TEXT APPROACH: FROM STUDENT TO EMPLOYEE - MAKING

THE TRANSITION
You have graduated, and you have a job! It's exciting, but it is also a bit
frightening. The following tips will help you make an easier transition.
Be positive...about yourself and your abilities and about your employer. But do
not be a know-it-all. There may actually be a few things you have not yet
learned, and there are probably valid reasons for practices that appear, at first
glance, archaic.
Be observant. You can learn a great deal about acceptable dress by watching
what your co-workers wear. You can also learn whether the working
environment is casual, with much informal visiting, or strictly professional.
Consider how people communicate; is information given verbally, or are
memos used? Also, what kinds of behaviour are noticed, both favourably and
unfavourably?
Establish a good relationship with your supervisor. If in doubt, ask what he or
she prefers to be called. When you are not sure of policies or procedures, ask
questions. Talk about his or her expectations of you, about your duties and
responsibilities, about overall goals. Try to understand his or her viewpoints
and concerns. Observe your boss's priorities; for example, is a neat desk
important? Be loyal; if you cannot say something positive, say nothing at all.
Managers and supervisors say that they look first for competence in the people
working under them. Congeniality and cooperativeness are next in importance.
Supervisors want people who care about the needs of the organization and who
have realistic expectations about their career progress; entry-level jobs usually
have their dull moments and routine duties, and you must try to bear with them
cheerfully. Self-starters who are responsible are a real asset to any
organization, as are people with the ability to communicate. Keep these traits
in mind, and work to improve in the areas where you may be weak.
You will inevitably make some mistakes, but do not let them throw you.
Remember that your supervisor believes you can do the job; otherwise you
would not have been hired. And he or she wants you to succeed; the hiring
process is time-consuming and expensive.

Vocabulary - EXPRESSIONS

 to pick up with smb - a face cunoştinţă/a stabili relaţii cu cineva (de obicei
din întâmplare);
 to strive for an end - a se strădui să atingă un ţel;
 to take account of smth/to take smth into account - a ţine seama de ceva, a
lua în considerare ceva;
 to take a chance - a risca, a nu-şi încerca norocul;
 to stop short/to stop dead - a se opri brusc;
 to strain the law - a forţa legea/interpreta legea în mod părtinitor;
 to stay the course - a rezista până la capăt;
 to state the case - a proceda la expunerea faptelor (în tribunal);
  to set a trap for smb - a întinde o cursă cuiva;
 to score an advantage/to score a success - a înregistra un success.

A Deeper Insight into Professional Correspondence:

The Appreciation Letter and the Business Introduction Letter
Appreciation Letter (thanking a conference speaker)
March 26, 2010

Mr. David Kimberly

Director General, Civil Aviation
Government of Seychelles
10 Island View Parkway
Seychelles

Dear David,
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to you for your very active
participation in our recent conference in Montreal on the "future of aviation". The Chairman
and Board Members have also asked me to pass on their sincere appreciation for your efforts
in supporting the Institute in this important undertaking.
Your skill in chairing the controversial panel on "The Role of Developing Countries in the
Future of Aviation Management" was very much appreciated by those representing all sides
of that extremely sensitive topic. As well, we have received numerous post-conference
requests for the paper you delivered on "The Critical Issue of Cooperation Between Airlines
and Airports." It appears that you may have penned a best-seller with that one!
On both a professional and a personal level, I really appreciated the time that the two of us
were able to spend together for fun and reflection during conference down times. I certainly
learned a lot about the unique aspects of aviation operations in your part of the world (not to
mention the things you taught me about the backhand on the squash court!).
We are currently hard at work producing the "Compendium of Conference Proceedings"
document, and we expect to be sending it out to all participants early in the new year.
Again, thanks so much for your enthusiastic participation in our conference. I have no doubt
that it would not have been the success that it was without your presence.
Please keep in touch, and drop in and visit us whenever you are in this part of the world.

