My Science School

I am interested in doing a degree in English. What is the scope of a degree in functional English and what are the career opportunities available?

While the traditional careers for English majors are teaching, editing, and writing, it is also possible to go into other fields. Along with graduation in English, you can take up some short-term course in media (print or electronic), publishing, business management, social work, library service, broadcasting, public relations, advertising, marketing, tourism, etc.

Publishing is an area that is coming up fast, and those with a literary bent of mind should definitely consider it. Those with strong professional training in interpretation and communication are needed in "information handling" fields such as journalism. Translation is yet another area, especially if you're familiar with other languages besides English. Due to their improved skills, even advertising and PR agencies find them more suitable for their work.

Creative writing and even technical writing is yet 5 another option. A career in technical writing does not require a scientific or engineering background, but it does require an excellent command of the English language: and the ability to write logically, clearly and accurately. Your research and reporting skills must also be sharp, because you must gather all the facts and concepts for your writing from the engineers, systems analysts, and programmers who develop and design the technology Once you have gleaned the information, your job is to present it to the lay person in an accurate and highly readable manner, so the ability to grasp technical concepts and explain them in easy-to-understand terms is essential.

Those with a good command over the language, particularly in spoken English and basic computer skills can also look at openings in leading call centres. Starting out as a call centre executive you can move up the ladder to the position of team leader and business development manager if you have what it takes.

With a higher degree in English, a student has a better grasp of the language, perception, sensitivity and control over writing skills. Besides entering into college and university level teaching, many post-graduates venture into training industry personnel on communication strategies.

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Breach

The word breach denotes the act of breaking or failing to observe a law, code of conduct or, any agreement in general. It can also be used to correspond to a gap in a wall, barrier or defence, especially that created by an attacking army.

Origin

Breach is derived from Old English bryce "a fracture, act of breaking". The word was influenced by Old French cognate breche "breach, opening, gap," which is from another source.

The figurative sense of 'violation, breaking of rules" comes from Old English. While the meaning "opening made by breaking" can be traced back to the late 14th Century, "rupture of friendly relations" is from the 1570s. Breach of promise can be traced to the 1580s, breach of contract to the 1660s and breach of peace to the 1670s.

The word has remained in steady use throughout the last two hundred years or so.

Usage

Even if one player breaches the COVID-19 bubble protocols, it could put an entire sporting tournament at risk.

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Loquacious Meaning

Loquacious means chatty, talkative or tending to talk a lot. It is used as an adjective to describe someone who enjoys talking.

Origin:

The term loquacious came from the Latin verb loqui meaning "to talk or speak" combined with the English suffix-ious. It entered English in the mid 17th Century.

Examples:

She is loquacious when it comes to the topic of the environment. While most of the students in my class are outgoing and loquacious, there are a few who are introverted and reticent.

His loquacious personality won him the job of a guide.

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Ubiquitous

If you describe something or someone as ubiquitous, it means that they seem to be everywhere.

Origin

Ubiquitous has been derived from the Latin word "ubique". The word is composed of two parts: ubi, meaning "where", and que, which means "every". Interestingly, the noun ubiquity appeared 200 years, much before its adjective form.

Examples

1. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, masks and sanitisers have become ubiquitous today. 2. She likes to dress in her own unique way, and does not follow ubiquitous fashion.

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Rendezvous

This noun generally refers to meeting at a particular place at a particular time. It could be the meeting of two individuals or a group; it could also be a secret meeting.

Origin:

This word has French origins - "rendez vous translates to present yourselves. This would explain why the word looks a lot different from how it is pronounced. It is pronounced "ron-dei-voo".

Example:

The rendezvous with the artists turned out to be enlightening.

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Premier

The word premier can be used both as an adjective and as a noun. As an adjective, the word implies first in importance, rank, order or position and can also be used for someone or something that is leading. As a noun, it is used to indicate the prime minister or other head of a government. The word has been around for centuries and has gained prominence in the last 100 years or so, when its usage has increased drastically.

Origin

The word is derived from Latin primarius, meaning of the first rank, chief, and principal, excellent. Primarius in turn is derived from primus, meaning first, and also the root word for prime. While premier as a word has been used as an adjective since the 15th Century, it was only in the start of the 18th Century that it came to be used in the political sense and hence gained ground as a noun.

Usage:

The reason why they chose the name "Indian Premier League" is simple - they wanted to signal to one and all that it is the best T20 franchise league, in the country and the world.

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Potpourri

It is a noun that refers to a mixture of perfumed dried flowers and buds, sometimes also herbs and spices, kept in a bowl or jar, and is used to spread fragrance in a room or shelf. It also refers to a wide assortment of many things, seemingly even unrelated. It is used to refer to a musical medley too.

