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Using the Dictionary

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:49:04 +0300

Hello everybody,

How are you all doing? Hope you had a great Easter – mine was fantastic!

During my holiday I was reading quite a bit, which made me think of you all and the topic of today: Using the Dictionary.

<<<>>>

The thing is, using the dictionary is such a long and tedious process. In order to get the right definition or translation of a word in your own language, you basically have to go through all of the following steps:

1. Check what letter the word begins with: For example, the word Enthusiastic begins with the letter ‘E’.

2. Get a dictionary (big or small) open on the right letter (while going through the ABC over and over again).

3. Take into consideration the second letter of your word: For example the letter ‘n’ in the word Enthusiastic.

4. Go through the dictionary to search for words beginning with ‘en’. You have to go through all the letters combinations till you reach the desired combination of ‘en’.

5. Go through all the words related to ‘enthusiastic’. For example, enthusiasm, till you reach your target word.

6. Read all the definitions of the word to find the one which fits the context you first encountered it in.

My point is - this is a long and tedious process. Honestly, don’t you wish you could just blink and TADAA! your definition magically appears?

Well I’ve got great news for you – an online multi-lingual dictionary!

An online multi-lingual dictionary saves you the time and trouble of using a traditional dictionary, by providing you the definition and the translation of your target word in your native language in one simple click.

As my beloved readers, I want to offer you the WhiteSmoke Multilingual Dictionary for only $19.95 when upgrading to WhiteSmoke Writer 2010+ to make life a bit easier for you.

<<<>>>

Have a lovely day,

Keren White

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Using the Dictionary

Plural

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:18:53 +0200

Hi there

Let me introduce myself, my name is Keren White and I am in charge of providing you with
interesting insights and anecdotes about the English Language.

This e-mail is only the first one out of a series of e-mails I’ll be sending your way.
I would be very happy to get your feedback with any comments or questions you might have.
Feel free to contact me at: keren@whitesmoke.com

Let’s get started with today’s topic…Plural Nouns!
Making plural nouns is simple: 1 computer - 2 computers. Pretty straightforward, right?

Wrong!

When it comes to making nouns plural, there are no clear-cut rules.

The exceptions to the rules exceed the rules themselves, for example:
If the plural of box is boxes, why is the plural of ox - oxen?
If the plural of safe is safes, why is the plural of wife- wives?

It gets even worse…
1 foot becomes 2 feet
1 man becomes 2 men
1 child becomes 2 children
If 1 goose becomes 2 geese, why doesn’t 1 moose become 2 “meese”?

Some nouns keep their singular form when they become plural:

1 fish – 2 fish
1 sheep – 2 sheep
Some plural forms are based on rules from foreign languages, and follow no rule whatsoever:
Basis – bases
Criterion – criteria

How do I know what the plural form of each noun is? You may wonder.
Memorizing them orlooking them up in the dictionary may be tedious work; WhiteSmoke
Writer, the most comprehensive English grammar, punctuation and style checker in the world today, will make your life a lot easier. WhiteSmoke Writer will automatically correct your plural forms in case they are incorrect.

Good luck,

Keren White

WhiteSmoke Team

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Plural

WhiteSmoke Writer 2010 Launch

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:38:18 +0200

Major Update to Software for Editing and Enhancing English Writing

WhiteSmoke, Inc. - Wilmington, DE. Sept. 15th, 2009 – WhiteSmoke announces the immediate availability of WhiteSmoke Writer 2010, the upgrade from WhiteSmoke 2009. The launch of WhiteSmoke Writer is accompanied by a huge competition, with a round-the-world plane ticket for the winner.

WhiteSmoke Writer 2010 is a complete software solution for editing and enhancing English texts. Features include a grammar checker, writing style checker, writing review, dictionary-thesaurus, and more. This release introduces a name change (“Writer”) in preparation for a number of new software solutions for language and writing from WhiteSmoke. A major new feature, Writing Review, is introduced, as well as a number of updates and fixes.

New Features and Enhancements

Writing Review

The major new feature introduced in this release is Writing Review. Liran Brenner, VP of R&D at WhiteSmoke, explains, “Writing Review is a new way of getting feedback from WhiteSmoke about the quality of your text. Working alongside WhiteSmoke Writer's grammar, spelling, and style suggestions, Writing Review gives an analysis of other text-wide factors, such as passive verb frequency, average sentence length, complex word use, and more. Based on these factors and grammar, spelling, and style issues, the text is given an overall score.”

Revamped GUI

WhiteSmoke Writer features a complete revamp of the GUI, with several work-flow improvements. It is now easier than ever to check your writing with WhiteSmoke Writer, and return the corrected text back to the original application you are working in.

Other Enhancements and Fixes

The application now features faster performance and all-round improvements to the precision of the checking algorithms. Improvements have been made for better compatibility with Word Perfect and Open Office, as well as with all 64 bit versions of Windows operating systems.

“After several years of increasing our user base and enhancing our text analysis technologies, we are in a strong, market-leading position with WhiteSmoke Writer, and this latest release consolidates this. With these latest features and enhancements, WhiteSmoke Writer users have the best tool available to edit and enhance their English writing,” claims Amit Greener, VP of Marketing at WhiteSmoke.

Product Launch Competition – Round-the-World Ticket

Accompanying the launch of WhiteSmoke Writer 2010, WhiteSmoke is running a competition on its website. Anyone who registers at the WhiteSmoke shopping cart is eligible to enter. Entrants are requested to send a 1-2 minute video, or a text, detailing a humorous or interesting story related to language miscommunication. Eligible entries will be published on the WhiteSmoke.com website. WhiteSmoke staff will then select a winner who will receive a round-the-world plane ticket from their country of origin. Entry to the competition closes on October 15th 2009, and the winner will be announced on October 20th 2009.

Enter the competition here:
http://www.whitesmoke.com/competition-entry

WhiteSmoke Language Solutions

“The latest version of WhiteSmoke Writer is the best yet, with significant performance enhancements and great new features,” claims Hilla Ovil-Brenner, WhiteSmoke CEO. Hilla continues, “We are very excited about the new possibilities this version brings to our users, and also about the competition – let's see all those stories that everyone knows – misunderstandings and funny moments due to communication breakdown.”

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - WhiteSmoke Writer 2010 Launch

Synonyms in English - Using Synonyms in Writing and Speech

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:22:14 +0300

Can you imagine how language would be if we always used the same words when speaking, reading and writing? If everything (person, place, object…) in the world had only one word to refer to it, the world would be a very boring place.

Well, in order to make language a lot more expressive and interesting we should try to vary the words we use as often as we can (but not too often).

That’s where synonyms come into the picture!

The word synonym is a composite of two Greek words: The prefix “syn” means “together” and “onym” is “name.” Synonyms- naming the same thing.

In other words, synonyms are words or phrases which share the exact same meaning or a very similar meaning.

