Young writers and young readers

Lesley-Anne and I had a pretty full February and March. Apart from our new project together (which I will give details about in due course), we also conducted several school talks and a workshop.

The workshop in question was for the All In! Young Writers Festival, entitled "Crafting Creative Stories for Young Readers".

Because the workshop was for an older age group than our usual audience and on a slightly different topic, we had to come up with new materials.

Our participants ranged from teenagers to adults - very diverse.

 

I'm always slightly apprehensive when we have a new programme as I'm not sure how the audience will respond to it but as it turned out, I needed have worried. They participants were engaged and looked like they enjoyed themselves tremendously. In one of the games, three friends were so charged up they actually moved around, acting out their parts.

We interacted with the participants in turn, and were pretty impressed by some of the very original ideas that emerged. One girl came up with a character called Baby Breath, who was cute and sweet but had difficulties breathing around babies. How fun is that?

Photo by All In!

Here they are busy writing their children's stories. Maybe a future award-winning one? Who knows!

Photo by All In!

After the event, we were told by the organisers that we received a 4.6 overall rating (out of a maximum of 5) for our workshop. How encouraging! We're very pleased 😃

We conducted two other talks at international schools in February. One was at ISS International to Grades 4s and 5s:

Another school talk was at Chatsworth East to Year 3-5s:

We were also stoked to hear that one of the Chatsworth East is using Secrets of Singapore as a guide to Singapore history in one of their Year 3 units. As writers, news like that truly make our day. Thank you, Chatsworth East, for that vote of confidence!

The standard of English in university communications - what gives?

Like all other students who graduated from JC last year, Lesley-Anne has been receiving many flyers and brochures from the local universities of late. This is quite typical, I guess, as every university fights to attract the best and the brightest from each cohort.

Since I'm a professional writer, I'm usually less interested in the glossy covers and illustrious people gracing the pages of the magazines. For me, it's more interesting to see how each university positions itself based on its writing style.

The NUS style is quite corporate and very professional - it projects authority and credibility. Very much in line with its track record and heritage.

SMU is more casual - it tries to engage the student in a personal way. Again, in line with its image as a smaller and cosier university.

Yale-NUS is the most vibrant and projects the most fun image, befitting its youth, size and liberal arts curriculum.

I don't have an impression of SUTD because I haven't seen any flyers. I believe Lesley-Anne might have received one but she chucked it because SUTD's courses are not suitable for her.

Then we come to NTU. Lesley-Anne showed me the cover letter that was enclosed with a magazine and we were both bemused by the standard of English, particularly in the second paragraph:

The phrasing in the second sentence (second paragraph) is totally awkward. The third sentence gave us giggles. Lesley-Anne asked, "Their professors are spinning toys?"

That prompted me to flip the magazine that was enclosed. I didn't read the articles in detail but just by browsing, I quickly spotted some very strange phrases.

"Learning at NTU has a new icon in a 24-hub..." What? Does the writer even understand the word "icon" and how to use it?

"Do-gooder" is a noun. I know it's all the rage now but you can't suka suka change a noun into an adjective, especially in an official magazine.

Nothing wrong with the English here, just the very, very odd last sentence. Apparently, because Stephen Hawking is a scientist, it's okay to substitute his name in a Star Trek phrase. Which incidentally, referenced teleportation. Nothing to do with holograms...or Stephen Hawking.

Oh look, they used the phrase again! Twice in the same magazine - they must really like the phrase. This time correct name but guess what, still nothing to do with teleportation. The third sentence is so confusing I can't comment on it. I wish people would understand that writing is so much more than just planting catchy phrases here and there. The content and the context have to make sense.

I wish to qualify that I have nothing against NTU. I have actually written for NUS, SMU, Yale-NUS and NTU in the past and enjoyed working with all of them. I'm posting this because as a copywriter, I get vexed when I spot instances of bad English in official collaterals, as blogged about here. And it is my fervent belief that while it's unprofessional for organisations to put out communications publications with questionable English, it's even more unforgivable when that organisation is a university.

You may say, well, probably the Engineering and Accountancy students won't care or even notice but that's not the point. A university is supposed to be the bastion of knowledge and academic rigour. It reflects terribly on the standards of a university when it can't even communicate correctly. Also, I thought NTU has been trying to move away from its rather stodgy reputation as a mostly engineering university, and attract more students to its arts and social sciences courses. This doesn't help.

I don't know if the writing for the letter and magazine was done in-house or outsourced to external writers. Whatever it is, the editing can and should be tightened. If all else fails, NTU, if you're reading this, you can always give me a call.
 

Junior college or polytechnic - factors to consider

The 'O' level results will be released today, so I thought it would be timely to write a JC vs poly post. This topic is something that has been discussed in our household over the past couple of years, since Andre will have to make the decision soon.

 As I'd blogged about previously, Andre is certain that he will be pursuing the poly route, unlike his sister. This decision was reinforced when we visited a couple of poly open houses last weekend. He was instantly drawn to the vibe and energy there. There's just something about polys - probably partly due to the large open campuses and the fact that the students don't need to wear school uniforms, but you can practically inhale the vibrant atmosphere.

We spoke to a few lecturers and students. Andre was very impressed by the practical curriculum offered, with the myriad of opportunities for internships and overseas attachments. The facilities are, of course, fantastic. So he's now more motivated than ever to work for his O levels and aim for the course he wants.

Sometimes, I despair when I hear parents' views like, "you should go to a JC if you can because it's better." Better? What constitutes "better"? Often, the very myopic consideration is simply based on cut-off-point (COP). It seems like in Singapore, people monitor COPs the way stock brokers do with share prices. From the time of PSLE, parents scrutinise COPs like they hold the answer to the secret of their children's success. That's like believing a weighing scale is all you need to tell you how healthy you are.

JCs and polys couldn't be more different in terms of the curriculum, teaching style, grading system and overall environment. There is no one "better" path for everyone. Ultimately, the most important consideration is fit. I just can't imagine Andre in a JC - that would be like trying to pound a square peg into a round hole - with great difficulty and unlikely to generate satisfactory results. Whereas when I saw him at the poly, I could see how easily he would fit into the culture, with a real chance of thriving. It was a no-brainer, no matter what his eventual results will be. 

I'd previously worked at a polytechnic and with Lesley-Anne having undergone two years of JC, I feel I have garnered sufficient knowledge on both options. So here are my views on the JC vs Poly debate and how you can determine which is a better fit for your child. Note: Lesley-Anne sat for the 'A' levels so I'm referring to JC only from the 'A' level point of view, not IB, as I don't know enough about the latter. 