Very sincerely,
Peter Smithfield
President and CEO

Professional Introduction Letter (Introducing Yourself and/or a Service)

February 20, 2010

Ms. Margaret Campion
Director, Corporate Services
Riviera Industries Inc.
245 Dearborn Park Road
Chicago, Il 60610

Dear Ms. Campion,

It was a pleasure meeting you briefly at last week's Board of Trade event. It's amazing how
small the world does seem sometimes, considering that we both earned our undergraduate
degrees at U. of Kansas, even overlapping for one year! I suppose we were destined to
eventually meet face-to-face.
I was fascinated by your synopsis of the history of Riviera Industries over the past, almost
half-century. Clearly, your company has a rich corporate heritage and tradition. At the same
time, the company has been blessed with a continuum of leaders of foresight and imagination
who had the courage to change course at key points along the way so that the company could
remain competitive and continue to lead its industry.
As I was mentioning to you, Final Edition Publications is a specialty publisher that focuses on
corporate publications including annual reports, corporate profiles and corporate histories. We
have been in business for over 15 years and during that time have grown from a two-person
start-up, to a serious corporate publisher with over 100 employees. We have been contracted
by over a dozen Fortune 500 companies to produce both annual and special occasion
publications on their behalf.
After our chat at last week's meeting, it occurred to me that with Riviera approaching its 50th
anniversary, it would be the perfect occasion to produce a Corporate History to celebrate your
company's first half-century. It so happens, that these are exactly the types of corporate
publications that we specialize in here at Final Edition. In fact, we have produced corporate
histories for a number of companies.
With Riviera's 50th just around the corner, I'm sure that you have been thinking about ways to
make that anniversary a special one. Accordingly, I would very much like to meet with you
and show you some of the corporate work we have done, and brief you further on our
services. I have a strong feeling that what we offer at Final Edition might be just the kind of
thing you've been looking for to celebrate Riviera's 50th.
Please feel free to call me at 745-2398 so that we can discuss this further. If I don't hear from
you by the end of next week I will follow up with you and see if we can set up a meeting at
your convenience.
Yours truly,
Raymond Gaudet
Manager, Corporate Programs

Grammar Approach

The Noun (Definition, Number, Gender, Types)

Definition: A noun is a word used to refer to people, animals, objects,
substances, states, events and feelings. Nouns can be a subject or an object of a
verb, can be modified by an adjective and can take an article or determiner.
For example:
 Table;
 Company;
  The building;
 An associate.
Nouns also denote abstract and intangible concepts.
For example:
 economy;
 reliability;
 evolution;
 technology, etc.

Noun Plurals
We are going to explain some rules that will help you to form the plural forms
of the nouns. The general rule is to add "-s" to the noun in singular.
For example:
 Book – Books;
 House – Houses;
 Chair – Chairs.
When the singular noun ends in: -sh, -ch, -s, -ss, -x, -o we form their plural
form by adding "-es".
For example:
 sandwich – sandwiches;
 brush – brushes;
 bus – buses;
 box – boxes;
 potato – potatoes.
When the singular noun ends in "y", we change the "y" for "i" and then add "-
es" to form the plural form. But do not change the "y" for "ies" to form the
plural when the singular noun ends in "y" preceded by a vowel.
For exaample:
 day – days;
 toy – toys.
However, there are many Irregular Nouns which do not form the plural in this
way:
For exaample:
 Man – Men;
 Woman – Women;
 Child – Children.
Nouns may take an " 's" ("apostrophe s") or "Genitive marker" to indicate
possession. If the noun already has an -s ending to mark the plural, then the
genitive marker appears only as an apostrophe after the plural form.
For example:
 my girlfriend's brother;
 John’s house;
 The Browns' house;
 The boys' pens.
 The genitive marker should not be confused with the " 's " form of contracted
verbs, as in John's a good student = John is a good student.
Noun Gender
Many common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher", can refer to men or
women. Once, many English nouns would change form depending on their
gender. For example: A man was called an "author" while a woman was called
an "authoress".
For example:
 David Garrick was a very prominent eighteenth-century actor.
 Sarah Siddons was at the height of her career as an actress in the 1780s.
 The manager was trying to write a want ad, but he couldn't decide
whether he was advertising for a "waiter" or a "waitress".
Types of Nouns
Proper nouns are the names of specific things, people, or places, such as Jhon,
France. They usually begin with a capital letter.
Common nouns are general names such as person, mansion, and book. They
can be either concrete or abstract.
Concrete nouns refer to things which you can sense such as clock and
telephone.
Abstract nouns refer to ideas or qualities such as liberty and truth.
Countable nouns refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or
plural).
Uncountable nouns refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances,
feelings and types of activity (can only be singular).
Find the best answer:
1. What time do you get up?
a) No way. I'm not at all happy with it.
b) It's OK. I'm not enjoying my present project very much.
c) It depends on what I'm doing that day. Usually about 7.30.
d) Sure. I never fail to. I want to stay informed.