For example:

Beautiful-pretty
Teenager-adolescent
Baby-toddler
Mother-mommy

Words from any part of speech (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions) can have synonyms, as long as they both have the same part of speech.

For example:

Amazing, awesome, incredible, astonishing (adjectives)
Car, auto, automobile, motorcar (nouns)
Participate, take part, join (verbs)
Quickly, fast, promptly (adverbs)
On, upon (prepositions)

When replacing a word with its synonym, make sure the meaning of the sentence in the specific context is maintained as well. Synonyms are defined according to certain senses of words.

For example:

This is my senior year at University.

Senior in this sentence cannot be replaced with the words elder or older, since the meaning of the sentence will change and will make less sense.

However, senior in the sense of fourth year can be replaced with the word last and the meaning will remain the same as in the original sentence.

Good speakers and writers often vary their vocabulary and so can you! The best way to expand your vocabulary is to use a thesaurus. A thesaurus is a source that provides you with a listing of similar or related words you can choose from in order to vary your word choice in your text. You can also try WhiteSmoke's free online dictionary, which offers you synonyms (and antonyms!) for any word you enter.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Synonyms in English - Using Synonyms in Writing and Speech

Business English Resources - WhiteSmoke English for Business Tools and Tips

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:45:56 +0300

There is almost no argument that the English language has become the international language for communication around the globe. When we specifically examine the workings of the world of business, we see that it too, is becoming globalized, as corporations and business ventures are constantly striving to expand and break through into global markets and dispersing company centers worldwide.

The result is that employees and executives alike, now have to work hard to improve their Business English in order to increase the success rates on that next major business deal and to be able to confidently interact with people in work settings, which are gradually becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse. English is the key to overcoming such diversity.

Business English offers the best way for people to learn English specifically tailored to the needs of the work place. Business English teaches you how to interact in all language skills and be able to efficiently do business all the way to the top. Being aware of business related vocabulary such as finance, management or marketing terms is not enough as real successful business relies on real inter-personal communication in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Speaking Business English enables you to better negotiate with potential business partners, supply professional customer support or merely be able to interact well on the office phone. Being able to give cutting-edge business presentations in English followed by the proverbial "small talk" that leads to "big business" is what Business English is all about. Listening to breaking news on the radio enables you to respond to changing business dynamics and modify company policies in real-time.

Business English with the WhiteSmoke English Writing Tool

The ever growing use of English also means users must work on their Business English writing skills, as e-mails, discussion forums, blogs and other forms of social media add up to more traditional business writing activities, such as creating reports, formulating contracts, sending formal letters or getting those finishing touches to your business plan.

Enter WhiteSmoke English writing software, the best writing tool available to improve your Business English writing. WhiteSmoke's advanced artificial intelligence algorithms enable detection and correction of language errors that may damage the professional business image you want to project. With WhiteSmoke's English grammar engine, you will not have to worry about seeming unintelligent to prospective customers when writing that next business email.

Trust WhiteSmoke's impressive proofreading abilities, as the ever-improving spell checker and smart punctuation check will prevent you from getting embarrassed, or even worse - rejected by would-be partners or investors for your next business venture.

WhiteSmoke's English text correction features are coupled with its text enrichment database. As the software algorithms constantly scan an endless number of texts, adding to the large variety of enrichment suggestions for synonyms, extra adjectives and adverbs that bring English text enhancement to a whole new level. WhiteSmoke's English text enhancement also builds on WhiteSmoke's remarkable online English dictionary and thesaurus, which can be supplemented by an optional Multi-Language Translator, giving you immediate foreign language translations within any WhiteSmoke dictionary entry. This genuinely makes the software adaptable for international English users.

Business Online Video Tutorials

WhiteSmoke's Free Business English Articles

We are well aware that even native English speakers find it sometimes difficult to produce quality pieces of writing or simply do not know from where to begin. WhiteSmoke yet again responds to your English writing needs and provides hundreds of writing models and templates that ease your steps into the production of such diverse writing tasks, such as letters of job application, business e-mails, letters of recommendation or complaint, office memos, press releases, grant requests or even a full business plan. A complete list of the free WhiteSmoke articles for Business English and Business writing can be found here: Business Writing Articles. In addition to these business pages, enjoy our English Lesson pages to brush up on your general English skills.

Considering all that WhiteSmoke English writing software offers you to correct, enrich and enhance your English writing and Business English abilities, why not enjoy it all today? Your English communication both inside and outside your business will definitely take you to the next level of performance, making you wonder how you got by without WhiteSmoke.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Business English Resources - WhiteSmoke English for Business Tools and Tips

Business Writing Resources - WhiteSmoke for Business Writing

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:55:48 +0300

Writing has always been an essential part of doing business, as any proposal, agreement or contract must always be given in writing so as to make it formal and valid, in the name of both proper business conduct and for legal purposes. Often, we think of software for business finances, business plans, or project management before considering software for business writing and communication. It is a well-known fact that the best work opportunities are reserved for candidates with the best Business English skills, of which writing is increasingly important.

As the use of on-screen and online services grows, some business communication practices, as simple as confirming travel arrangements or taking phone messages, now require writing skills tailored to needs of the workplace. WhiteSmoke English Writing Software has unique features conducive to enhancing your business writing.

Most people agree that comparing the 4 basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, it is the latter that requires the most amount of time and effort. Whereas spoken language is naturally accepted as spontaneous, idiosyncratic, digressive and somewhat erratic, written language is expected to be well planned, organized, focused and adherent to writing convention. A well written product serves as a promotional showcase of the company's activities while a badly written one may be detrimental to a company's image and even hinder sales.

A key factor that contributes to improved business writing is the adherence to strict formats and genres. These provide for a general structure and style which are expected in business correspondence and documentation. In addition to a general framework, themed vocabulary and specialist expressions serve as common idioms which make the language of business comprehensible to players in commercial circles. Such requirements may seem daunting and actually repel many business writers, especially in the beginning stages of writing. WhiteSmoke's answer to these are its business templates.

Business Writing with WhiteSmoke Writing Templates

WhiteSmoke's business writing templates provide skeletons for business writing assignments already laden in with content, which can be modified according to need. Templates are provided across all business activities. In business planning and management, you will find templates for filling out office memos, executive summaries, franchise agreements and business plans. For human resource management you benefit from ready made letters of job acceptance, employment contracts and recommendation letters for employees.

Financial documents call for fixed formats for invoices, sales orders, purchase bills, revenue reports, collection notices and requests to increase the firm's credit limit. Marketing and advertisement needs merit writing templates for press releases, business presentations, campaign bids and marketing plans. Having such templates to begin with eases your way into Business Writing and teaches you its inner workings as you go along.

