BUB BAE 3205 English Reading and Writing Skills: Welcome to the enriching journey of honing your English Reading and Writing Skills, a crucial component of the Bachelor of Agriculture Education (B.Ag.Ed) program under the esteemed School of Agriculture & Rural Development (SARD) at the Open University of Bangladesh. This book, bearing the code 3205, has been meticulously crafted to empower you with the linguistic tools essential for effective communication in the dynamic field of agricultural education. As agriculture continues to evolve, so does the need for graduates who can articulate their ideas proficiently in English.
This comprehensive guide is designed to enhance your language proficiency, equipping you with the abilities necessary to navigate the diverse realms of academia, research, and professional communication. Through a blend of engaging reading materials, practical exercises, and thought-provoking writing tasks, this book aims to not only build your language skills but also foster a deeper appreciation for the role of language in the agricultural context. Embrace this opportunity to refine your abilities, and may this journey contribute significantly to your academic and professional success.
“English Reading and Writing-skills”, this course book is written specially for the students of the B.Ag.Ed. programme of the School of Agriculture and Rural Development. The book is designed to help the students learn and acquire the skills of reading & writing. In distance education system there is no full-time presence of a teacher. The book is written in such a manner that you will never feel isolated or feel the absence of the teacher.
Therefore, the style of presenting the lessons of the book is different from other conventional text books. As you are to study and learn by yourself so, before starting a lesson it is best to know some of the salient features of this course book. This will help you understand the lessons better.
We read something to obtain some information. Every reading text, e.g. a textbook passage, a magazine article, a newspaper ad, a road sign, a letter, etc., has a message for the reader. And the reader’s aim is to get the right message as quickly as possible.
Introduction to Developing Reading Skills
To realise this goal, you as a reader should note the following things:
You should have a reason for reading. Ask yourself, “Why am I going to read it?” before you start reading anything. You have gone to a restaurant, for example, for dinner. So you need to read the menu for ordering your meal. You are reading this book, because you may need to understand agricultural matters in English from a textbook, a booklet, a brochure, etc. So you need to understand English words and expressions used for describing some topics/subjects of agriculture. You may also need this proficiency if you teach agriculture in a school.
Do not stop and look at every word when you read read several words at a time. In other words, read in chunks. If you look at and read every word you will be a very slow reader; and in paying attention to each word you are likely to miss out the most important point in reading, i.e. the message, the information contained in groups of words used in context, not in words used in isolation. Therefore, consider reading passages as a whole, rather than as a series of items. and structures.
When you are reading for information, you should read silently. Reading aloud does not help students to develop their reading skills, though it can help them to practise pronunciation.
Twenty lessons under the first four units are written for developing the reading skills at various levels of difficulty. For example, the beginning lessons are built on reading instructions which are followed by lessons on more difficult reading tasks based on descriptions, reports and charts, process and technology.
Unit: 1 Developing the reading skills 1
Lesson 1.1 – Reading instructions 1
Objectives:
After you have studied the lesson you will be able:
– to follow written instructions or directions about how to grow vegetables,
– to use such words as loamy, friable, nursery beds, disinfect, sow, seedlings, transplant.
A. Look at the picture and try to say what the man is doing.
Fig : Nursery beds
A1. Read the text:
Jamil Ahmed is a successful farmer. He lives in a village in Sribordi thana. Yesterday he went to the Thana Agricultural Officer (TAO) and got a small book on how to grow vegetables. Today Jamil is reading the booklet to some of his neighbours. This is what the booklet says:
If you want to grow good vegetables you have to follow these instructions:
Select a loamy, friable soil.
Plough and break the soil properly.
Mix manures into the soil.
Disinfect the soil with boiling water.
Mix the seeds with a little disinfected sand.
Sow the seeds in the beds.
Water the beds twice a day.
Lift the seedlings from the nursery beds about 3 weeks after sowing.
Now transplant the seedlings as soon as possible.
B. Study these words:
loamy (adj) – Loamy soil or loam does not contain too much sand or too much clay. This type of soil is good for growing vegetables and crops.
friable (adj) – easily broken up
friable soil – soil that you can break and prepare easily
nursery beds – seed-beds where seedlings are grown
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disinfect (v) – destroy germs of diseases with disinfectants, i.e. germ- killing substances (germicides) in liquid or powder form
You can disinfect a wound or a place with dettol or other germicides. You can disinfect the soil of nursery beds with just boiling water.
sow (pt sowed, pp sown or sowed) – put or scatter seeds in or on the ground We can sow grass, jute, etc. We can sow a field with rice, wheat, etc.
seedlings (n, sing – seedling) – A seedling is a young plant newly grown from a seed.
transplant – remove a young plant with its roots and replant it elsewhere. We usually transplant aman paddy.
C. Match the expressions in Column A with the expressions in Column B. No. 1 is done for you.
No 1(f): For growing vegetables you should select an easily breakable soil.
D. Write directions/ instructions for someone who wants to grow tomatoes.
Use the following action verbs and clues. Use other necessary words to write the instructions.