Academic vs Applied Education

JC is basically an enhanced version of secondary school. Most of the subjects are familiar, just taught in greater depth and detail. However, one point I would like to make to parents is that the leap in difficulty from secondary school to JC is exponential. Not only is the subject content enlarged significantly, at JC level, application skills are essential. You can't simply memorise content and regurgitate in the exams, and expect to do well, unlike at the 'O' levels, especially for the arts subjects. There are many students who scored A grades in secondary school, in Chemistry for example, and find themselves failing 'A' level Chemistry. So do understand your child's abilities when making the decision. You hear about the straight A students from the media so often that you might think it's almost a cinch to do well. It's not. Many students struggle and more than a few end up repeating a year or two, even in the top JCs. You don't read reports about these cases.

The course selection for 'A' levels is also much more limited. Out of the four core subjects, one has to be a contrasting subject. For Arts students, this subject is often required to be Maths, unless they take Knowledge Inquiry (KI) which takes the place of General Paper (GP) and can be counted as a contrasting subject. There are also many more restrictions on subject choice. In Lesley-Anne's JC, for instance, you can't take Chemistry without taking Maths, and you can't take Biology or Physics without taking Chemistry. (In other words, Maths and Chemistry are practically compulsory if you're in the Science stream). For the Arts subjects, you can't take both Geography and History. You also can't take two special or niche subjects, like KI and English Language and Linguistics (ELL).

Poly education is applied - meaning it's designed to groom graduates towards certain industries or vocations. The modules tend to be very practical and poly students are trained to be work-ready upon graduation. As such, poly education is also very much more specialised. As of now, there are 234 courses offered by the 5 polytechnics. It's enough to make your head spin. There are often electives in years 2 and 3 where you can specialise even further. Since most courses carve out a specific niche, you need to be very sure what you want to do as a career. It would be disastrous to enroll in Early Childhood Education, for instance, then later realise that you don't really like teaching or kids all that much.

From talking to poly lecturers, one of the biggest problems they face is students who enroll in courses and later realise that the courses are not what they expect or not suitable for them. Then they find themselves having to ask for transfers to a different course mid-way, thus wasting time and funds, or sticking to a pathway that they are unhappy with. So if your children, at age 16, aren't sure what they would like to do with their lives, it's probably a safer bet to study general academic courses at a JC.

Course Structure

The JC course structure is similar to that of secondary school. You sit for various common tests and exams throughout the year, culminating in the main one at the end of the year (promos for J1 and the big 'A' levels for J2). I find the JC journey very short. Since you enter in February and graduate before the 'A' levels in October, the teachers have to squeeze a heck of a lot of curriculum within 1¾ years. As a result, it feels like the students spend the entire period just mugging for exam after exam, especially in J2. 

The added stress comes about because the 'A' levels is a national exam where you're pit against the nation's other 18-year-olds and race towards accumulating as many A grades as you can possibly muster. The pressure is on both students and teachers alike. Also, the grades in this one exam are all that matter, for university admissions. You could be an excellent all-rounder throughout your JC life but choke at the 'A's and find that your previous stellar record didn't matter in the least. Terribly unfair and unhealthy, in my opinion. 

Polys run on the modular system, which gives you more flexibility. There is less focus on exams and more on assignments and project work. Your grading is based on Grade Point Average (GPA), taking into account your work throughout the three years. While this means that your grade is not dependent on one major exam, it also means that you can only do well if you put in consistent work. You can't slack off throughout the year and chiong only at the last minute - that's a recipe for disaster. Once your GPA drops, you might find it difficult to pull it back up on track.

Higher Education

The traditional thinking is that you go to a JC if you're university-bound whereas you go to a poly if you're not, since they train you for the workplace. These days however, many poly graduates want to further their education to improve their career prospects and progression. What are their chances then? If you look at the stats, you will see that the odds are stacked against poly graduates: about 70% of JC students and 20% of poly students enter local universities.

Statistically speaking, your chances of a local university education are much lower if you're a poly grad, even though the government now acknowledges the dreams of poly students for higher qualifications and are trying to widen avenues for them, such as the expansion of the Singapore Institute of Technology, which offers applied degree programmes for poly students. Many poly grads thus choose to go overseas for their degrees which is definitely pricier. Sometimes though, overseas is more appropriate if you prefer specialised programmes which are not offered by local universities anyway, such as Human Resources or Interactive Media.

In terms of time investment, you may be surprised to learn that there can be no difference between the JC-university and the poly-university route. Even though JC takes 2 years and poly takes 3 years, poly students, if taking up a related university programme overseas, are often granted exemptions on certain courses, as much as 1.5 years in a three-year programme! This is, of course, assuming you go on to a related course, eg. Mass Comm in poly moving on to a Mass Comm degree. If you move on to an unrelated course, you will not get any exemptions and have to complete the full programme. Local universities too, tend not to offer exemptions.

English Proficiency

I added this last point because I think it's an important one often overlooked. I'd written before how I'm baffled by the 'O' level point system which grants two additional points to students who pass Higher Mother Tongue. Two points for 'O' levels is a LOT. In addition, you can choose to count either English or Higher Mother Tongue as your L1 in L1R5 for admission into JC. Why? This implies that Mother Tongue is more important that English, our official language.

What can potentially happens then is this: a kid who is very proficient in Chinese and attains A1 for Higher Chinese can use it as L1 AND shave off 2 additional points from his total L1R5, thereby giving him or her a very good L1R5 score, while scoring poorly in English.

This is a loophole that I feel MOE should close, not only because it's a farce but because a student who is weak in English will struggle in JC. At JC, writing essays is a must. Even if you choose to go to the Science stream, you'll need to take a contrasting Arts subject, which would definitely require essay-writing. A friend of mine, who's an Econs teacher at a JC, recounted to me her frustration in trying to teach students who lack the English proficiency to express themselves clearly. In addition, GP requires a good command of the English language. Incidentally, if you fail GP, you would have deemed to have failed your entire 'A' levels. Gulp. It explains why so many students have tuition in GP.

In short, a student who is weak in English might want to reconsider going to JC as the language skills required are substantial. Not that you don't need English in poly education but because the modules are applied in nature, language use tends to be more practice-oriented. Polys also have communications skills modules to help students brush up on their English.