WhiteSmoke Business Writing Tools

In addition to general format or genre your writing falls into, any kind of English text production consists of juggling between quite a few factors, which both the native speaker and the speaker of English as a foreign/second language have to consider. From writing purpose and audience, via vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation to style, register and professional jargon are all key elements, which vary according to the writing task at hand. Planning, outlining, drafting, editing, redrafting, revising and proofreading are must-be stages one cannot over-look in aspiring to deliver the best possible document for the purpose of closing that next deal.

Solutions for these writing challenges are provided by the WhiteSmoke English Writing Software. WhiteSmoke's advanced artificial intelligence algorithms enable detection and correction of language errors that may damage the professional business image you want to project. With WhiteSmoke's English grammar engine, you will not have to worry about seeming unintelligent to prospective customers when writing that next business e-mail.

Trust WhiteSmoke's impressive proofreading abilities, as the ever-improving spellchecker and smart punctuation check will prevent you from getting embarrassed, or even worse - rejected by would-be partners or investors for your next business venture.

WhiteSmoke's English text correction features are coupled with its text enrichment database. As the software algorithms constantly scan an endless number of texts, adding to the large variety of enrichment suggestions of synonyms, extra adjectives and adverbs that bring English text enhancement to a whole new level, while being able to adapt suggestions to the needs of business, legal, medical or creative writing purposes. WhiteSmoke's English text enhancement also builds on WhiteSmoke 's remarkable online dictionary and thesaurus. These can be supplemented by an optional Multi-Language Translator, giving you immediate foreign language translations within any WhiteSmoke dictionary entry. This genuinely makes the software really adaptable for international English users.

Business Online Video Tutorials

An exciting new supplement to the WhiteSmoke experience that helps you be a better effective communicator in Business English is Business Online, a new series of video tutorials brought to you by WhiteSmoke. We are now proud to offer you a 24-unit online Business English course, which is based on real-life business scenarios and practices all 4 language skills. The program is suited for intermediate to advanced speakers working and communicating in a corporate environment and contains on-line immediate assessment, ideal for students preparing for Business English certification or ESOL exams, or anyone who seeks to improve their English and succeed in International business.

Considering all that WhiteSmoke English writing software offers you in order to correct, enrich and enhance your Business English writing, why not enjoy it all today? Why waste money and time on business writing seminars when you have all the tools you need at the end of your finger tips ? Your English communication both inside and outside your business will definitely take you to the next level of performance, making you wonder how you got by without WhiteSmoke in the first place.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Business Writing Resources - WhiteSmoke for Business Writing

Teaching English - Tools and Resources

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:08:21 +0300

WhiteSmoke.com has a range of tools and resources, both free and paid, that can greatly assist those teaching English. From free online grammar and translation tools, through to our premium desktop applications and online video courses, there is something for all budgets.

English Language Content for Teachers

Our blog is full of great information for teachers and students alike. We have all our content organized by specific category, so all grammar posts are together, as well as ESL and more. All posts on the blog have the categories listed in the sidebar, for your easy navigation through the content.

Free Online Tools to Assist Teachers

There are several free tools on the WhiteSmoke website. Check them out for yourself and your students today!

Free Writers Toolbar Download!

Your students can install the WhiteSmoke Toolbar. It is free, installs in seconds, and gives them a suite of tools to assist with writing and language. It features an integrated version of our free grammar and writing checker, a translation tool, and it has a special selection of FREE online video courses that are only available through the toolbar. There are versions of the toolbar for Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari.

WhiteSmoke Toolbar Download

Free Online Grammar and Spelling Checker

Our free online checker gives you access to WhiteSmoke's text correction and enhancement technologies - for free. There is a character limit and it is missing some important usability features from the full desktop application, but it can still be used to efficiently check grammar and more.

Free Grammar Checker

Free Online Dictionary

WhiteSmoke's free online dictionary is a great resource, featuring definitions, synonyms, antonyms and more for the English language. Bookmark it for easy access.

Free Online Dictionary

Free Online Translation Tool

WhiteSmoke also has a free translation tool. Simply go to the dictionary, type in a word in English, and under the definitions, you will find a translation interface.

Free Online Translator

Online English Language Course

There are a range of premium English language courses we offer, with different levels for different English learners. Check out the product page.

English Language Courses

WhiteSmoke Premium Desktop Applications

And of course, our world-leading language solution products.

WhiteSmoke Writer

WhiteSmoke Translator

WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Teaching English - Tools and Resources

Simple Steps to Writing, Revising and Editing an Essay - How to Write an Essay

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:47:00 +0300

http://www.whitesmoke.com/how-to-write-an-essay.html

Writing a good essay requires refined critical thinking, which can be improved by experience. But one of the key elements to a good essay is form, and we are here to help you with it. There are numerous forms of writing that we face everyday. The following is an explanation of the process of writing in a simple and understandable way.
An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is basically the same. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task.
Either way, your essay will have the same basic format.
If you follow these simple steps, you will find that writing an essay is easier than you had initially thought.

Select your topic.
Choose the thesis, or main idea of your essay.
Prepare an outline or diagram of your main ideas.
Outline your essay into introductory, body and summary paragraphs.
State your thesis idea in the first paragraph.
Finish the introductory paragraph with a short summary or goal statement.
In each of the body paragraphs the ideas first presented in the introductory paragraph are developed.
Develop your body paragraphs by giving explanations and examples.
The last paragraph should restate your basic thesis of the essay with a conclusion.
After you followed these easy steps your writing will improve and become more coherent. Always remember, form is only a part of the process. You become a better writer primarily by reflecting and analyzing rather than memorizing.

Guidelines on how to revise an essay

The best writers revise. And they revise again. Then they revise yet again. So, given that professional writers revise, it would be wise for beginning and intermediate writers to revise, too. One Professor, when asked how students could improve their writing, said these three words: "Revise, revise, revise." It's such a common mantra for writers and artists that a recent online search came up with over 16,000 hits for the phrase!

Revision means, literally, to see again. There are several stages to revision.
The first thing to consider is the goal of revision: Writing to communicate.
In order to communicate well, here are some guidelines to consider while you revise:

Don't necessarily include everything
Especially for academic writing, include a thesis, which is your answer to a (researched) question or your (reasoned or researched) position on a debatable topic.
Include clear markers or transitions, citation of sources, and other help so readers can follow you along the path of your thoughts (argument, analysis, critique)
Include the main points and the highlights from your research or reasoning that which supports your thesis, and that which might appear to contradict your thesis except that you, as a "tour guide," will explain why the material doesn't fit or why the contradictory material is wrong, and that which readers might reasonably expect, given your subject matter
Include support and evidence for each main point, which might be logical reasoning, explanations, data, and arguments of your own; or evidence, arguments, and theories from other sources (properly credited)
Often you should include answers to these questions: who, what, where, when, why and how about the whole topic; about major sources, theories, concepts; and about major developments related to the topic
Make sure the result is clear communication that will be understood by your intended audience

Revision gives new life to your writing. The first stage involves going through the draft and reorganizing main ideas and supporting ideas so that they are grouped in a way that is understandable to your reader. Your organization will usually first put forward stronger points (in an argument), earlier information (for a narrative), or background (in many cases). However you organize, your readers need to understand what you are trying to communicate.
After that, refine your arguments and evidence, your descriptions, and all of the details, so that they give a sense of the writing being of one piece, or a whole. Let one description arise from another, or one piece of evidence support the next. Put all of the pieces in that are needed, and remove those that are not.

