Blog Posts

There is no doubt that the English Language has many words and phrases that can be easily confused.

Strangely, not everyone has an inner monologue. People who don’t self-talk say that they have no filters to process their thoughts before they speak and so they tend to vent a lot

Well, the next time you see someone lost in thought, you might just say to yourself, “I wonder what conversation is going on inside his head?”

The last of our 5-part series on Poetry: Mood.

Each of these five elements discussed in this series interacts with one other in order to render a cohesive unit.

Rhyme is another literary device that may be used by poets. It is principally a function of sound rather than spelling and often serves to unify and establish a poem’s stanzaic form.

A poem is a piece of writing in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by particular attention to language. The words are chosen for their sensory or evocative beauty. Poets also often use figurative language to create vivid pictures and new insights. Here are four more common devices of such figurative language.

Rhythm in poetry is like a beat in music. Poets make use of the natural stresses in language in order to create rhythm in poetry. Rhythms may be used to generate a mood or tone, which may copy or echo what the poem is about. Rhythm is apparent in many children’s nursery rhymes such as in “Humpty Dumpty” where the sound of horses galloping is clearly reflected in the stressed syllables.

We have shared poems on our blog. So what is a poem? One definition goes like this - "A poem is a collection of spoken or written words that expresses ideas or emotions in a powerfully vivid and imaginative style.” Poems do have some key characteristics. These are stylistic choices that can vary from piece to piece, but must nonetheless be made by every poet. In the next couple of blogs we’ll share five basic characteristics of poems.

Attractive? Or Ugly? Read this amazing poem where the poet, Abdullah Shoaib, explores themes of self-worth and beauty from two perspectives.

The Mysteries of Anatomy (an old American folk rhyme)

The fact is it takes both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow. No matter how badly we want to forget 2020, we need to reflect on how the world has changed because of it. We have survived it, adapted and possibly come out better human beings, more resilient than ever to face another year ahead.

Here’s wishing you a happy, healthy and mindful 2021 filled with rainbows!

David’s mom poured him a glass of steaming hot chocolate. “Ouch!” he cried as he tried to pick up the glass. “Be careful! It’s not cool enough to drink as yet!” his mother warned him. David stared longingly at his cup of chocolate, wishing it would hurry and cool so he could drink it. Sure enough, after some time, he was able to sip it, as it was warm, not hot anymore. After more time, he was able to gulp it, as the chocolate was cool. He then decided to put some ice in it and have an iced chocolate instead!

Before Covid-19 hit us, most of us were probably doing too much during the holidays. We attended Christmas pageants, concerts and party after party. We shopped, we cooked, we decorated. We tried to do everything, and by the time Christmas arrived, we were exhausted. Perhaps the pandemic is a reminder for us to slow down, scale down and truly savour the spirit of Christmas with a heart of gratitude for what we do have.

Not only does our personality shape our willingness to exercise, but it’s looking like our willingness to exercise shapes our personality. And if you want the sort of personality that will make you more successful, you should probably get off your couch.

Invest in your child’s future - join our Public Speaking Workshop this December being conducted at the Serangoon Gardens Country Club. 16-18 December 2020. Contact us or SGCC for further details.

We continue our blogs on how to raise readers.

Raising readers #2 - continued from last week’s blog

There is no doubt that literacy and language skills are critical to the development of young children. Children who enter school with a love of books are more ready to learn. If children struggle with reading, they’ll struggle with learning.

In this blog and the next we will be looking at some facts about raising readers.

We applaud the recent move by the National Institute of Education (NIE) to revamp the literature syllabus in schools. Their plan is to incorporate more Asian literature and adapt the teacher-centred methodology to one that is more interactive. This shift in focus is opportune at a time when technical skills are being increasingly valued and science and maths are given undue emphasis.

One word in the English language that could be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb or preposition is "UP". This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word.

Do you think luck influences events in your favour? Do you have a special shirt that is worn for important interviews? A routine that must take place before you leave the house? The lucky dollar that you keep in your wallet? Why not write and tell us about it?