2. Where do you work?

a) No way. I'm not at all happy with it.
b) I don't stay in the same place. I'm a consultant so I move around a lot.
c) I'm only staying until I find something better.
d) Sure. I never fail to. I want to stay informed.

3. What time do you finish work?

a) I usually get away about 7.00 but sometimes I have to stay later.
b) No way. I'm not at all happy with it.
c) I'm only staying until I find something better.
d) Yes. I'm going down the pub.

4. Where do you have lunch?

a) Sure. I never fail to. I want to stay informed.
b) I'm trying to lose weight so I'm not having lunch at present.
c) No way. I'm not at all happy with it.
 d) Yes. I'm going down the pub.

5. Do you like your job?

a) I usually get away about 7.00 but sometimes I have to stay later.
b) Sure. I never fail to. I want to stay informed.
c) It depends on what I'm doing that day. Usually about 7.30.
d) It's OK. I'm not enjoying my present project very much.

Language Exercise: Do or does? - Match the items on the right with the
items on the left.
DO and DOES both refer to a verb which infers that a task or an action is
accomplished by a person or being. These are mainly two forms of the same verb Do. While
Do is the first person simple tense form does is used for second and third person.
To understand the difference between the two it is best to use an
illustration or an example.
First person: Singular
I do the task regularly.
Second Person: Singular
You do the task regularly.
Third Person: Singular
He does the task regularly.
Does is used when you are referring to a third person. It is used in the present tense
and with a singular form. When referring to group of people or more than one entity then we
use "Do" while talking about a single person or a thing even in third person form "Does" is
used. E.g. She does the cooking nicely. However when referring to more than one entity in
third person we use "Do". For e.g. they do the cooking nicely.
Do and does are also used frequently in formation of interrogative sentences.
Questions are formulated using these verb forms often however there is a slight difference in
the usage of two. For example let us see the following sentence "Do you know the basic
difference between what she does and what I Do?" As used in simple sentences, the basic rule
for usage of do and does is same. For first person and second person questions are formed
using Do. However when you are talking about a noun in third person you simple use
"DOES". So the same sentence discussed above becomes "Does she understand the basic
difference between what you do and what I do?"
People often get confused while using the two verbs in the sentences. There are a lot
or errors seen in the writing of even the people who are adept users of English language. It is
true that the two verb forms are too closely similar and it takes a deep understanding of the
basic rules of grammar pertaining to the usage of the two. However once the rules are well
understood it becomes absolutely easy to distinguish between the two and use them correctly.
Another place where do and does may cause confusion is for non-living objects.
What does this word means?
What do these words mean?

______ sit down.

doesn't do does don't

I ______ remember much about him.

doesn't do does don't

My husband ______ most of the housework.

doesn't do does don't
 You remember me, ______ you?
doesn't do does don't

We ______ think you are suitable for the job.

I'm very sorry.
doesn't do does don't

I ______ think that this is a good idea.

doesn't do does don't

We don't want to do that, ______ we?

doesn't do does don't

It ______ bear thinking about.

doesn't do does don't

They ______ seem very happy.

doesn't do does don't

We ______ need to see you again.