Even the most experienced writers make inadvertent errors while revising--removing a word or adding a phrase that changes the grammar, for instance.
Here are some tips to help focus your revision:

Have other readers looked it over? A professor, boss, classmates, colleagues, roommates or friends
Explain to a few different people what you've written, same group as other readers
Read more on the topic (new sources, but also revisit already cited sources)
Make an outline or highlight your draft as though it were a reading
Set it aside for a day or two (longer, if possible) and then re-read it
Read aloud to yourself
Read it backwards
Make a presentation. Presenting your paper orally to others often helps shape and focus your ideas
Write a new introduction and conclusion, and then see if the paper fits the new introduction and the new conclusion
The final stage or revision is copy editing, or proof reading.

Tips for editing a paper or an essay

Good editing or proofreading skills are just as important to the success of an essay, paper or thesis as good writing skills. The editing stage is a chance to strengthen your arguments with a slightly more objective eye than while you are in the middle of writing.

Indeed, editing can turn a good essay or paper into a brilliant one, by paying close attention to the overall structure and the logical flow of an argument. Here we will offer some tips on how to edit a paper or an essay.
Tips for editing a paper or essay:
1.    Read over other things you have written, to see if you can identify a pattern in your writing, such as problematic punctuation, or repeated use of the same adjectives.
2.    Take a break between the writing and editing.
3.   Read by sliding a blank page down your lines of writing, so you see one line at a time. Even in editing or proofreading, it is easy to miss things and make mistakes.
4.    Read the paper out loud to get a sense of the punctuation, and make any changes to parts that feel unnatural to read.
5.    Allow someone else to read over your paper, fresh eyes can see things you will not see.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Simple Steps to Writing, Revising and Editing an Essay - How to Write an Essay

Tips for Effective E-mail Communication

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:43:00 +0300

http://www.whitesmoke.com/effective-email-communication.html

Who doesn’t use e-mail these days? Electronic mail is an integral part of the 21st century communication. Believe it or not, the average office worker receives 60-200 e-mail messages per day, and it is estimated that over 7 trillion e-mails were sent last year! Between this high volume of e-mail communication and the faster pace we work at these days, it’s worthwhile to learn how to have effective e-mail communication.

For successful e-mail writing, consider following the guidelines in the list below. These tips are suitable for all types of effective e-mail writing, including effective e-mail marketing.

1.    Send brief, clear messages. No one has the time or energy to scroll through and read a dozen pages. The shorter the e-mail you write, the higher the chance it will be read, so your message will get across. Using bulleted points is an efficient way of presenting information.
2.   Send multiple messages for more than a few topics. If you have many topics to address through e-mail communication, send each one in a separate message. This will ensure that the recipients will read your messages. Also, you’ll get faster responses that you can more easily keep track of; instead of searching through massive e-mails for buried information, find the details quickly in the shorter, more organized messages you’ll have.
3.   Include relevant information from past e-mails. Because we read so many e-mails each day, it’s hard to remember all of the details. When you are responding to communication, an effective e-mail will contain relevant details from previous messages so the reader can quickly recall what’s important.
4.   Write specific subject line descriptions. Let your readers know exactly what they’re about to see by including accurate, concise information in the subject line. Receiving and reading e-mails shouldn’t be a guessing game!
5.    Don’t use abbr. in ur biz msgs. Sometimes it takes longer to decode abbreviations in your business messages than it does to read the whole words. Save your readers time by writing out what you need to say.
6.   ALWAYS proofread your e-mail messages before you send them. Don’t risk your readers misunderstanding your important messages.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Tips for Effective E-mail Communication

Business Writing - Tips for Checking Your Web Content for Errors

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:41:00 +0300

http://www.whitesmoke.com/online-business-writing-and-seo-with-english-writing-software.html

Online, where content is king, it is somewhat surprising to discover that many websites are replete with spelling and English grammar errors. This situation may be due to the nature of the Internet as a publishing medium, where texts are published as soon as they are written, with little or no proofreading. However, this is no excuse - English errors on websites are bad for business, both in terms of the customer experience of the website, and the relevancy ranking of the page on Google. Let's consider this further, and look at some simple tips for checking your web content for errors.
Spelling and grammar errors on a website look unprofessional. They show that small details have been overlooked, and a customer may have less confidence in the product or service being offered. Some of the most basic mistakes in written English appear time and time again on the web, due to a lack of proofreading.

Some rules and tips to keep in mind while producing content:

1.    Rule: I before e except after c - for instance, "receive".
2.    Do you need to say "it's" or "its"; "your" or "you're"; "their" or "there"? Think about the context of your words.
3.    Hyphenated words: should you use "email" or "e-mail"; "post-modern" or "postmodern"? Check which form is considered correct, and also check what is mostly commonly used amongst your target audience.
4.    Punctuation: is your punctuation grammatically correct? Does it read naturally?
5.    Consider the size and intelligibility of your sentences.
6.    Capitalization is not important for SEO, as search engines are not case-sensitive. However, you need to pay attention to capitalization standards in the field of business in which the website is operating.

Beyond spelling and grammar, content can be further optimized for the customer and for search engine relevancy by creative use of synonyms.
Synonyms give SEO managers the opportunity to use more keywords in their content, improving search engine relevancy over a wider range of searches. Appropriate use of synonyms also creates more interesting content, enticing visitors to stay longer and return often.
Remember, these tips will not only improve the website experience of existing visitors: SEO which is done according to those tips will achieve better results in Google and other search engines, creating greater exposure for the website and more success for the business.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Business Writing - Tips for Checking Your Web Content for Errors

Press Release Tips - How to Write a Press Release

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:40:00 +0300

http://www.whitesmoke.com/how-to-write-a-press-release.html

Writing a press release for a product is a necessary skill if you are a copywriter or marcom manager. It is important to consider how to approach the writing of a press release, as the writing style is significantly different from most marketing copy. A press release does not sell a product, but announces its availability and provides relevant background information that is of interest. The goal is to have your press release attract a reporter who sees a good story in it. It must be written in a style that will be appealing for press reporters and editors.
Whatever the subject of your press release, it is vital that your English writing be clear and correct. Your company image depends on it, and the press release will not be picked up by any major press services if it is full of mistakes or hard to follow.