At the end of the day, I stress again that fit is the most important consideration when choosing between JC and poly. Visiting open houses is a great way to get a feel of the environment, and do speak to students and teachers. The poly open houses were last weekend but I believe many JCs have open houses this week. Go take a look with your child if you can.

Look beyond the numbers when talking about the decline in Literature

Today in the Straits Times is an article on the decline of Literature students. It's not the first time they've reported on this and it always annoys me to read about this topic on MSM because they tend to skim the surface without digging deeper. There's no analysis to speak of and they focus superficially on the numbers as if that gives legitimacy to the story.

No doubt, Lit has become less popular but WHY? Fewer kids taking Lit means kids are not interested? More schools offering Lit suddenly means the situation is improving? They interviewed one student who said she didn't take Lit because Lit was hard and they thought that explained everything? Many kids, even in my generation, found Lit hard. That hasn't changed.

1) The more basic flaw when looking at numbers: You can't look at the decline in the absolute number of students taking Lit at 'O' levels over the years and simply conclude that Lit is less popular because the NUMBER OF 'O' LEVEL STUDENTS HAS DECLINED OVER THE YEARS. Duh.

In 2012, 37,267 students sat for the 'O' levels. In 2014 just two years later, the number had dropped to 30,964. All numbers found on the MOE website. In other words, the "worrying drop" in Lit students reported in the Strait Times article over the same period from 6,000 to 5,500 Lit students was just a corresponding drop in cohort size.

Even I, who's hopeless in Maths, can tell you that if you insist on harping on figures, looking at the percentage of Lit students over the total number of kids sitting for 'O' levels would at least be a more accurate reflection of reality.

Do you know why the 'O' level cohort has been systematically falling? Apart from the corresponding fall in birth rates, it's also because from 2004 when the IP programme was introduced, the PSLE top scorers have been siphoned off to IP schools, where kids skip the 'O' levels. The number of students going into IP schools increases every year, hence the 'O' level cohort continues to shrink. And because Lit is typically considered a hard subject, ie only top students would take it, these students are likely in your IP schools, so the potential target audience has already been reduced.

2) The more complex issue: The way the education system is structured locally for 'O' levels is not conducive to kids taking up Lit and this is something I suspect many in the literary world who are trying to promote Lit in schools may not be aware of.

Let me share how 'O' level schools typically work. When you choose your subjects at sec 3, schools often offer only a few combinations. There are no more "Science" or "Arts" streams as in the past because in current day 'O' levels, you have to take at least one Science, one Maths and one Humanities subject. Quite commonly, a school would offer a Triple Science combination, a Double Science combination and a Combined Science combination. To fulfil the humanities criterion, most schools make students take Combined Humanities, which is half Social Studies and half an elective (Lit, Geography or History). In other words, when MSM reports that students prefer Combined Humanities over full Lit, it's not true. For most schools, Combined Humanities is COMPULSORY. The students don't have a choice. (I dare say many students absolutely abhor Social Studies).

So let's do a count of subjects: These would be your mandatory subjects: 1) English 2) Mother Tongue 3) E. Maths 4) Combined Humanities 5) one Science. That's 5 subjects. Many kids are told that if they want to increase their options at JC level, they should take another Science and A. Maths, so that makes 7 subjects. Many students take a total of 8 subjects so they may either choose yet another Science subject (hence Triple Science) or a less common subject (eg. Music, Design & Tech, Principles of Accounts) or another full humanities (Lit, History or Geog). This is where a student can choose to take full Lit as a subject if the school offers it.

However, many kids take only 7 subjects to lighten their workload, especially if they're looking to enter the Poly route (which requires only the calculation of 5 subjects for entry). Some schools even offer a 6-subject combination to help their weaker kids cope. Taking Lit as a subject is not an option for these kids, even if they're interested.

In other words, where would be the opportunity to take Lit? It's all very well to glibly say more kids should take Lit without understanding the constraints of the education system. In my generation, more kids took Lit but it wasn't so much that more kids were interested in it. We just didn't have a choice and we took all subjects imposed on us depending on the stream we were put in.

Whereas nowadays, Lit is usually an option and a small one offered only to students in the better classes. While more schools offering the subject is a good thing, it doesn't necessarily translate into significantly more students taking it up. And with 'O' level grades more critical than ever for entry into competitive JCs and Polys, coupled with the perception that Lit is terribly difficult to score well in, you have your answer as to why Lit is unpopular.

To me, trying to force Lit down the 'O' level track is an uphill task because of the limitations of the education structure. Where I think we can make a bigger impact promoting Lit is among the IP schools. Lit requires analysis and higher order thinking, and on paper, the IP students have the ability. IP schools also have the advantage of not having to put their students through the 'O' levels, so they can focus on subjects that develop the mind instead of teaching to the test. Yet many IP schools don't practise this.

Lesley-Anne was from the IP track. I was constantly frustrated at how her secondary school was narrowly exam-focused, despite IP touting freedom of academic and intellectual pursuit. At sec 3, the students were only offered two tracks: Triple Science or Double Science. In Triple Science (which formed majority of the classes), you had ZERO opportunity to take Lit (or any other full humanities subject). The combination was fixed as: English, Higher MT, 2 Maths, 3 Sciences, Social Studies. If you chose the Double Science combination, you could take one Humanities subject in place of the third science. This was the only option where you could choose Lit.

Lesley-Anne is clearly humanities-bound and she loves both Lit and Geography. But as you can see, her secondary school is so Science-biased (reinforcing the ancient fallacy that Science is superior) that there was no option for her to study both Lit and Geog. The best she could do was take up Double Science and she chose Lit. Oh, there was a very selective Humanities Programme where she could have studied a variety of arts subject but in order to get in, you had to score top marks in all your exam subjects at sec 2 (a large portion of which comprised Maths and Science subjects). Nothing about identifying those with special talent or interest in the humanities at all. What a farce.

The reason Lesley-Anne is enjoying JC so much more than secondary school is that at the JC level, you're allowed to study the subjects you enjoy. I'm not dissing the importance of Maths and Science, by the way. I'm rejecting the notion that they're considered so important that every kid has to study these at an advanced level whereas the Humanities are dubbed the inferior "can't do Science then I bopian do Arts" option.

I don't know if it's the same for all IP schools. I'm saying that there's a lot more potential for Lit to be taken up by students in these schools and if the obstacle is the schools' attitude towards the Humanities, then this is the area we should be looking at. If those looking to promote Lit in schools can engage IP school Principals and teachers, and change their mindset towards the Humanities, we might actually get somewhere in the long term.

