Tips & Tricks for English Usage English is the language of business management in the world. English is a meant not only forcommunication, but also national and international commerce.In India, as well English has become a link language now. Factoring this, even the Parliament hasrecognized English as an official language in addition to Hindi ?.English usage is an essential part of assessment tests conducted by Employerorganizations...Needless to say, one needs to have great skills in English Usage. A good score inEnglish Usage impresses interviewers as well.English Usage section generally covers questions from three major sub sections; Grammar, VerbalAbility & Reading Comprehension. We are sharing important tips, tricks and websites which can helpyou enhance your vocabulary & reading skills. Practice them by heart to enhance your knowledgebase.All the best!ContentsGrammar.................................................................................................................................... 3 Few good websites for you to brush up grammar- ............................................................. 3Verbal Ability............................................................................................................................. 4 Few short tricks & websites to learn verbal ability ............................................................. 5Reading Comprehension ........................................................................................................... 6 Speed reading techniques & important websites ............................................................... 6GrammarGrammar is a set of rules, which govern any language. And this holds true for English language aswell. Obviously, this is the heart of any language.It takes effort and time to excel in grammar, and is the most fundamental block in mastering alanguage.The questions from this section are invariably part of any aptitude test.Questions based on Grammar covers topics like, Articles, Prepositions, Tense, Gerund, Phrases &Idioms, Parts of Speech etc.Grammar section, in the test, can have following question types:o Active Passiveo Articleso Prepositionso Tenseo Sentence Correctiono Sentence Formationo Speecho Phrases and IdiomsTo solve these questions you need to be well versed with grammar rules. Spend time making noteswhich will help you in final revision.Some of the important tricks for improving in grammar are :Master the basicsYou need to get hold of some books of grammar which can help you master the basics. For examplethere are books like one authored by Wren and Martin which cover all the topics of Grammarcomprehensively.Read and practiceThe more you read, the better you get with your grammar too. Functional grammar deals with theway in which words and word order are used in social perspectives to get the message across.You may want to go through the list of commonly made mistakes in grammar.This can be immenselyhelpful.Few good websites for you to brush up grammarRoad to Grammar is a very simple site that teaches you grammar with the help of practice quizzes. Link: www.roadtogrammar.comSome sample examples on grammar questions can be as follows: Q. Fill in the blanks of the sentence with the correct set of articles:Robin Uthappa threw away his wicket with __ injudicious cut at __ ball too close to him, but duringhis brief stay in __ middle, indicated he is quite comfortable.a, a, thean, a, thethe, the, thethe, an, theQ. Choose the best option from those given below to replace the underlined portion of thesentence:The fact that the terrorists left no pamphlets has laid credence to the apprehension in certainQuarters that it may have been orchestrated to discredit the security forces.A) has layed credence to the apprehensionB) was laid credence to the apprehensionC) had laid credence to the apprehensionD) has lent credence to the apprehensionVerbal AbilityVerbal ability is essentially about having a good vocabulary. A good vocabulary in turn isfundamental to good spoken English and good skills in reading comprehension.Verbal ability section, in the test, can have following question types:o Analogyo Sequencingo Spellingo Synonyms / Antonymso Sentence FormationA few tricks & websites to improve verbal abilityRead VoraciouslyReading is the most effective way to get new vocabulary. When you read, you see words being usedin context and thats what makes it much more effective than, merely memorizing word lists. Findmeanings of the difficult words which you encounter while reading any newspaper, novel, books etc.You need to actively work at reviewing and remembering each of the new word you encounter.Memorize the Word ListsThere are some important Word Lists in books like Barrons Guide and the students should try andlearn those Word Lists:Use Flash Cards to memorize new words. www.quizlet.com is