Press Release Tips:

1. Always write in third person.
2. Write an attractive heading and an informative sub-heading; emulate the style you see in newspapers.
3. Press releases need to have release date information, as well as the name and location of the company publishing the press release.
4. Keep away from marketing style writing; do not make claims like "Smith tires roll all over the competitors" or "the best tire ever manufactured". State only facts.
5. If you want to make more subjective comments, try to do this by using quotes from people, so there is a division between the facts presented by the writer (you) and subjective appraisals presented by interviewees.
6. Keep paragraphs and sentences short and to the point.
7. Do not repeat any information; use your small writing space wisely.

These simple tips will help your press release to stay focused and readable.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Press Release Tips - How to Write a Press Release

How to Write a Legal Document - Legal Document Tips

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:38:00 +0300

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Writing a legal document needn't be a difficult or overwhelming experience. Many legal documents, for instance living trusts, power of attorney documents, wills, and divorce documents - can at least be partially written before bringing in a lawyer, and this can save significantly on some legal expenses. In fact, while there are some special tips to keep in mind for legal writing, the same fundamentals rules for clarity and consistency apply as in all other fields of writing. You must organize your ideas coherently, write your text with a logical flow, and have good editing skills.

General Legal Document Tips:

1.   Plan your document. Make yourself a list of all the points that need to be addressed.
2.   Use a readable typeface, like Times New Roman.
3.   Divide your document into sections, and the sections into smaller segments if necessary.
4.   Don't use any slang, and omit needless words.
5.    Use the active voice, avoid the passive voice.
6.    Simplify wordy phrases.
7.    Organize your content in order of importance.
8.    Use numerals instead of written words for numbers.
9.    Know where to go for reliable answers on correct grammar and spelling.

Keeping these points in mind, you can begin to write your legal document.

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How to Write a Will - Tips for Writing a Will

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:36:00 +0300

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A will gives information about the transfer of property, ornaments or land from the testator (the person making the will) to his beneficiaries after his/her death. Everyone needs a will to ensure their assets are distributed amongst family and friends according to their wishes, so it is important to make sure a will is clear and not liable to misinterpretation. All testators have the option of framing their own will, or acquiring the services of a legal professional. What is important is that the testator's objectives are clear before the writing begins. Below we will offer some tips to consider when writing a will.

Tips for Writing a Will:

Prepare an inventory of assets
Prepare a list of family members and all other beneficiaries
Get tax advice on passing your property to beneficiaries
Consider establishing a trust for your spouse or other beneficiaries
Organize a witness for your will (this must be someone who is not a beneficiary)

Of course, any tips given here do not replace good legal advice. They are merely made in order to help you get organized in planning the will, and thereby enable you to write in the clearest way possible.
After putting so much effort into collecting the relevant information and writing your will, do not forget to proofread. Spelling and grammar errors could leave your will open to misinterpretation. To save unnecessary argument after your death, make sure your last will and testament is a perfect specimen of English writing.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - How to Write a Will - Tips for Writing a Will

Narrative Writing Strategies - How to Write a Narrative

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:34:00 +0300

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Narrative writing means, essentially, writing that tells a story. It might be fiction, or non-fiction (as with writing personal narrative, or memoir writing). The main feature of narrative writing is that it spans time and has a plot--something happens that keeps readers reading to see what's next. A narrative often (but certainly not always) is written in chronological order.

A narrative essay makes its point, or thesis, by telling a story. The story is usually true for the narrative essay, and might be an example, a case study, a way to organize an interview, or a way to show history through narrative. A narrative essay might, for example, tell the story of how Madame Curie discovered radium. However, usually a narrative essay has a point besides simply telling the story--perhaps in the example of Madame Curie, to demonstrate the contributions women made in science against particular odds.

Memoir writing is life writing. As such, it's a form of autobiography, although usually in shorter form or written earlier in one's life than an autobiography. It comes from the memories of the writer, recounting stories of interest to others. Again, as with the narrative essay, memoir writing reveals themes and points that go beyond the mere telling of the story. It might be a lesson learned about life, how love conquers even family quarrels, or the humor that sometimes emerges from serious occasions. An experienced memoir writer selects details that reinforce the theme, and leaves out information that does not further the story or convey the point of the memoir.

In general, all narrative writing makes a point beyond the story and contains selected details, not everything. A personal narrative is a memoir. The terms are interchangeable. A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. Americans might think of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," others might know "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Both poems tell the story of a memorable historic event, although a narrative poem need not be historical.

Many people want to write a family narrative. This is something like a family memoir, or family history. It often tells the story of ancestors, grand parents, aunts, and uncles, of how the family came to be in a certain place, of how a family business began, or of some other interesting aspect of the family (such as obstacles overcome). Some family narratives tell of immigration, others of the depression in the 1930s, and others of how family members who did or did not survive the holocaust. As with other forms of narrative writing, a family narrative usually conveys a theme and has a point beyond the story itself. However, some family narratives are written as histories to be passed on, and might be written for the sake of telling the story alone.

All of these forms of narrative writing have in common the telling of a story. The story nearly always conveys a theme. Like any good short story, non-fiction and poetic forms of narrative writing develop interesting, three-dimensional characters, describe scenes and settings, and move through a plot. A plot begins with a main character encountering conflict and obstructions while moving through life. The conflicts tend to increase to a crisis point, then resolve. The writer ties up loose ends as the action falls to the end. In short, narratives have a beginning, middle, and end.

While it is common to write a narrative in chronological order (the order of time unfolding), it is not unusual for narrative writing begin in rising action and then unfold earlier times as they move forward. This is a familiar narrative writing strategy from the movie flashback. Experienced writers often experiment with narrative strategies that at once unfold the story (or plot), reveal a theme, and hold the reader's attention.

The movie Memento provides a unique narrative in that it moves backward through time as the main character uses a strategy to overcome his amnesia. The novels Ceremony (Leslie Marmon Silko) and Beloved (Toni Morrison) both use narrative strategies that circle around a central moment of the story, revealing it in layers. Anyone who wants to learn about narrative writing needs to read narratives--from histories to memoir (autobiography) to fiction. Reading will provide lots of examples of narrative writing.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Narrative Writing Strategies - How to Write a Narrative

How to Write a Living Will - Tips for Writing a Living Will

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:31:00 +0300

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A living will is a legal document that allows you to exercise your right to decide what will happen to you at a time of critical illness or imminent death. If you want to choose in advance whether or not to be placed on life support, or what will happen to you if a coma becomes permanent, then a living will gives you the opportunity to state your wishes legally. A living will can also be used to appoint a friend or a family member as the person to make all important health care decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so. The person who makes a living will is known as the testator.

It is important to make sure your living will is not liable to misinterpretation. All testators have the option of framing their own living will, or acquiring the services of a legal professional. What is important is that the testator's objectives are clear before the writing begins. Below we will offer some tips to consider when writing a living will.