And it's not just attitudes towards the Humanities, it's attitudes towards learning in general. As mentioned, IP schools should be focusing on learning more than scoring because that's what eliminating the 'O' levels was meant to do. Yet the legacy of this obsession over scoring dies hard. When Lesley-Anne decided to choose Lit in sec 3, her friends thought she was crazy. They felt she should have chosen Geog because she had topped her class in Geog in sec 2 - go with the "easier to score" option. But Lesley-Anne chose Lit because she decided that she loves Lit more and she enjoyed the lessons tremendously. I guess she had the last laugh because at the end of sec 4, she topped the level in Lit in her school.

It's a nice end to that chapter in her life but my point is that in our education system, there are more obstacles to taking Lit than just interest. The kids have to be very sure, they have to have support at home to go against the grain, because sometimes, the school doesn't encourage it. If kids, parents and teachers continue to view education as a numbers game obsessing over scores, Lit is fighting a losing battle.

Lit opens up our worldview and perspectives, and helps us see how language is used as an artform to influence emotion and shape opinions. Appreciating Lit takes time and that's part of the process of learning. If we are to promote Lit in schools, we need to jolt educators out of their misconception that there's more value to teaching a tangible concept like how molecules work than teaching about the depths of a human soul. We really have to move out of this rut of equating education with training, something I've written about before.

Back to the ST article, when journalists look at the numbers and think they tell the whole story of the state of Lit, they're ironically no different from the Maths/Science proponents. Delve deeper and ask the question why, beyond the numbers and without jumping to conclusion. Lit will teach you that.

Everyday slap the copywriter

In an embarrassing piece of news, MAS gets the name of first president Mr Yusof Ishak wrong on the folder and booklet of a $50 commemorative banknote. It even attracted the attention of BBC News.

Photo: Channel News Asia

Some people have wondered how the copywriter could have missed this. I have a couple of theories:

1) MAS didn't engage a copywriter. They might have engaged a design agency or printing agency to design and produce the folders and booklets, and included copywriting in the contract. The agency then got someone in-house, who's likely not a professional copywriter, to write the text. This is a common practice done to save costs. But how the error could also have been missed by MAS, who presumably would have to proof-read the text and give the final go-ahead, boggles the mind.

2) The more horrifying possibility is that both the copywriter and the person in charge of this project DIDN'T KNOW the name of our first president. One website did some sleuthing and actually found a list of instances where "Yusok Ishak" was erroneously published in mainstream media and government publications, including *horror of horrors* MOE and MINDEF! So did the MAS incident happen because someone conveniently cut-and-paste the info from another source and didn't know it was wrong? I really hope not because that would be too sad for words.

Anyway, in my line of work, I come across loads of writing errors all the time. While some of them are simply grammatical or typographical errors, my writers and I constantly lament that there's a lot more blatant usage of words without thought these days. Remember earlier this year when SingTel came under fire for using the tagline "Let's make everyday better"? The error: "everyday" as one word refers to the routine things we do each day but if that's the meaning SingTel had intended, the tagline should have read "Let's make the everyday better".

But fine - I can accept that not everyone is able to distinguish between "every day" and "everyday" (although an ad agency most certainly should). However, when I visited a SingTel shop a couple of weeks ago, I saw this emblazoned on the wall:

 

What a massive line of gobbledegook. Apart from the very strange sentence structure, what are they promoting? The fertility rate? Toothpaste? It's like someone ran a random slogan through Google Translate. Incidentally, the sentence below is wrong as well. It should be "family's" (singular) not "families'" (plural). Otherwise, I should be able to bundle my family's mobile plan with 10 other families and maybe get 100% discount.

One of my writers retorted, "Everyday better slap the copywriter." When I shared the photo on Facebook, a friend posted this pic:

Oh look - the same copywriter! Groan.

Actually, I don't know if it's just the copywriter who's inept (it baffles me how many people think just because they can string a grammatical sentence together, they are qualified to offer copywriting services) or the client who insisted on going with something unintelligible. But there are just too many ads that dress up gibberish with mood photography or fancy videography. I still remember a Capitaland tv commercial a few years ago that made me cringe. One of its lines was: "A good building is like a good person - you can't have one without the other." Whaaaaaat? Newsflash: Just because you use a manly, authoritative voice-over doesn't mean what he says makes any sense.

In the past, few organisations outsourced writing - most of the writing was done in-house by their own PR departments. However, from what clients and friends tell me, the art of writing has today become an elusive skill that eludes even communications staff. Hence, most writing is now outsourced. Yet we are still surrounded by bad English (I previously wrote about bad English being used in official channels in this post). Haiz.

In the quest to be original and capture attention, organisations and copywriters sometimes embark on English gymnastics. The trouble is if you're not an expert at it, you might end up in a tangled heap. Often, simplicity is best. No need to try so hard to be clever. Just be correct.

See Dot Run

One of Lesley-Anne's 'A' level subjects is English Language and Linguistics (ELL) and part of it involves learning how to write for different audiences. Last year, one of their exercises was to write a short story for children with simple syntax (sentence structures).

Sounds legitimate enough. However, the example that the teacher showed the class was a story from one of those archaic Peter and Jane books:

Some of the students baulked at the tired cliches and decided to put their own spin on the assignment. This was Lesley-Anne's contribution:

Kate has a dog. The dog is white and its name is Dot. Mom and Dad love Kate and Kate loves Dot. Kate loves to play fetch with Dot.

One day, they go to the beach. Kate is afraid of the water so she stands on the sand. But Dot loves the water so she runs into the sea. Kate throws a shell into the sea. Dot runs to fetch it. They play the game for a long time. Kate and Dot are happy.

Kate throws a shell. The shell flies far into the sea. Dot runs after it. The waves are big and strong and the water splashes about. Kate cannot see Dot anymore. She runs to the edge of the sea. She is scared. She starts calling for Dot. She throws more shells.

But the dog does not come back.

She keeps throwing shells anyway.

Little Miss Macabre. I told Lesley-Anne if kids ever read that, they'd be traumatised for life! Fortunately, she didn't have to hand it up in the end because I'm not sure the teacher would have approved of such a ghoulish tale.

A few months later, the ELL class received another minor assignment to write a story for a brochure informing children about responsible pet ownership. Lesley-Anne's output was a prequel to her Kate and Dot story:

Kate was lonely. She wanted a pet to keep her company. So she set off in search of the perfect pet. She peeped at rabbits in their hutches. She watched fishes in their tanks. She spotted alley cats near the road. 

