Cinemugam (Kollywood)

The influence that the cinema exerts on the minds of those who visit it is at once beneficial and harmful. Today, there is a cinema in almost every town. The cinema provides so much entertainment that few people fail to visit it. One of the reasons for the popularity of the cinema is that it entertains all types or people, young and old, literate and illiterate. Because it is so popular, it must exercise some influence on those whom it attracts. The films shown in  the cinema  are often very instructive and informative. Almost every film shows something about the activities and customs of the people in other lands. By seeing such films, one learns a lot about human activities. One also gains a better understanding of people of the world. Further, some films show the battles that were fought in the past. They also sometimes show very vividly how man has struggled through the centuries to remove discomfort from his life. In this way, some films have given many people an insight into the

Everybody knows  the value of money . Nothing is more powerful than money. In fact, if we have no money, we cannot buy goods, clothes and other necessaries we need. Without money, we cannot go to the movies, theaters or other amusements places. How can we spend our free time pleasantly on rainy evenings without a color television in front of us? Music from a new hi-fi can relax us quickly after a hard day of work. But how can we satisfy our needs, our desires and our pleasures when we cannot afford to buy them? Thanks to money we can improve our spiritual activities easily. We can go to any schools, any universities we like to further our knowledge. If our parents are wealthy and powerful we may be sent abroad to study. Moreover, we can enjoy pure happiness by contributing our money to Charity funds to help the poor, the wretched and the victims of other disasters. But money not only brings us the good but the bad as well. This accounts for much of the wickedness in the world. The rich

Nowadays many people all over the world spent most of their free time watching television; but since its appearance, television has brought to man many advantages as well as disadvantages. First, television plays an important role in our daily activities: it keeps us informed of all current affairs in the world. Events through television are more vivid than those through books and magazines. Second, television helps us enrich our spiritual lives. Our knowledge is broadened in many ways. Through language teaching programs, we can learn the language we like such as: English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and so on. We can become skilful and clever at doing jobs, making cakes or arranging flowers through practical courses taught on television. Finally, television is a source of recreation. Humorous stories and funny films bring us minutes of relaxation after a hard day’s work. For me, sitting comfortably in an arm-chair to watch an international football match on television is more in

Many a time, I have longed for my childhood days. This is especially true at times when I would like to escape from the torture of examinations and homework. Furthermore, my childhood was filled with countless memorable moments that I would love to relive. Many, who have happy childhood memories, would also, I am sure, feel the same. Childhood is a period which is associated with fun and play. The child hardly cares or knows what the adult thinks of him. He frolics with his childhood playmates in the sand, mud or water. Through his mother may chide him for his pranks, she may, secretly in her heart, wish that she too could be as carefree and happy as her child. Children normally do not have any major responsibilities to shoulder. Political, economic, social and family problems do not disturb them. They may be confused because they can not comprehend the problem, but most of them will not go through heartbreaking moments over them. However, the above beautifully painted childhood phase

 This proverb just means that there is nothing like a pressing and urgent need for setting people to work to find a way of meeting it. If we could get all we want from nature we should not bother to invent anything; as we can’t, we are forced to find out ways and means to satisfy our needs. In the early days of mankind, the necessity of communicating with one another led men to the invention of languages. Later, the necessity of keeping some record of what they did or said led to the invention of writing. Later still, the necessity of spreading news and knowledge led to the invention of printing. These are only few illustrations to prove that from the very beginning of the human life that man has been making inventions and discoveries out of sheer necessity. Hence we recognize “necessity” for the progress of the human race.

A few months ago my father and I visited Singapore, one of the most famous cities in Asia. Singapore, a small island, lies at the southern and of West Malaysia. A long and narrow piece of land joins Singapore with Johore Hahru, the southern-most town of West Malaysia. Singapore is now an independent state. The city of Singapore is extremely beautiful. It is well known for its centers of business and other activities. There are many places of interest such as the Tiger Balm Garden, the Botanical Gardens and Raffles Museum. There are also many important centers of learning such as the University of Singapore, Science Centre, the Nanyang University and the Polytechnic. Being a famous city, hundreds of people come everyday from various parts of the world to do business or to enjoy the sights of the city. Singapore therefore has large and beautiful airports and its harbors are full of ships. There are many night schools where people who cannot go to the day schools for some reason or other

A village is a quiet place where the influence of the city is not felt much. It is indeed a very good place for rest and relaxation. In a village people do not live very close to one another. Their houses are far apart. Each house therefore has a lot of space around it. So, almost every house is surrounded by flower and fruit plants and vegetables. All these make the village look green and fresh. There are also tall trees everywhere which provide shade from the sun and keep the village cool. Some villages are surrounded by paddy-fields or mountains. There are also many streams and  rivers in most villages. All these add great beauty and variety to the village scene. The people of village are very simple in thought and behavior. They are therefore very friendly and helpful. So, the crimes of a city are almost unknown in a village. The people here work together and live in peace. Whenever they celebrate a festival, they dance and sing together and the whole village is in a gay mood. Livi