Tips for Writing a Living Will:

1.    Carefully consider your wishes for the living will.
2.    If you want to authorize someone to make decisions on your behalf, discuss it thoroughly with that person first.
3.    Organize a witness for your living will.
4.    Write in a clear and straightforward manner.
5.    Check and double check your living will text to ensure that nothing is left open to interpretation.

Of course, these tips are not offered as legal advice. They are merely made in order to help you get organized in planning the living will, and thereby enable you to write in the clearest way possible.

After putting so much effort into collecting the relevant information and writing your living will, do not forget to proofread. Spelling and grammar errors could leave your living will open to misinterpretation, so check and then double check your writing.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - How to Write a Living Will - Tips for Writing a Living Will

How to Write a Letter of Apology

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:28:00 +0300

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We all make mistakes from time to time. When that happens, it is worthwhile to mend the situation. One way of patching things up is by writing a letter of apology to say you’re sorry. But how should you go about writing an apology letter? Keep reading for more about how to write a letter of apology, and then see a free sample apology letter that you can use as a guide for writing your own.
You may need to write a personal apology letter or a formal or business letter of apology. In either case, send the letter soon to show that you really value your relationship with the other party. But wait! The only thing that could be worse than sending a letter of apology late or not at all is sending one with mistakes, because it will look like you really don’t care. To prove that you’re sincere in saying sorry, check your spelling, English grammar, and punctuation.

When writing a personal letter of apology…

1. Begin the letter by saying you’re sorry.
2. Admit what you did wrong and take responsibility.
3. Ask if there is any way you can help resolve the situation, and offer to do that.
4. Reassure the other party that you will do your best to prevent the problem from happening again.
5. Suggest meeting in a neutral place to apologize in person and start to rebuild the relationship.
6. Apologize again to close the letter.
7. Consider handwriting the letter instead of typing it on the computer and printing it, for a more personal feel.
8. be sincere!

When writing a formal or business apology letter…

1. Type the letter in a conventional font like Times Roman and print on high-quality, white paper. Use a formal block or semi-block format.
2. Begin the letter by saying you’re sorry.
3. Clearly state the problem and explain as much as possible what went wrong.
4. Try to solve the problem, and give examples of how you can do this.
5. Apologize again to end the letter.

Apology letter example for business:

Your address
Date
Name of Addressee
Title, organization
Address
Dear [name]:
I am writing to apologize for the confusion surrounding transaction # 765-989. We recently began using a new packaging system, which still has a few small bugs. This morning we straightened out your order and sent it. To compensate for the inconvenience, we have enclosed coupons for you to enjoy on future purchases at any of our retail stores. Again, I apologize for the mix-up in your order and any trouble this may have caused you.
Sincerely,
Signature
First name Last name
Customer Service Manager

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - How to Write a Letter of Apology

How to Prepare a Presentation - Oral Communication Skills

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:26:00 +0300

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Successful oral communication is an important skill in the business and academic world. These easy steps are an introductory guide to use when preparing a talk. The principles should be applied whenever you are making a public presentation, whether it's a conference presentation, a job talk, or a seminar.
1. Have a strong opening sentence to capture your audience.
2. Hand out at least one piece of paper. Your audience will have an easier time listening to you, and it can make you less nervous since it's a good starting point.
3. Respect your audience.
4. Use humor, it helps.
5. Eye contact is very important
6. Speak to the audience, do not read.
7. Practice, it pays off.
8. Speak slowly and leave gaps for questions

There are very few people with a natural talent for delivering outstanding presentations. Then again, foresight, hard work, and practice can carry most of the rest of us into a high level of presentation skills. The standards for public speaking in the scientific and academic spheres are relatively low, so a good presentation is often unforgettable.

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How to Write a Guardianship Paper - General Guardianship Paper Tips

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:20:00 +0300

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Establishing guardianship can be complicated. Guardianship papers are legal documents which are filed when, for any number of reasons, you want to take a child into your guardianship. The papers have to be filed at a local court, and a court investigator will be appointed to interview you and the child, and possibly the child's parents if they are available. Any attempt for guardianship of a child will require the written consent of the child's parents, and other close family members may contest your application, unless the court deems the guardianship in the child's best interests.
As the first step towards guardianship, you need to ensure that your guardianship papers are totally in order: error free and clear in meaning.

General Guardianship Paper Tips:

1. Plan your document. Make yourself a list of all points that need to be addressed.
2. Investigate all the court costs, and any special procedures that may apply in your state.
3. "Give notice" to the child's relatives. This can take time, so start as soon as possible.
4. Divide your document into sections, and the sections into smaller segments if necessary.
5. Don't use any slang, and omit needless words.
6. Use the active voice, avoid the passive voice.
7. Simplify wordy phrases.
8. Use numerals instead of written words for numbers.
9. Know where to go for reliable answers on correct grammar and spelling.
Keeping these points in mind, you can begin to write your guardianship paper

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - How to Write a Guardianship Paper - General Guardianship Paper Tips

Historical Background of English Spelling - Why in The World is English Spelling So Crazy?

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:11:00 +0300

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The way in which letters are arranged in sequence to produce the pronunciation of a word is referred to as spelling or orthography. In some languages, such as Spanish, the correspondence between the letter and the sound is fairly straightforward as each letter or letter combination almost always represents one certain sound. For example, compare the Spanish maleta with its English equivalent suitcase. The pronunciation of the vowels a and e in the former remains relatively constant across words, whereas that of u, i, a, and e in the latter is far from being stable across the English vocabulary, the largest and richest of all languages.

During the rather complex history of English, the language has been subjected to numerous influences that resulted in it actually becoming a mixture of other languages, benefiting from abundant contributions to its vocabulary, but also blending different spelling systems. These contribute to the irregular and sometimes incredibly inconsistent and confusing spelling of the written language, which in turn interacts with a varied and sometimes unpredictable pronunciation. In order to master English spelling, one needs to learn a great many spelling rules and be aware of the numerous possible letter combinations.

One of the most notorious inconsistencies among letter-sound correspondences is represented in the various sounds of the letter combination ough. Robert A. Heinlein in his novel The Door into Summer came up with the following sentence to demonstrate this: "Though the tough cough and hiccough plough him through." Though is pronounced as slow, tough as huff, and cough rhymes with off. Hiccough is pronounced as cup, plough as how, and through rhymes with you. Such spelling inconsistencies were ridiculed by playwright George Bernard Shaw, who suggested that the word fish should be spelled ghoti, as gh would stand for f (laugh), o for i (woman in the plural as pronounced /wimin/) and ti would replace sh (as in nation).

However still, despite the bad reputation English spelling suffers from, hundreds of millions of English learners all over the world have managed to overcome it as they strive to improve their knowledge of the undisputed international language, used daily on millions of Internet sites – all in English. A perfect tool to help you in the process of mastering English spelling is the WhiteSmoke online grammar and English writing software, which relies on cutting edge artificial intelligence algorithms that provide contextual proofreading any text you write in any application.

