New Delhi: Collins Learning publisher Elaine Higgleton is in awe of the way people in India create Hinglish words.
She also feels that majority of students in India have strong understanding skills especially when they read English, but some find difficultly in comprehending and expressing.
"I like the way people create Hinglish words that fill semantic gaps in the vocabulary of English. For example, the word 'denting' in Hinglish is to take the place of a phrase in British English: 'removing dents from cars'. Hinglish has one word whereas speakers of British English have to use a longer phrase," Higgleton told PTI in an interview.
Asked about the most common errors she comes across students in India, she replies, "I find that the areas students need most guidance in are the 'encoding' skills, so how to speak and write English. The majority of students have strong understanding skills especially when they read English, but putting what they want to say or write into English is something students can find tricky."
Her advice to students in India is to read, read and read. "Reading - including reading for pleasure - is one of the best ways we can improve our English. It doesn't matter what students read - comics, newspapers, children's books, popular fiction are all fine - as long as we read something in English every day.
"Reading automatically exposes us to more English words so can help improve vocabulary skills. Reading exposes us to grammar in use so gives us more model sentences to use in our speaking and writing," she suggests.
Higgleton is in India, conducting workshops on phonics, phonetics and pronunciation skills for teachers from multiple schools. Over the years, she has conducted more than 40 workshops and has reached out to around 3000 teachers in India.
She says her workshops are about refreshing teachers' understanding and skills in these areas and practicing some key skills.
"What I aim to do in my workshops with teachers is to review the value and use of phonics in the classroom as an invaluable part of the teachers' toolkit for teaching reading and helping spelling skills.