Origin:

A word associated with a pleasant smell is actually derived from the French word "pot pourri", which literally translates to rotten pot. The 17th Century word described a stew that was prepared using several kinds of meats cooked together. However, it is not clear when exactly the word took a fragrant turn.

Example:

The evening was a potpourri of jazz, blues and folk music.

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Perpetuate

As a verb perpetuate means to continue something. This word has both positive and negative connotations. It means to preserve something from extinction or oblivion. On the other hand, it also means to make an undesirable situation or a belief continue indefinitely.

Origin

The word 'perpetuate' has been derived from the Latin word 'perpetuus' meaning continuous and universal.

Examples:

1. Stereotypical images propagated in the media further perpetuate gender biases.

2. Biologists are taking efforts to perpetuate species indanger of extinction.

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Verisimilitude

The word verisimilitude refers to the quality of appearing to be real. Fiction writers and filmmakers strive to achieve some kind of verisimilitude to give their stories an air of reality. This can be done by adding details or examples from real life to their works.

Origin

From Latin verisimilitudo ("likeness to truth"), which is derived from verus ("true, real") and similitudo ("likeness, resemblance").

Examples

1. Claire Foy plays Queen Elizabeth with an alarming verisimilitude in "The Crown" series.

2. A spy novel without some verisimilitude won't interest many readers.

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Congress

The word congress denotes a large formal gathering or meeting of representatives from societies or countries at which ideas are discussed and information is exchanged.

Origin

The word, which has been around since 1400, first corresponded to "a body of attendants." It picked up the meaning "meeting of armed forces" in the middle of the 15th Century. The sense of "a coming together of people and meeting of individuals" is from the 1520s.

Congress is from the Latin word congressus meaning "a friendly meeting, a hostile takeover' which is the past participle of congredi "to meet with, to fight with." The word is essentially the assimilated form of com "with, together with gradi "to walk."

Usage

Some of the doctors in the hospital were away to attend a medical congress.

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Torpor

Meaning:

Torpor is a state of physical/mental inactivity or lethargy Torpor appears to be an involuntary state that one enters into as the conditions dictate. The term can also refer to the time a hibernator spends at low body temperature, lasting days to weeks.

Origin:

The term is a noun and it comes from the Latin torpere meaning "be numb, inactive or sluggish". Its first-known use was in the 13th Century Middle English when it referred to intellectual lethargy. The term resurfaced in the early 17th Century to refer to both mental and physical sluggishness.

Example

Lulled by the gentle breeze and soothing music. I drifted into a deep torpor.

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Pique

The word pique can be used both as a noun and a verb. The noun form corresponds to a feeling of anger or annoyance, especially caused by someone damaging your feeling of being proud of yourself. The verb, meanwhile, denotes the meaning "to excite or cause interest."

Origin

The word has been around since the 1530s, with the usage of the noun form registered first. Pique derives from the French word pique meaning "to prick, sting, irritation" and is a form of piquer.

The verb form of pique was also initially first used in the 1670s with a negative connotation "to irritate, nettle, offend and to arouse jealousy, envy, etc. in a slight degree." The softened meaning "to stimulate, excite," which is now largely associated with the verb form of the word, has been in use since the 1690s.

Usage

The teacher piqued the student’s interest by giving real-life examples for every topic taught.

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Iridescence

This noun refers to the rainbow-like shimmer that seems to change depending on the angle of light. These can be spotted on soap bubbles, mother-of-pearls, fish scales etc.

Origin

The word iridescence has Greek origins. Iris is the Greek goddess of the rainbow. She is said to use the rainbow as a stairway while travelling. The Latin suffixes cent, means "have the tendency to".

 

Example

The iridescence gave the shell an ethereal quality.

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Raconteur

A person who can spin interesting or funny anecdotes and stories from everyday life.

Origin

The word has been derived from French, where it traces back to the Old French verb raconter, meaning to tell." Raconter in turn was formed from another Old French verb, aconter or acompter, meaning "to tell" or “to count.” Raconteur has been part of the English vocabulary since at least 1828.

Examples

1. The teacher was an excellent raconteur who could keep students engaged with her stories.

2. Ayushi spoke multiple languages and was a renowned raconteur.

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Curfew

The word curfew corresponds to a regulation that generally requires people to stay indoors between specified hours, usually at night.

Origin

Even though this is the meaning now associated with the word, it has been used this way only from the 19th Century. The word curfew, however, has been around since the early 14th Century. Back then, it was used to refer to the sounding of the bell at evenings, alerting people to cover their hearth fires. This warning was important in those times as most European houses were very close to each other, meaning that a fire could spread easily.

This meaning is well reflected in the word, which has its roots in the Anglo French word coverfeu. This is derived from the words coverir, meaning “to cover”, and feu, for “fire”.

Usage

Even though governments across the world placed their countries under strong curfews, the spread of the coronavirus could not be kept under check.

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