When the Anglo-Saxons started arriving at the British Isles around the 5th century AD, the Germanic roots of their language gradually created the core of Old English vocabulary, similar to modern German words, such as father, mother, daughter, son, under, hand, house ,and cow. These were originally spelled and pronounced differently, but were transformed due to later linguistic changes. Additional contact with the language of the indigenous Celts and ongoing word borrowing from Latin speaking merchants, Roman conquerors and Christian monks have resulted in more words that integrated different spelling systems ( street, plant, altar, kitchen, butter, wine).
The Viking invasions of the 9th century brought an influx of spelling conventions from Old Norse, which in addition to contributing words such as want, take and sky also caused the Old English word schirt to be written as both shirt and skirt, with the meaning of the two later diverging to denote two different pieces of clothing.Middle English saw a dramatic influence on English spelling with a torrent of Norman-French words coming into use starting from the 11th century. It is estimated that about 40% of currently used English words are derived from French, which has obviously brought with it yet additional spelling conventions (not changed for reasons of prestige), and word roots and suffixes that formed longer English words than before ( parliament, justice, ornament, pleasure, establishment, foundation etc.)
Printing was at its early stages and there was still no set spelling standard, which would only later be canonized in dictionaries and language manuals. Divergent spellings for the same word occurred very often, sometimes even in the same sentence. This resulted, for instance, in the letter o bearing three different pronunciations in l ove, grove, and prove; the consonant digraph th replacing older letters; and o sounding like u in come, son and love.
From the 15th century onwards, the phonological phenomenon known as the Great Vowel Shift caused numerous vowel pronunciations to change into those more familiar to us today and thus marked the transition into Early Modern English. The spelling, however, remained as it was and still represented the Middle English pronunciation, adding another dimension to the bewildering English spelling saga.
Instead of initiating a full realignment of English spelling according to commonly accepted conventions, the expansion of printing has actually fossilized both old and new irregularities with remnants from all the language sources, which by then had been contributing to the ever-growing English vocabulary. The additional silent "magic" e, common to many words in English, followed these developments, in addition to the ough conundrum, illustrated above.
The English Renaissance of the 16th century boosted a renewed interest in classical Greek and Latin, bringing in a new wave of borrowed words, either with their original spelling (a now silent b in debt to resemble the Latin debitum, s in island as in Latin insula instead of Norse igland) or anglicized along the lines of the new spelling practices. This again amounted to yet further spelling diversity in words such as democracy, theory, physics, and rhythm from Greek ( y in the middle of a word indicates Greek origin); medicine, library, recipe, conviction, and index from Latin.
The rise in education, printing and reading; English replacing Latin in church services; upward social mobility, and increased communication among the different parts of English society were some of the initial steps to finally start bringing order to the English spelling chaos, which by now had been set in print.
The publication of the first significant English dictionary by Samuel Johnson in 1755 and others that followed, the publication of the King James Bible in 1611, and the literary works of William Shakespeare mark the onset of Modern English. As written communication was becoming more prevalent, there was less leeway for spelling deviance. The British economy and naval trade prospered, allowing for culture and science to flourish, ever contributing to the development and enrichment of the printed lexicon. The 19th century revolutionized science and technology and gave rise to even more words, prefixes and suffixes from classical languages (cholesterol, telegraph, telephone, cyanide, and philanthropist).
The British colonization of America and other imperialist ventures around the globe allowed English to literally usurp a great deal of languages for more and more words that still keep spicing up English orthography with spelling irregularities. A major development following the global expansion of English is the spelling differences between British and American English, initially instigated by the publication of Noah Webster's American Dictionary in 1828.

Words are constantly being added to the English language and are transcribed using the Roman alphabet (mustang, algebra, bungalow, samurai, and voodoo, to name a few). The global mass media and the Internet constantly bring world cultures and languages into dynamic interaction that yields more diversity and richness in every aspect of our lives. The lexical and orthographical richness of English is a challenge worth overcoming in the quest for proficiency in the language common to us all.

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - Historical Background of English Spelling - Why in The World is English Spelling So Crazy?

The evolution of English vocabulary - There Just Seems to Be No End to It

http://www.whitesmoke.com/ — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:03:00 +0300

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table

How is it that English has such a huge vocabulary, larger than any other language on earth? In addition to various word formation mechanisms existing in other languages, such as onomatopoeia, derivation, affixation, compounding and functional extension, the major source for the large variety of English words is its dramatic history. The 1,600 years of English existence have been witness to massive revolutionary changes in the language as it mixed with and continuously borrowed from other languages, with which it came into contact.
Early English roots trace back to the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons to Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries resulting in Old English being mainly Germanic. 83% of the most common 1000 words in today's English are of Anglo-Saxon origin.

Old English

Words

•    nouns: house, mother, father ,cow, God, gold, work, land, winter
•    verbs: be, have, do, say, come, make
•    adjectives: good, new, and long
•    function words: he, of, him, for, and, under, on

Already in this period of Old English, the language began applying its inclination to ravenously borrow words from other languages. From the native Celts, it took clan, bin, gull, and crag, as well as names for places and rivers (Dover, Kent, Severn, and Thames). Latin words arrived even earlier with the Roman conquest of 43 B.C. (cheese, cup, kitchen, plant, street, wine). A later wave of Latin words was brought with Christian monks and missionaries seeking to convert the Anglo-Saxons, enriching the language with both religious and secular words, such as abbot, altar, acolyte, candle, martyr, Mass, and lily.

The next addition to the vocabulary to close the Old English period resulted from the Viking invasions to Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries. These newcomers, who had settled alongside the Anglo-Saxons, contributed Old Norse vocabulary such as the following:
From Old Norse: flat, cake, take, get, call, husband, want, cut, both, ugly, fellow, hit, odd, egg, sister, law, leg, rag, window, die, are (form of the verb be)
•    words beginning with sk sound: scorch, scrape, scrub, skill, and sky
•    The personal pronouns: they, their, them

Synonymous word sets such as those presented above already show up in this period: sick vs. ill, shirt vs. skirt, wrath vs. anger, rear vs. raise, hide vs. skin, the first Anglo-Saxon, the second Old Norse, respectively. The all-in-all contribution of words from Germanic origins (Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse etc.) amounts to about 23% of the current English vocabulary.
The year 1066 marked the dramatic transition to Middle English, with William the Conqueror, king of Normandy in Western France, drawing his army into Britain. Old French thus became the spoken language of the ruling classes: the nobles, bankers, lawmakers, and scholars; the peasants and lower classes spoke Anglo-Saxon and some surviving Celtic dialects; the clergy used Latin. In the coming 400 years, Middle English gradually overthrew French and became the language of all classes, but words for government, religion, food, law, art, literature, and medicine are originally French.
From Norman French: parliament, justice, crime, marriage, money, ornament, art, pleasure, joy, rent

The parallel usage of several languages has resulted in some famous duplicate and triplicate synonym sets. For instance, kingly (from Old English), royal (from French), and regal (from Latin). As well as house-mansion, wood-forest, answer-reply, yearly-annual, room-chamber, wish-desire, might-power, worthy-honorable, and bold-courageous (the former from Old-English, the latter from French, respectively).
Another fascinating example of the social divide between language users of Middle English is shown in nouns denoting different kinds of meats. The English speaking peasants who raised the animals used the Anglo-Saxon words (swine/pig, sheep, ox, cow, calf, deer), whereas the French speaking elite, who could afford eating these meats regularly, used the French equivalents (pork, bacon, mutton, beef, veal, venison, respectively). Today, these duplicates remain in common use in modern English, using different words for the animals and the meats produced from them. The contribution of both Norman and Modern French to English is estimated in about 29% of the current vocabulary.

