The Noise Surrounding SAT

         

The 2013 SAT scores created a lot of noise and controversy. Virginia, for example was thrilled that students there got the highest scores ever on the exam, and officials credited the improvement on school reform. Maryland was unhappy about seeing a drop in scores for the third straight year .

The question raised wasn’t about why the scores went up or down, but whether or not the results reflects a student’s achievement and abilities. They don’t according to a report released in September’ 13 by the College Board, which owns the SAT.

Less than half of the students who took the SAT in 2013 are ready to succeed in postsecondary education, the report said.

Only 43 percent of the test takers this year met or exceeded the benchmark score of 1550 out of a possible 2400, the same proportion as last year.

Those who reach that number, according to the College Board, have a greater chance of attaining a B-minus average or higher during their first year of college and persisting to graduation. The mean score for 2013 was 1498.

For more test takers to reach a score of 1550, rigorous coursework will have to become more widely accessible, said David Coleman, president of the College Board.

Mr. Coleman plans to better align the SAT with the Common Core State Standards, which he helped write. They prescribe what students should learn, in English and mathematics, from kindergarten through high school. His proposal make the essay portion of the SAT more analytical has been met by a mix of applause and apprehension.

Critics of standardized tests contend that the examinations are unfair to students from low-income backgrounds. Many of those students, they argue, don't have the same access to advanced classes and test-preparation materials as their more-affluent peers do.

The College Board's report showed that test takers in the lowest income percentile, whose families make less than $20,000 per year, averaged a score of 1326, well below the mean. The average score for students from families who make more than $100,000 was 1619.

Language, too, can be a barrier for some SAT takers. Students who reported learning "English and another language" or "another language" first tested as high in math as their English-first peers—or higher than them. But on the critical-reading and writing sections, the average scores for that first group of students—who made up nearly 30 percent of those tested—were notably lower than for those who had learned only English first.

Mr. Coleman said to expect details about the forthcoming changes in the SAT, including the essay portion of the test in January.

The issue is complicated and needs a larger discussion. As of now Scholastic Assessment Test, better known as the SAT, still looms large in the minds of SAT aspirants.

Lingual Logics

Learning a new language brings many funny instances. You never know it meant something else in some other languages. And if they have an entirely unrelated meaning, it becomes a bigger source of pleasure. Let me tell you some words I came across:

I used to watch Shinchan, the cartoon series with a Japanese kid, with my nephew. The name of Shinchan’s dog is Shiro. I thought its just another meaningless words for pets like tommy and all. Whereas, to my amusement, Shiro in Japanese means white in English. And it struck me that yes! the dog was white. Quite justifiable, but amusing.

Mandarin, as we know, is a language used in China, is also a word used for citrus fruits in English. I mean what would the following sentence imply “Mandarin has a flavour of bitterness.”

‘Shove’ (pronounced as shuv) is a word in Hindi that means corpse. I wonder how would we take this sentence - “That shove was necessary to make things possible.“

Hell in German means Light. So next time, if you yell at someone saying “Go to hell”, be sure that you specify which ‘hell’ you mean.

Hose means trouser in German. So next time you see a fire, grab a ‘hose’ and... wear it! You will need to run.

See, what fun you can have while learning languages! I opened the word-stock I had. What about you?

Rendezvous with non-English speakers

Being an English speaker among English-speaking natives, I had never imagined the fun of being with non-English speakers. I was in Switzerland for an official conference, when I started experiencing the effects of lingual change. Let me tell you some of the legendary moments I can still giggle on.

I decided to delight myself in a French restaurant. The menu card in French looked like a crossword puzzle. But, somehow I managed to make noodles out of Nouilles due to a small graphic after the name. The French serveur, who was almost on skateboard all the while, stood by me for at least 10 minutes to absorb the details of my order. I explained him the whole procedure of making noodles to escape any kind of bad experiences. With my loud actions and mimes, I was able to tell him that I do not want non-vegetarian touch in my Nouilles. After a while I was served with delicious looking noodles to raise my temptations, which brewed away as soon as I sniffed. It was cooked in FISH OIL!  

Next morning, I had to reach a conference via public transport. I googled about the route options that would be available to me. I had to take a train to Paradeplatz, for which I had to hire a taxi to reach the station. I had to hurl from one taxi to another with one word on my tongue Paradeplatz. I asked to every taxi but all I was getting was a perplexed look. I showed the spelling I had jotted down last night to a driver who pronounced it differently with some silent consonants and different vowel sound. Pa -ra -da - pla - z (with T silent) or t(with Z silent) Huh! I should have known that!

When people around you, suddenly start talking in their native language while looking at you, certainly they ought to be discussing you, suspense reaches the climax. You try hard to recall all your kinesics’ lessons to make out what their body language is saying. Soon I realized that it is far more difficult to understand the language of whole body without the language of tongue. And, I kept running my thoughts to try and catch some context. That is a very awkward position to be in, believe me.

Next day, I happened to meet a native speaker in the strange land who, like an angel, ebbed all my hitches with single sway of LingoDiction. With LingoDiction, an offline app for iOS, I got to know all the frequently used words with their audio pronunciation. Then, I faced the same bunch of foreign language speakers with my armours ready to their attacks. I pretended that I cannot understand like before but I could atleast make out the context of their conversation which, to my embarrassment, wasn’t related to me at all.

One more thing I and that angel native did. We reversed the trick on non-English speakers. We make them suspect our topic of conversation, which made them self-conscious. We had a furious laugh before and after the act. Cheers to LingoDiction!

             

You don’t have to be “gifted” to learn a new language, but you do have to be smart about how you learn it.

We all know the use of knowing different languages. It brings the power to read different literature's, the ability to start conversations with people from different geographies, to understand cultures, and what not. On top of all, knowledge of multiple languages lets you make more friends. Isn’t it what today’s Facebook Generation has been chasing?

The need for knowing a new language gets multiplied when you’re touring some place not very known to you. Traveling is all about exploring far off regions, which in turn meeting more natives and facing the linguistic crunch again. You not only lose on making new friends, but there are chances of you being duped into various awkward situations.

Having said that, we all know how difficult it is to learn a new language. You can’t practically learn a language right from the scratch every time you go for a sojourn.  Does that mean you should suppress your desire to explore new places? Or stay conscious while you’re actually in that region? Or shelling out money on guides and escorts to ensure a safe, pleasing voyage?

Well, absolutely not as long as you have a smartphone in your hand. There are several language apps currently available in the apps marketplaces to rescue you out of such situations. But, it’s not as easy as it seems in the first place. This is because the marketplace is oozing with language apps sporting heavy price tags. Not just that, most of these apps are too bookish in nature, which implies giving too much time to become conversant in a language of your choice.

All these problems are now nightmares of past. Get LingoDiction on your iOS or Android-powered smartphone. LingoDiction isn’t just any other language app, but it’s a “smart communication builder” which lets you set off conversations in many language just like that.

Currently available for iOS and soon to be launched on Android, LingoDiction comprises of some of the most commonly used words and phrases from different walks of life. With LingoDiction on your smartphone, you can convey your needs to the natives of most of the popular regions. It has audio capabilities too with which you can actually let your device speak out for you. There are region specific packages to make your exploration of any specific region.

Another important reason to get LingoDiction on your iPhone is its price tag. Each package of LingoDiction has five languages of a particular geographic region. So you’ll have five languages at significantly lesser the amount you’d otherwise pay for one language.

These are just few of the many reasons for how LingoDiction can be that Language Trainer you’ve always been aspiring for. We have a sample package incorporated with the app to give you a feel of its features and content. Download it today and figure it out yourself.

Download LingoDiction from here