But Kate liked dogs best. On she went in search of the perfect dog. One was too lazy and slept all day. One was too hyper and jumped onto Kate. One was too noisy and barked all day. One was too shy and hid from Kate. 

One time, she seemed to have found the perfect dog. But it was too furry and Kate could not brush its fur. Another time, the dog was too big. Kate could not walk the dog. The dog walked her.

Kate was walking along the beach. She was still lonely. She picked up a shell and threw it into the ocean. Lo and behold! The perfect dog ran into the water and picked up the shell. Kate was afraid of the water. She stood on the shore while the dog stood in the water.

“Hello!” called Kate.

The dog looked up. It stood there quietly looking at Kate. It was not too noisy. It was not too furry. It was not too big.

“Come, dog!” said Kate. “Come and play with me!”

The dog ran over and put the shell in Kate’s hands. It sat quietly at her feet. It was not too lazy. It was not too hyper. It was not too shy.

“I’ll call you Dot!” cried Kate.

The dog barked a reply. It wagged its tail and smiled. Dot was perfect.

Kate threw the shell into the sea. She saw Dot run to fetch it. They played the game for hours. Kate laughed and Dot woofed. The two best friends spent the whole day at the beach. Their game could have gone on forever.

And Kate was happy. 

Can you tell that I have a morbid daughter? When you read this in isolation, it sounds like a perfectly pleasant story but as a back story to the previous exercise...shudder. The teacher never got around to marking the assignment, so Lesley-Anne doesn't know how she did.

Personally, I love it when kids show creativity and dare to think outside the boundaries. When we conduct writing workshops, we always encourage the kids to be as imaginative and original as possible. However, I'm realistic enough to know that not every teacher or examiner would agree.

Ah well. At least I know that if all else fails, Lesley-Anne can pursue a career as a horror script writer.

My son, the copywriter

In our household, it's a no-brainer which kid is the one with the flair for language. Lesley-Anne loves Literature and end of last year, we were terribly pleased to find out that she had topped Literature in the secondary 4 level in her school. It was a bonus in the crown to having the Danger Dan series published.

In contrast, Literature baffles left-brained Andre. When he was in sec 1, he had this exercise which required him to describe a cream bun. It was a 10-mark question. Andre ignored the many lines provided (which clearly indicated the teacher was expecting a substantial description) and wrote: "The bun is soft and creamy."

After I'd admonished him for this less than adequate answer, he replied, rather puzzled, "What else do you want me to say? It's a cream bun!"

After his mid-year Literature exam last year, Andre was asked by Lesley-Anne, "So how was the paper?" 

Andre: "There was one passage I didn't know what it was talking about."
 
Lesley-Anne: "How many passages were there?"

Andre: "One."

Groan. Apparently it was something about whispering clouds and five-fingered ferns. Totally went over his head.

However, that's not to say he's not creative. In January this year, his class was tasked with thinking up a class slogan. Each student had to come up with something and Andre's contribution was: "Nutella is smooth but life is not. So work hard!"

He said the class laughed but nobody voted for his suggestion. Instead, the class went with something safe like "Work smart, work hard." Oh come on, I would have totally voted for his line! It made me laugh so hard, especially when he suggested an accompanying picture of a giant jar of Nutella. Product placement as well! What's there not to love?

And then on my birthday, Lesley-Anne presented me with this: a stuffed hedgehog she made herself, using felt, cotton and cloth. It's beautiful and I was touched by the amount of work and thought that went into it.

There was no way Andre could top that - he just doesn't have that sort of patience or ability. However, what Andre lacks in skill, he makes up for in charm. He gave me a pack of chocolate chip cookies:

And on a scrap of paper, he wrote: "Cookies crumble but my love for you does not." As my friend Lilian said, "win liao lor".

Looks like there's hope yet. Another friend of mine says Andre possibly has a future career in Hallmark Cards. Yes, maybe in the Corny Card section!

Here comes Danger Dan!

This has been an eventful year for me, to say the least. And even as 2013 draws to a close, instead of winding down, the excitement is heating up.

Here's a piece of news that I've been keeping under wraps for the past few months:

I'm writing a children's book series! With Lesley-Anne!

There! I've never been terribly good with secrets so it's very cathartic for me to finally be able to share this publicly. Earlier this year, Epigram Books (my publisher of The Good, the Bad and the PSLE) called for a pitch for writers to propose a series of children's books. The brief was simple - it had to involve time travel back to Singapore's past.

I thought this was an interesting project and something that Lesley-Anne could take on. However, Epigram Books was rightly concerned that it might be too much for her to handle alone since she has to juggle school, so we came up with the proposal to be co-authors. To cut a long story short, we prepared synopses for the series and wrote a sample first chapter. And Epigram Books loved it, so we got the contract :)

About the books

The protagonist is Danny aka Danger Dan - a hyperactive 11-year-old boy who loves comics and has superhero fantasies. However in real life, he's an unlikely hero as he's small and scrawny, with three older sisters who constantly bully him.

His shot at saving the world (well, Singapore at least) comes when he travels back in time and meets Melody, an enigmatic 14-year-old girl from the future. There, he learns that certain parts of Singapore's history have been changed due to a time warp, with horrendous results! Danger Dan and Melody rush to correct the mistakes. In the process, they run into some wacky situations!

First book in the series is out January 2014. Reading age is 8-11 years old.

Illustrations

For me, partnering with Epigram Books has been absolutely fantastic, for many reasons. But one big plus is that they understand the importance of design, especially for children's books. The illustrator they selected really brought to life how we envisioned Danny and Melody. Apart from the illustrations, Epigram Books' inhouse designer also went the extra mile to add many visual points of interest. Don't you just love this teaser above? We do!

Thought process

When we heard that we had to write about time travel back to Singapore's past, our first thought was that we had to make the books FUNNY. In fact, we balked at using the word "history" altogether because we knew kids would immediately have the impression: "Yuck! Another social studies textbook disguised as a fun book!" And who can blame them? I feel that most attempts to jazz up social studies, either in book form or video form haven't been very successful so far.

So I want to say upfront that the books are not commissioned by any government agency. This gives us the creative freedom to think up storylines and pick the time travel periods according to what we feel would make engaging and compelling plots.