The Renaissance arrived to England in around 1500 with a burst of literary works being published in Early Modern English thanks to the developments in mass printing. It was only at this time that some initial consolidation was beginning to occur in the language's vocabulary. After centuries of the church dictating religious guidelines for the cultural and spiritual life of Europeans, an increased nostalgic interest in the humanistic values of ancient Greece and Rome produced a torrent of unparalleled creativity.
Scholarly research was written in Latin, as English was considered poor in vocabulary and too crude for expressing abstract ideas. A large portion of such words was originally Latin but entered English through their French manifestation. The education of children, however, was now being carried out in English. This entailed the use of new words from Greek, while Latin continued to be a steady source of vocabulary.
From Greek: democracy, hexagon, monogamy, physics, rhythm, theory
From Latin: client, conviction, index, library, medicine, orbit, recipe

Key cultural achievements of this period were the first official publication of the Bible in English (the Saint James Bible) and the immense corpus of William Shakespeare's literary enterprise, and that of other writers. Shakespeare contributed a wealth of newly coined and/or borrowed English words.
From William Shakespeare: courtship, bedroom, discontent, accused, addiction, amazement, assassination, critic, employer, engagements, savagery, transcendence, urging, watchdog, zany

The word set for naming a person riding a horse provides an illustrative interim summary for the development of English vocabulary up to this point. The simplest option is rider (from the Anglo-Saxon ritter, horseman entered through the influence of the Vikings' Old Norse *hross. Knight, originally Old English *cniht, began being used around 1300. Cavalier (from French chevalier), or the elegantly elevated equestrian, directly derived from Latin, comprise the more elevated choices here.
With more published material in English, England's rise to power under Elizabeth 1, and increased English influence on international business and trade, diplomacy, and colonialism, English was brought to the fore as the national language of England, proudly used by all the English people. The year 1650 marks the transition into the Modern English period. Further factors contributed to the growth of English as a powerful language. Political upheavals led to the rise of port towns and former lower classes that further strengthened common English usage. The publication of the first comprehensive and official dictionary of the English language by Samuel Johnson in 1755 began the process of canonizing the written language. As education in English was now being offered to the masses, who also enjoyed access to libraries in English, more and more people could enrich their vocabularies and improve their English language aptitude.
The scientific revolution and renewed interest in the classics during the 19th century have opened the gate for yet another wave of scientific and technical terms for newly found concepts and discoveries – all derived from Greek and Latin roots, prefixes and suffixes. The current proportion of Latin words in English is 29%, while Greek contributes about 6%.

From Latin: aquarium, binoculars, radioactive, ambiguous, intermission, itinerary, rejuvenate, supersonic, quadrangle, submarine, multitude, linguistic
From Greek: Zoology, philanthropy, bacteria, chlorophyll, psychosis, cholesterol, cyanide, chromosome, metamorphosis, thermometer, trauma, xenophobia, telegraph, telephone, polymer, orthodoxy

The British colonization of North America, Australia and parts of Asia and Africa has resulted in the creation of whole continents speaking English, which in turn has been enriched by the mother tongues of locals and immigrants. In 1828, Noah Webster published the first official dictionary of American English, which established differences in spelling between British and American English and further paved the way to differences in vocabulary between these two language varieties. The rise of the mass media during the 20th century: newspapers, cinema, radio, television and The Internet have given the latest push to English in becoming a global language, as English is the main language used. This in turn brings more words into English from just about any other language on the planet but also has the potential to disintegrate English itself to new emerging local English varieties.
A steady influx of international words has been coming in during the past two centuries. Just think about the words for all food sorts introduced form each origin language! The following table presents some common examples:

From Spanish: aficionado, amigo, burrito, canyon, caramba, cargo, embargo, guacamole, guitar, macho, marijuana, mustang, poncho, pueblo, rodeo, taco, plaza, vanilla
From Modern French: caf, lingerie, connoisseur , coup d'atat, en route, hors d'auvre, panache, sabotage, envelope, and avalanche, not to mention chic, vis-a-vis, attach, and a la carte, bon voyage, rendezvous
From German: kindergarten, poodle, yodel, blitzkrieg, zeitgeist, angst, delicatessen, hamburger, schnitzel
From Dutch: brandy, yacht, waffle, apartheid, boss, cookie, dam, drill, tattoo, cruiser
From Italian: balcony, casino, umbrella, balloon, carnival, ghetto, graffiti, Madonna, Mezzanine, spaghetti, pasticcio, cappuccino, (and many other foods), concert, piano, maestro, soprano, andante, opera (and other musical terms)
From Arabic: alcohol, algebra, candy, lemon, azimuth, elixir, giraffe, gazelle, sugar
From the languages of India: chutney, bandana, curry, amok polo, bungalow, jungle, loot, shampoo, pajamas
From Japanese: futon, tycoon, kimono, Ninja, Karaoke, Zen, karate, sushi, bonsai, origami
From African languages: banana, yam, voodoo, banjo, chimpanzee, zebra
From Native American languages: chipmunk, moccasin, tipi (also spelled teepee), skunk, squash, pecan, persimmon, skunk, totem, quinine, avocado, chocolate, wigwam, raccoon, tomato, hurricane
From languages of the Pacific    boomerang, kangaroo, sarong, ketchup, koala, kiwi
In sum, other languages than Germanic, French, Latin and Greek have contributed 6% to the vocabulary of English, while the 4 % remaining derive from proper names.
The riches of the English vocabulary allow us to use a vast array of word synonyms to express subtle nuances in meaning. Familiarity with the origins of the words and their shades of meaning can help you make the right choice in your English writing. Do you have a job, profession, occupation, vocation, or calling? Does your boyfriend seem male, manly, macho, virile or masculine?

This post belongs to the World-Leading Language Solutions by WhiteSmoke - the original article can be viewed here - The evolution of English vocabulary - There Just Seems to Be No End to It