study succeed swim take talk teach tell

think translate travel try turn off turn on type understand use wait wake up want watch work worry write

      Speaking on the following topics:

1. What do you do everyday?
2. What did you do yesterday?
3. What will you do tomorrow?