Danny and Melody navigate through various places and meet different historical figures back in time but these tend to be in the course of their adventure, not so much because we feel we have to feature them. This frees us from the burden of having to be politically correct. However, we always try to ensure our facts are accurate, of course. And it's actually quite fun when we stumble on fascinating little-known trivia of Singapore's past that we think might be interesting to include for readers.

Coming up

Exciting developments are underway - check out our Danger Dan Facebook page! Please like the page to be notified of updates. Besides notifications of book launches, Lesley-Anne and I will also regularly share titbits eg. what it's like to be co-authors (lots of angst but also lots of fun!)

Hope to have your support!

Invasion of the Grammar Nazis

Lesley-Anne's friend once noted, "you use correct grammar even in your sms-es!"

Yup. She generally doesn't use the teen lingo, such as:

"gr8! cu @ mall w8n 4 u cos dun wan get u d wrg ting."

Such messages drive me crazy and I find them simply incomprehensible. Call me a dinosaur but if being cool entails communicating like this, I'm perfectly happy with my kid being in the uncool crowd.

I'm not sure if it's due to my influence that Lesley-Anne escaped this endemic.  Her grammar obsession extends to other areas of English. In sec 2, some of her classmates did a project which involved testing kids on their pronunciation skills.  Among the words on the list were: rendezvous, lingerie, awry, debut, ensemble, reconnaissance and renaissance.  Apparently, some kids totally butchered the words eg. "ren-der-vouse", "aw-ree".  

Lesley-Anne was one of the few who could pronounce all the words and when her classmates asked her about her ability, she replied, "my Mum is a pronunciation Nazi".  When she recounted the story to me, I wanted to protest but I knew she was right because I had to suppress my urge to correct her pronunciation of "Nazi" ("nahd-zee", not "nah-zee").

It's probably because of our shared passion for reading and writing, that we take such offence to the mangling of language.  I'm not claiming that my pronunciation or even my grammar is perfect.  There are occasions when I've stared at a sentence so long that I can no longer tell if it's grammatical. Being a frequent user of Singlish doesn't help. (My blog probably contains lots of mistakes too but since this is a casual platform, I try not to be too anal about it).

But when I spot glaring errors, especially in the media, it irks me and it looks like Lesley-Anne has inherited this trait. I love this cartoon - it sums up our feelings.  

I think most mothers and daughters have a unique area that they can bond over, and for Lesley-Anne and I, it's the love of words. She frequently discusses books with me and approaches me when she needs help or advice for English or Lit.  It's something that I cherish and I know she does too (even though she may not admit it).  Incidentally, it's not just a one-way street - I'm increasingly seeking her opinion about the usage of words and phrases, and I find that she has a pretty intuitive grasp of what constitutes good writing.

It's far from being a perfect partnership though.  Lesley-Anne's weak spot is maths and in this area, I'm completely hopeless.  She related to me (rather enviously) that some of her friends, when unable to do some maths problems, would consult their mothers.  She told her friends, "you're so lucky. When I asked my mother about log, she said, 'err... log is to beaver'."

Lol. It's true. Ah well, one can only obsess over so many things.

Does this spell the end of literature?

Last month, there was some debate on the drop in number of students taking Literature at 'O' levels from 16,970 in 1992 to just 3,000 in 2012, and whether this signals a decline in appreciation of the humanities among students. You can read the news article here.

While the drop in numbers sounds terribly alarming, I always hesitate to take numbers at face value. Instantly, two "BUTS" came to mind:

1) BUT: Wouldn't the decline also be due to the drop in number of kids taking 'O' levels?  Today, with the IP and other alternative educational pathways, many kids no longer take 'O' levels.

2) BUT: There are more 'O' level subjects these days, compared to 20 years ago. Wouldn't the increase in choice automatically dilute the number of kids taking any one subject (except for compulsory subjects)?

MOE's reply shed more light.  With reference to my point 2), it seems that the drop happened most drastically at the 2001 point when Combined Humanities was introduced.  This is a social studies subject with an elective of Lit, Geog or History and became a popular alternative to the other pure humanities subjects - Lit, Geog and History.

With regards to point 1) though, it's still a little hazy. MOE reveals the percentage of sec 4 cohort that took Lit in 1992 (47.9%), 2001 (21.8%) and 2012 (9%) but it's important to note that a percentage of the Sec 4 cohort not the same as a percentage of the 'O' level cohort.

A drop in 'O' level Lit does not necessarily translate into an equivalent drop in kids studying Lit at sec 4. In many IP schools, Lit is a compulsory subject for sec 4 kids as they take Language Arts (which is a fusion of English and Lit).  For the IB programme, Lit is compulsory all the way to year 6.

Typically also, even from the 1990s, Lit has been considered the more challenging humanities subject (because it requires critical thinking and language skills, not something you can mug for it), so it is usually reserved for the more academic classes (usually the top science and arts classes).  If you postulate that these kids are now likely in the IP track at secondary school, then it's no surprise that Lit has fizzled out in the 'O' level arena.

Beyond the numbers

Nevertheless, it's hard to deny that the number of students studying Lit (whether at 'O' levels or not) has declined.  Perhaps not as drastically as the numbers suggest but still undeniable... and that's sad.  I won't bother to write all about the importance of Lit since I'd already done so previously.  Besides, I came across this passionate Facebook post by Joshua Ip, which laid out all the points very convincingly.  It's a little over the top (there's a little bit of theatre in every true blue Lit student) but the points are pretty solid and more substantial than any argument I'd read in the mainstream media.  Plus it's a highly entertaining read, which reflects well on his Lit background.
 
This decline in Lit is not just about Lit alone. Looking at the bigger picture, it reflects the persistent worldview that the humanities in general are the poor cousin to the firmly footed maths and science.  After 20 years, the triple science combination is still considered the most prestigious in your sec 3 choices. In some schools, only the "top" students are offered the combination. In Lesley-Anne's school, there's no real humanities combination - you either take triple science or double science. Double maths is compulsory.

Moving on to 'A' levels, this bias continues. The 'A' level syllabus now requires you to choose a contrasting subject to create balance, ie science students have to take at least one humanities subject and arts students have to take at least one science subject.  In theory, this is great but in reality, I find the practice flawed.

If you're in the science stream, you can choose from a long list of humanities subjects, eg. 3rd language, Geog, Lit, History, Music, Art and Econs.  I always felt that Econs was such a miscategorisation.  It's nowhere remotely near a true humanities subject that encourages the broadening of worldviews or right brain thinking.  It's about statistics and trends, and the analyses are more akin to the scientific type.  That's why many science students choose Econs as their contrasting subject - yet another "pragmatic" choice.

