Date:20/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/20/stories/2006122002050200.htm

Kerala - Kochi

A happy way of learning English

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Surmounting the intricacies of the English language is a problem haunting children and adults alike.

School and college curricula are obsessed with too much micro-level grammar that learners do not get a chance to learn proper/correct use of the language. Coming to the rescue of people wanting to have good command over English is Tinkerbell's English Cauldron, a monthly magazine published from Kochi.

The magazine is the brainchild of Fr. George Veliparambil, former Chief Editor of Kerala Times. The first issue was published in July.

The major event of each month is taken as the theme for the issue.

For example, issues have hovered over Independence Day, Deepavali etc., and the latest issue is about Christmas.

The month's editorial gives a few tips on being happy. `Every problem has in it the seeds of its solution,' it says. Informal methods of learning English have been spelt out, with simple examples.

Funny English anatomy, a candid study on men and women (for example, A woman worries about her future until she gets a husband: A man never worries about his future until he gets a wife), the quality of good teachers, Christmas riddles, elementary English test, making subjects and verbs agree, maze fun, what my mother taught me... quite a few topics have been covered.

English Olympiad

The magazine recently organised an English Olympiad for schools in southern India.

The magazine's programme director, Jerry Thomas, says that the primary focus is on the happy way of learning English, using fun.

"Tinkerbells has something for those in the age group of eight to eighty. For ten years, I wrote a daily column in Teheran Times on the correct use of English. I also used to write in the national daily of Eritrea."

He attributed the difficulties that Indian students faced in mastering English to the exam/marks-centric educational system.

The publishers can be contacted at tinkerbellsenglishcauldron

@yahoo.com.