Our minds are made up.
doesn't do does don't

TECHNICAL APPROACH OF THE LANGUAGE

1st Approach

VOWELS, DIPHTONGS, TRIPHTONGS

I. VOWELS

A B

SYMBOL KEY WORDS + COMON SPELLINGS

[i:] - he, please, sheep, field, key, scene, ameeba;

(a long vowel) [pli:z]

[i] - it, is, savage, guilt, system, women;

(a short vowel) [iz]

[e] - desk, many, any, said, bread, bury, friend;

(a short vowel) [meni]

[æ] - fat, man, bad, plaid, paugh, calf;

[mæn]

a short vowel, which is an intermediary sound between [1] and [e]

[a:] - are, aren't, father, calm, brother;

[a:nt]

(a long vowel)

[o:] - tall, all, caught, ball, board, draw, four, floor;

[o:l]

(a long vowel)

[o] - hot, office, pot, waich, laurel;

['ofis]

(a short vowel)

[u:] - goose, boot, who, more, shoe, group, flew, blue, rude;

[bu:t]

(a long vowel)

[u] - god, book, put, wood, wolf, could;

[buk]

(a short vowel)

[Λ]/ [a] - glove, but, cut, some, blood, does;

[bΛt]

(a short vowel)

[ɘ:] - girl, bird, burn, fern, warm, earn, journal:

[bɘ:d]
(a long vowel)

[ɘ] - a, an, and, cupboard, the, coour, actor

[ɘnd]

(a short vowel)

II. DIPHTONGS (i.e. two vowols pronunced together)

SYMBOL SPELLINGS

[ei] - table, lady, make, pray, prey, steak, vein, gauge;

[leidi]

[ɘu]/[ou] - open, only, note, soap, soul, grow, sew, toe;

[ounli]

[ai] - I, my, bite, pie, buy, try, guide, sigh;

[mai]

[au] - house, brown, nouw, spout, plought;

[braun]

[oi] - boy, toy, poison, lawyer;

[toi]

[iɘ] - here, near, beer, weir, appear, fierce;

[niɘ]

[ea] - Mary, pair, there, hair, bear, bare, their, prayer;

[pea]

[uɘ] - poor, tourist, tour, sure

[tuɘrist]
 III. TRIPHTONGS (i.e. three vowels pronunced together)

SYMBOL SPELLINGS

[eia] - player ['pleia]

[ɘua] - lower [lɘua]

[aiɘ] - fire ['faiɘ]

[auɘ] - flower ['flauɘ]

[oiɘ] - employer [im'ploiɘ]

2nd Approach

I. SEMIVOWELS

SYMBOL SPELLINGS

[w] - we, what [wot], one, when, queen;

[j] - you, yes [jes], onion, use, new, Europe.

II. CONSONANTS

A. B.

SYMBOL KEY WORDS + COMMON SPELLINGS

1) [p] pencil ['pens'], pen, happy;

2) [b] blackboard ['blækb):d], bright, back, rubber;

3) [t] too [tu:], two, tea, butter, walket, doubt;

4) [d] door [d):], day, ladder, called, could;

5) [k] classroom ['klassroom], key, cool, coccer, lock, school;

6) [g] green [gri:n], get, bigger, ghost, grey, gap, garden;

7) [f] four [f):], figure, fast, fashion, fat, coffee, cough, half;

8) [v] very ['veri], navy, view, navvy (i.e. excavating machine);

9) [m] map [mæp], hammer, calm, bomb;

10) [n]new [nju:], funny, know, gnaw;

11) [ŋ] morning ['m):niŋ], sung, sink;

12) [l] lesson ['lesn], balloon, battle;

13) [ø]three [øri:], thing, think, thin;

14) [ð] this [jis], that, these, those, with, then, than;

15) [s] student ['stju-d(a)nt], city, psychology, mess, scene;

16) [z] zero ['ziarou], was, dazzle, example;

17) [∫] she [∫i:], fichins, sure, station, tension, vicious, chevron;

18) [3]measure ['me3a], leasure, vision, rouge;

19) [t∫]chair [t∫ea], match, nature, question, cello;

20) [d3] john [d3)n], age, edge, soldier, gradual;

21) [r] red [red], marry, wriggle;

22) [h]hew [hau], hot, whole, who;

23) [x] loch [lox].

III. THE ENGLISH ALPHABET

a [ei]

b [bi:]

c [si:]
d [di:]

e [i:]

f [ef]

g [d3i:]

h [eit∫]

i [ai]

j [d3ei]

k [kei]

l [el]

m [em]

n [en]

o [ou]

p [pi]

q [kju:]

r [a:]

s [es]

t [ti:]

u [ju:]

v [vi:]

w ['d ۸ blju:]

x [eks]

y [wai]

z [zed]