Whereas if you're in the arts stream, you're pretty much limited to one contrasting subject - Maths.  Don't believe me? Most JCs don't offer science subjects as a contrasting subject, meaning that if you don't like maths, you're pretty much screwed.  It also sends a very clear message - the most important subject in the Singapore education system is MATHS MATHS MATHS.

Don't misunderstand me, I acknowledge that maths is important.  However, I find this obsession with maths baffling. The maths proponents tend to play up the pragmatic value of learning maths but honestly, most people will never apply the kind of maths you learn at 'A' levels.  If you want to focus on pragmatics, I would have thought it's more important to learn about human geography (urban planning!) or human biology (understand your body!).  I suspect this practice is again linked to scoring - Maths is one of those subjects with the highest percentage of distinctions at 'A' level so it's attractive to JCs looking to raise their overall scores. 

Quality not quantity

I was chatting with a teacher friend recently and he mentioned that he happened to see one of his sec 3 student's Lit essays. He was perturbed to see it littered with grammatical errors that were not corrected by the teacher.  Upon questioning, she replied "Miss W said in Lit, we're not marked on grammar, only based on the points we give."

Stab a knife through my heart now, won't ya.  Is that how we're addressing the difficulty to score in Lit, by reducing it to a factual content subject?  I don't think the teacher recognised the irony of it - that a subject supposed to test your critical thinking and arguments is awarded marks according to a marking template.  Instead of embracing the humanities, we try to turn it into something more scientific.  And when English ceases to matter in English Lit, well... I've no words.

I was so appalled by this that I checked with Lesley-Anne if it was the same at her school.  Thankfully, she shared my disbelief and said no, her Lit assignments are marked on both language and content, where original arguments are valued.  Phew.  So maybe it's just that school or that teacher.  I hope and pray that's not how Lit is marked at 'O' levels these days.

It's a sad state of affairs.  It's the belief that education in Singapore is still primarily about scoring.  There's a lot of talk about holistic education, creativity and critical thinking but the truth is, so many educators, parents and students are still stuck in the old mindset that education is about amassing facts and A's.

Lesley-Anne had this to say: "The problem is many students are still learning things in isolation, so they don't understand the relevance of what they learn beyond the narrow confines of that subject. Even English becomes relevant only to the English subject in school. So many things in the world are linked.  When we are unable to see the inter-connectedness of different issues, we miss the big picture. How then can we innovate and solve problems?"

I love how a 15-year-old can have the wisdom to see this truth where many adults cannot. I couldn't have said it better myself.

More books for boys

I've been getting requests for book recommendations for boys so here are three series you can check out.

The first is an author I recently discovered - David Walliams.  If your son likes Roald Dahl, he'll like this guy cos it's written in a similar style. It helps that Quentin Blake is the illustrator for both Dahl and Walliams - that guy makes a book instantly appealing!

Walliams' books include Mr Stink, Billionaire Boy, Gangsta Granny and Ratburger.  Theoretically, they're not a true series - just books in the same style by the same author.

I would estimate the reading level of the books to be about 9-11 years old but they're fun for any age. 

The second series is a long-time favourite of mine - the Nicholas books by Rene Goscinny.  If you love the humour of the Asterix comics, you'll love Nicholas.  Both are written by the same author and follow the same guileless style of comedy.  In fact, Nicholas reads almost like a comic in prose form.  The stories are about a French boy, Nicholas, and the scrapes he gets into with his school friends.

The books were published in France more than 40 years ago, but they're still funny today.  When I was young, I used to borrow these from the library and I feel they're keepers.  Andre loves them, he still re-reads them sometimes. It took me a while to hunt down the hardcovers (these were the original versions).  I think they're gradually being phased out and replaced with soft covers.

Reading level is also about 9-11 years old.

Finally, we have The Great Brain series.  This is another time-tested series that I grew up with.  Written by John D. Fitzgerald, it's a semi-autobiography that tells of John and his adventures growing up with his brother, Tom aka the Great Brain. Tom is a conniving genius with a great love for money and is always scheming to swindle the neighbourhood kids.  Set in Utah in the 1900s, these stories tell of a simpler time but are still engaging and pretty much timeless.  

I collected these over many years, hence the disparate versions.  Sure that he would dislike the books, Andre started reading them reluctantly only upon my insistence.  To his own surprise, he grew to love the characters and really got into the books.  When he was on the last book, he actually lamented, "Why didn't the author write any more?", as if 8 in the series wasn't prolific enough.  

I estimate the reading level to be 10-12 years old.

Lit assignment on Macbeth

Last year, Lesley-Anne studied Macbeth for literature and this seems to be a popular Shakespeare text for sec 3 and 4.  One of the more interesting assignments the kids were tasked to do was to write an original sonnet based on a theme in Macbeth.

As part of the challenge, it had to fulfil the standard requirements of a sonnet, ie:

• 14 lines
• each line with 10 syllables
• ABAB rhyme scheme with last 2 lines a couplet
• Iambic pentameter, meaning each unstressed syllable must be followed by a stressed syllable

 Lesley-Anne chose the theme "Appearance vs Reality" and here's what she came up with.


Concealed within the walls of Inverness
Are dangerous desires and lethal lies
Ambition grows while shrouded in darkness
And martlets cloak the owl's ill-fated cries

A mask of innocence disguised Macbeth's
Intent to execute an evil crime
While Duncan slept and drew his final breath
Up ambition's ladder did Macbeth climb

Although unshaken did Macbeth appear
Throughout his quest to win the regal throne
The only things he gained were guilt and fear
The forest came and he was overthrown

When order hides the chaos and despair
It looks like fair is foul and foul is fair


Lesley-Anne didn't score as well as she'd hoped cos the teacher commented that the reader wouldn't have understood the sonnet if he or she hadn't read Macbeth. All I can say is that the assignments these days are really tough - I wouldn't have been able to come up with much at sec 3.  However, I do feel it's a lot more thought-provoking than merely having to write another analytical essay.  Certainly forces you to dig deep into your imagination and harness your creative juices.

Wish I had lit assignments like these back then, lessons would have been more fun!

I think, therefore I write

2012 was a momentous year for me career-wise as it marked the 10th anniversary of my writing business, Hedgehog Communications. 10 years! It sure doesn't feel like a decade has passed. When I first started this enterprise, I wasn't sure it would even last a year. But lasted it has, and even garnered some very loyal customers along the way, for which I'm extremely grateful.