The village I live in is known as Kampung Java. It is about ten miles from a large town. There are many people in  my village . Most of them are farmers. They grow paddy in the large fields around my village. These paddy fields look very beautiful when the paddy plants are growing. The mountains in the distance and the palm trees all around, add to the beauty of these fields. The shops in my village are very old. There are few brick buildings. Most of the shops are along the main road in the village. As the people in my village live a simple life, their needs are not many. So, many of the things found in the shops in the towns are not found in the shops in my village. The people in my village are good. They go not like to quarrel or fight with others. Every evening they meet one another and talk about many things. If they need any help or advice, they go to the village chief. The chief is a wise man. He gives good advice and keeps the people happy. Indeed, I like my village very much.

The village has always been known to be a place of peace and quiet. The scattered houses among hundreds of plants and trees indicate the lack of activities in the village. The workers in the village leave their homes early in the morning to work in the plantations or towns near by. Some have their own plantations, and some make certain articles in their homes to sell them in the towns. A few of the villagers, including women, go out to catch fish in the streams and rivers found in the village. Though the people of the village do not usually earn much, they seem to be contented. In the afternoon, most of the villagers are at home. Some of them take a nap after lunch, do some work in their small gardens or pay some visit to the small shops  in the village . In various parts of the village, children may be found playing the popular games of the village. Occasionally, a cyclist passes by. In the evening, the villagers meet one another. Some play cards and other types of games which are pec

Good manners play an important part in maintaining peace and good-wiling in a community. A man who has good manners does not hurt the feelings of others, and therefore he is on good terms with his friends and neighbors and also with others. In this way he helps to keep peace in society. But a man whose manners are bad has no respect for others. He uses words carelessly and behaves rudely towards other and causes a lot of ill-will and unpleasantness. In the end, it is he himself who suffers the most. Everyone avoids him and he is forced to live almost in isolation. To live well in a society, money alone is not enough.  We should also have good manners , for it is human nature to seek friendship; and friendship cannot be bought with money. Friendship with others makes life pleasant and it has to be earned through our own attitude towards others. If we are kind to others, they will be kind to us, and kindness is the essence of good manners. Bad manners not only drive away friends but also

“What is the meaning of this?” Grandma questioned in a frightened whisper as she thrust the newspaper at me. I took it from her tremulous hands. A picture of me stared back and my parents’ plea for my return was stated in bold print. Now, I had to tell my grandmother the truth. For weeks, my parents had been bickering. I never understood what started the quarrels and neither of my parents explained the problem to me. When the bickering finally stopped, it was only to be replaced by a cold war between them. They were no longer on speaking terms and they made me relay messages from one to the other. I was very confused. My performance at school was affected and my teachers thought that I was becoming lazy. This compounded my problems. Finally, I decided to run away from home. One morning, instead of going to school, I went to Johore Bahru where my grandmother lived. I told her that it was my term break and I had decided to spend the holidays with her. I fabricated a tale about my parents

“A dog is a man’s best friend.” People all over the world keep dogs and other kinds of animals as pets. The more popular pets in Singapore are dogs, cats, birds and fishes. In some countries, people even choose to keep snakes elephants and lions as pets. From the point of view of most people, keeping pets is not an evil deed at all. In fact, keeping pets nurtures desirable qualities in the owner such as responsibility, care and love. Young children are taught how to take proper care of their pets. They save their pocket money to buy bird seed, worms or other necessities for their pets. Further more, keeping pets can be educational. It stimulates great interest in the particular pet. Pet owners also read and discuss much about the pets they own. In my view, however, it is wrong to keep pets. Man assumes that animals do not have much intelligence and hence have no rights. He just assumes that animals like being kept as pets. This is especially true in the case of caged birds. By nature,

Many a time, I have longed for my childhood days. This is especially true at times when I would like to escape from the torture of examinations and homework. Furthermore, my childhood was filled with countless memorable moments that I would love to relive. Many, who have happy childhood memories, would also, I am sure, feel the same. Childhood is a period which is associated with fun and play. The child hardly cares or knows what the adult thinks of him. He frolics with his childhood playmates in the sand, mud or water. Through his mother may chide him for his pranks, she may, secretly in her heart, wish that she too could be as carefree and happy as her child. Children normally do not have any major responsibilities to shoulder. Political, economic, social and family problems do not disturb them. They may be confused because they can not comprehend the problem, but most of them will not go through heartbreaking moments over them. However, the above beautifully painted childhood phase