a great source to find andmemorize using flash cards. A flashcard or flash card is a set of cards bearing information, as wordsor numbers, on either or both sides, used as a learning drill to aid memorization.Word Dynamo www.dynamo.dictionary.com is a Great source of online activities to practicevocabulary. You can learn from thousands of Word Dynamo expert created free study guides fromSATs, to language, to vocabulary.Any which way, it is critical for students to have a good vocabulary of at least 1000 good words.Use It or Lose ItDont settle after you learn a new word by reading it or looking it up in the dictionary: these aregood starts, but its by using the new words that you truly commit them to your long-term memory.Be creative and try to use your newly learned words in as many ways as possible:? Write them down? Say them aloud? Create sentences with them, mentally or in writing? Try to use them in a conversation? Discuss them with friendsPlay word gamesTraditional word games can be great fun. These include scrabble, boggle, and crosswords. There arealso many web sites that have word games. Often these sites can hook you up with an opponent, soyou don't even need to find people to play with. Some of the sites for word games are:? Yahoo Games- games.yahoo.com/word/? Crossword Puzzles- www.crossword-puzzles.co.uk/Some examples on questions in Verbal ability section can be :Q. Choose the correct options to fill the blank in the sentence given below:She begged to be allowed to go and her parents finally ......a. arrogatedb. arboresc. acquiescedd. Any of the aboveQ What does the word CONSANGUINITY mean?(A)kinship(B)friendship(C)bloodletting(E)understandingSo just get going on improving your Verbal ability.Reading ComprehensionIn general, aptitude tests have 5 -10, questions on Reading Comprehension. Mastering this sectionis difficult, but not impossible. Try following few tricks to improve your RC score.Speed reading techniques & important websitesI. Speed reading is a useful and valuable skill- Many people read at an average rate of 250words per minute. This means that an average page in a book or document would take you1-2 minutes to read. However, imagine if you could double your rate to 500 words perminute. You could zip through all of the content in half the time. You could then spend thetime saved on other tasks, or take a few extra minutes to relax and de-stress. Anotherimportant advantage of speed reading is that you can better comprehend the overallstructure of an argument. This leads to a "bigger picture" understanding, which can greatlybenefit your work and career.II. Eliminate vocalization or sub-vocalization- As you read (sounding out the words either outloud or in your head). Instead of reading word by word, read in chunks of words, or even fullsentences. Don't reread text that you have already read. Doing so will only disrupt yourbrain's flow and will slow you down.III. Practice, practice, practice- you have to use your skills on a regular basiso Choose easy material to start with when you begin speed reading, don't use achallenging textbook.o An English newspaper should be read daily. Start with the front page and othernews which you find interesting. But the objective should be to start studyingEditorial section of Newspaper as fast as possible. In fact it may take you aminimum of 3-4 weeks time before you reach a stage that you can start readingEditorial section of the newspaper.o Check www.wikihow.com to discover various speed reading techniqueso www.eyercize.com/practice/read/ is a free online speed reading tool that can helpyou become an accomplished speed reader.o www.ireadfaster.com is a speed reader designed to improve online-reading skills. Itflashes the provided text as chunks at a specified rate. It helps to increase yourreading speed by practicing your eyes, reducing sub-vocalization and eliminatingregressions.o How to Read Better and Faster by Norman Lewis: This is a book thatteaches readers not just how to read faster, but also techniquesthat can help them retain what they have read. Speed reading techniques are not just aboutcounting how many words an individual can read in a minute. To actually read something states thatit is important that the person understands what is being read.Some sample examples on Reading Comprehension questions can be as follows:Let us assume that this document is the one on which your comprehension abilities are to bejudged?. So here come the questions now:Q. Which of the following helps you in improving your vocabulary?a. RAM Cardsb. EPROM cardsc. Flash Cardsd. IQ cardsThe correct answer is Flash Cards.Q .For improving which skill does one need to Eliminate Vocalization ?a. Verbal abilityb. Reading Comprehensionc. Grammard. All of the above.The correct answer is Reading Comprehension.We hope you find this document useful.Best of Luck.