The business has allowed me to keep myself economically active while being there with my kids. It also let me make a living out of something I love - writing.

So to mark the occasion, I decided to print some notebooks as a corporate gift.  I didn't want just any commonplace notebook, so I sourced around and at a gifts fair, a particular one caught my eye. It's a notebook made from stone paper, something I'd never heard of. It's waterproof, tear-proof, smudge resistant and bio-degradable. How intriguing is that?

The decision was easy then. I decided to keep to a simple design with my logo on the back and went with a small print run.

In fact, a couple of my corporate customers liked the idea of stone paper so much that they had their own gifts produced from it. Always nice to be able to contribute to the green movement.

I wrote a 10th anniversary note for my website which I'll share here as it encapsulates my beliefs about the power of writing.

I think, therefore I write.

In 10 years, we at Hedgehog Communications have written 59 annual reports, 64 brochures, 28 websites and 35 newsletters. Not to mention the many speeches, advertisements and magazines… even the occasional mission statement. That's a lot of words.

But effective writing is never just about the number of words. In a world where we are constantly faced with a deluge of information, each piece demanding our attention, the power to communicate - clearly and convincingly - is more important than ever.

Over the past 10 years, Hedgehog Communications has discussed healthcare, debated over education and explained technology. We've crafted messages for CEOs, penned quirky headlines for posters and scripted lines for corporate presentations. Through it all, we've strengthened our belief that the pen (or in 21st century terms, the keyboard) is a mighty instrument. It crystalises the power of the written word - to shape thought, evoke emotion and drive behaviour.

10. It's just a number. But seen in the light of a decade of communications, if something we've written has given you pause for thought, made you smile or changed your mind just a little, then it was a decade well spent.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In many ways, what I do at work has some parallel with my blogging.  My blog readers are often as supportive of me as my clients and so, I'm giving out 5 notebooks as a small gesture of appreciation.

If you would like a stone paper notebook, be among the first 5 to like this post on the Of Kids and Education Facebook page and write a message. Then email me (also on Facebook) to let me know where to mail the notebook to.



 

Back on the book wagon

Sec 3 was a very hectic year for Lesley-Anne. With such a punishing schedule, she barely did any leisure reading throughout the year, which I thought was a pity. So after her exams, I asked her to make a conscious effort to do some reading, to nurture this important habit.

I find that often, reading needs to gain momentum. If I stop for a while or am stuck in an uninspiring book, I usually find myself unmotivated to read for a long time. To get Lesley-Anne's reading juices going, I recommended some books that I personally enjoyed. We don't always like the same types of books but those here turned out to be great hits with her. Considering she barely had any free time in the December holidays, what with the school trip to Shanghai, church camp and our family holiday, I think she covered quite a lot of ground.

I'm sharing the list of books she read during the holidays here, in case you're looking for recommendations for your kids. Do note that some some of them have mature themes like love stories, so I would probably recommend them only for 15-year-olds and above.

I won't bother to write the blurbs, just a short commentary of each. I've provided the Amazon links so you can check the books out in greater detail. 

Jeannette Walls - Half Broke Horses and The Glass Castle.

Both books are memoirs (you'll find that I have loads of memoirs - the kaypoh in me loves reading about people's lives).  After finishing the two books, Lesley-Anne declared Jeannette Walls to be her new favourite author.

Anchee Min - Pearl of China

This is based on the life of legendary writer, Pearl S. Buck. A fascinating read, interweaving fiction with historical events.

Ruth Reichl - Tender to the Bone

Another memoir, this time of the childhood of a famous food critic. It's the quirky parents who always capture Lesley-Anne's imagination.

Frank McCourt - Angela's Ashes

The Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir. Lesley-Anne didn't manage to finish this before the holidays ended.

Vikas Swarup - Slumdog Millionaire

An easy and fun read. We never watched the movie but the book is highly entertaining.

Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner

This book totally captivated Lesley-Anne, she couldn't put it down. When she finished it, however, she wailed, "How come all your books so sad? Everybody dies!"  That's me - lover of the dramatic and the melancholic.


These books were an awakening of sorts for her. They're different from what is typical of teenage or young adult fiction and I think they opened her eyes to the standard of writing that's out there.

For me, that's the biggest takeaway you can get from reading - to expand your mind and to see beyond the world you know.  In a way, it's a little like travelling... but without having to pack your bags or spend a bomb. A truly 5-star activity.

Basic grammar rules

Throughout primary school, Andre had trouble with grammar rules regarding singular/plural and past/present. He could never seem to remember when to use what and often relied on what he felt "sounded right" (which of course, was frequently wrong!)

For some reason, even though we're an English-speaking family, he could never quite get a handle on grammar. A teacher friend of mine suggested that I compile a list of rules for Andre.  I attempted it and found that it helped tremendously. Somehow by organising the rules for him in a structured format, they didn't seem so arbitrary to him and became much easier to remember. The list also acts as a convenient reference list.

So for parents out there with kids like Andre, I thought I'd share my list. Do note this is not exhaustive but it covers most of the major ones.

Grammar Rules

1.       Is it singular or plural? (Look at the front noun).  Is it past or present? 

a.     The butcher sells meat at the market everyday.

b.     John cleaned his shoes yesterday.

2.       These are all singular:

a.     None of the girls is coming.

b.     Each of the boys has a pen.

c.     Everyone is coming to the party.

d.     Every artist loves to paint.

e.     Anybody is allowed to participate.

f.      Somebody is coming.

g.     Something is missing.

h.     Neither of the girls likes to travel

i.       Either one of them is coming.

j.       Uncountable nouns:  Water leaks from the pipe.

3.       These are all plural:

a.      All the boys have pencils.

b.      Both of them love ice cream.

c.      The pen and book belong to Ali.

d.      A few marbles were rolling on the floor.

e.      Many people visit the zoo.

f.       Most children dislike vegetables.

4.       Singular or plural – for these, look at the front:

a.      John as well as the girls loves to go to the beach.

b.      The girls except Mary like to eat fried chicken.

c.      All the trees but the one with fruit are to be chopped down.

d.      Susan, together with her friends, is playing at the playground.

e.      These books, with the magazine, belong to Jasmine.

f.       The carpet, like the curtains, brightens up the room.

g.      Collective nouns: A group of boys is coming this way.

5.       Singular or plural – for these, look at the back:

a.       Either the eraser or the pencils are missing.

b.      Neither the bags nor the box is heavy.