School examinations are something which most students dread. Yet, there is hardly any educational system that does not set examinations. Many feel that examinations should be banned because they test the students’ memory power rather than their analytical or reasoning powers. Such examinations require students only to memorize facts regurgitate them during examinations and conveniently forget them soon after. Passing examinations could also sometimes be a matter of luck. Lucky student who spots questions accurately will probably do better than one who just studies his books. Moreover, there are some students who perform better when they are not under pressure. These students may panic and perform poorly under examination conditions. Though reasons for banning examinations may be many, there remains one basic explanation as to why examinations have not been abolished. That is, all educational systems need a standardized method of testing the students’ understanding of what they have lea

Good manners play an important part in maintaining peace and good-wiling in a community. A man who has good manners does not hurt the feelings of others, and therefore he is on good terms with his friends and neighbors and also with others. In this way he helps to keep peace in society. But a man whose manners are bad has no respect for others. He uses words carelessly and behaves rudely towards other and causes a lot of ill-will and unpleasantness. In the end, it is he himself who suffers the most. Everyone avoids him and he is forced to live almost in isolation. To live well in a society, money alone is not enough.  We should also have good manners , for it is human nature to seek friendship; and friendship cannot be bought with money. Friendship with others makes life pleasant and it has to be earned through our own attitude towards others. If we are kind to others, they will be kind to us, and kindness is the essence of good manners. Bad manners not only drive away friends but also

Teachers play an important part in training children, teenagers and even people in their early maturity. Some  qualities of a good teacher  that are crucial for determining one as a good teacher are the teacher’s sound knowledge in his/her major and its related fields, certain devotion to and great love for his/her students and his/her ability to inspire the students’ passion for studying either in or out of class. There is no doubt that knowledge is a quality/must for a good teacher. In addition to his/her professional knowledge, the teacher need to enlarge his/her general knowledge on culture, society, humanity, psychology, methodology, politics, history, etc. to provide his/her students with what they need to know, satisfy their curiosity and meet their requirements in any case. Another quality that a good teacher should have is his/her devotion to and great love for those who call him ‘sir’ or her ‘madam’ in class. Generally speaking, the students are not mature enough to behave pr

Money is the instrument of exchange, helping in buying and selling and also in fixing a value on things and commodities. It may be in metal or in paper. With the market getting more and more complicated, there are other negotiable instruments which are as good as the minted coins or the printed notes. Money gives purchasing power but this power is not absolute as it is on various factors. In such a case it is termed currency and according to their purchasing power they are termed hard, soft and weak. Though coins and notes are issued by the Government of the country, there is a limit to their minting. Let us see why money is needed. It is simply because it helps the processor to buy things. The days of battering are gone though it is indirectly resorted to at international level. Money is helpful as a standard of price. Money helps the owner to have power not only in buying things but also in influencing many human activities. Money is used for good things such as using it to build a t

A journey by train The house in which I lived  before was near the railway station. Trains used to pass by at regular interval and I had become so familiar with their sound and sight that I took little interest in them. It never occurred to me that I might make a journey by train some day. However, when my father decided to take up a new appointment in the place where we now live, it was decided that we should  travel by train . It was only then that I discovered how pleasant a journey by train might be. My father, mother and I boarded a train one afternoon. As the train moved out of the station, I began to think of the days I had spent in our old house which I could still see from the train. But soon the house went out of sight, and I began to think of my journey itself. The train was now moving quite fast. The first thing that impressed me was the beauty of the landscape. There were green valleys. Tropical plants could be seen everywhere. In certain places there was tall grass. All t

Direct and Indirect Speech When using indirect or reported speech, the form changes. Usually indirect speech is introduced by the verb   said , as in   I said ,   Bill said , or   they said . Using the verb   say   in this tense, indicates that something was said in the past. In these cases, the main verb in the reported sentence is put in the past. If the main verb is already in a past tense, then the tense changes to another past tense; it can almost be seen as moving even further into the past. Verb tense changes also characterize other situations using indirect speech. Note the changes shown in the chart and see the table below for examples. With indirect speech, the use of   that   is optional. Direct Speech Þ Indirect Speech simple present He said, “I   go   to school every day.” Þ simple past He said (that) he   went   to school every day. simple past   He said, “I   went   to school every day.” Þ past perfect He said (that) he  

OMTEX CLASSES  ENGLISH GRAMMAR Lesson One The Parts of Speech Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech : the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection. Each part of speech explains not what the word is , but how the word is used . In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next. The next few examples show how a word's part of speech can change from one sentence to the next. Books are made of ink, paper, and glue. In this sentence, "books" is a noun, the subject of the sentence. Deborah waits patiently while Bridget books the tickets. Here "books" is a verb, and its subject is "Bridget." We walk down the street. In this sentence, "walk" is a verb, and its subject is the pronoun "we". The mail carrier stood on the walk . In this example, "walk" is a noun, which is part of a prepositiona