Verbs : select, make, apply, use, sow, pour
Clues : a loamy soil, manures, seed-beds, germicides, seeds in rows, water, a plough or a spade
Example: Select a loamy soil for growing vegetables.
Lesson 1.2 – Reading instructions 2
Read the following instructions for making compost.
Plants need food for their healthy growth. Compost is perhaps the best food for plants. It is a good manure. It is made of such materials as leafy plants, rubbish, cowdung, poultry droppings, etc.
Here are some instructions or directions about how to make compost :
1) Collect enough plant materials like grasses, leaves, hyacinth, straw, shrubs, etc. waste materials like sweepings, dirty water, kitchen rubbish, rice hulls, etc. and farmyard manures like cowdung, poultry droppings, etc.
2) Make a bamboo or wooden container inside or near your garden.
Fig : A container
3) Make the container 2.4 metres long, 1.2 metres wide and 1.2 metres high. Put a removable partition with bamboo or wood in the middle so that you have two bins.
4) Deposit in one of the bins about a 30-cm layer of plant and waste materials.
5) Put about an 8-cm layer of farmyard manures such as cowdung or poultry droppings on top of the layer.
6) On top of it put a thin layer of soil.
7) Sprinkle some water on the soil. Make the materials moist, but not wet.
8) Repeat the whole process twice more until your pile rises to the upper limit of the bin, ie until it becomes 1.2 m high.
9) Cover the top of the pile with bamboo mats or a straw roof to protect it from the sun and rain.
10) Remove the partition after 2 weeks and put the rotten materials into the other bin.
11) Make more compost in the emptied bin, following the same process.
The removed pile of rotten materials becomes good compost after another 2/3 weeks. Now it is ready for use.
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Study these words.
compost (n) – a kind of fertilizer made of rotten plants such as grasses, leaves, etc. and farmyard manures like
cowdung, poultry droppings, etc.
container (v contain) – anything such as a box, a bottle, etc used for holding something See the picture above.
bin (n) – A bin is also a container.
removable (adj) – which is not fixed. It can be removed or pushed aside and brought back to its former position.
poultry droppings – waste matter from the bowels of farmyard birds such as hens, ducks, etc.
Study the example :
(a) Collect enough plant materials (instruction).
(b) Enough plant materials can be/are collected (description).
While (a) is an instruction or direction, (b) is a description or statement, but both (a) and (b) tell about the same thing.
Now use should be, can be, could be, is/are and describe each of these directions for transplanting tomatoes:
1. Prepare the soil of the tomato beds several weeks before transplanting.
2. Put manures into the soil.
3. Put stakes in the beds.
4. Transplant the seedlings in rows 50 cms apart with 40 cms between seedlings.
5. Transplant tomato seedlings 5 to 6 weeks after sowing.
6. Cover roots well with earth.
7. Water the soil twice a day.
Example: 1) The soil of the tomato beds should be prepared several weeks before transplanting.
Lesson 1.3 – Reading instructions 3
Read the passage to answer the following question.
Bangladesh is a tropical country. Its climatic factors like temperature, rainfall, air, light, etc are favourable for the production of various crops. It is also a deltaic country. As a result, its topography and soil conditions are favourable for the growth of certain crops. Think about the vast expanse of flat land we have! Also the few hills we have are not very big and high.
Bangladesh is crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers big and small. They give the land a lot of alluvia after each flooding. This alluvial soil is fertile and easy to prepare for cultivation.
Question:
Explain how the vast expanse of our flat land and hundreds of our rivers are favourable for growing various crops.
Read the following text to answer the question that follows.
A wide variety of tropical crops is grown in Bangladesh throughout the year in three distinct cropping seasons. These are:
(i) The spring or pre-monsoon season (March-May)
This season with moderate temperature and humidity, and occasional rainfall produces a lot of rice (aus), jute, sugarcane, vegetables, etc.
(ii) The monsoon season (May-September)
This season with high temperature and humidity, low solar energy and heavy rainfall is suitable for the growth of rice (T aman”), oil seeds, vegetables, etc.
(iii) The rabi season (October-March)
With low humidity and temperature this dry season produces a variety of crops, such as boro rice, wheat, potatoes, pulses, spices, mustard, vegetables, etc.
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Question:
Suppose you are a Department of Agricultural Extension Specialist. You are writing a booklet to inform farmers about which crops they should grow in what seasons. Explain why they should do so. Find a calendar that shows both English and Bengali months and write the pieces of information either in the form of instruction/direction or in the form of description or in both.
Study these words.
a tropical country – a country situated between about 23.5″ north and 23.5° south of the equator. See a world map for a clear idea.
Bangladesh is situated between about 20 and 27° north of the equator. So according to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a tropical country. A tropical country is hot and humid. It has rainy and dry seasons.
favourable (adj) – helpful a deltaic country a country having flat alluvial area with some big rivers
topography (n) – geographical features like rivers, valleys, hills, mountains, roads, etc of a place
expanse (n) – wide and open area move crosswise; one cutting across another. Many rivers crisscross the whole of Bangladesh.
crisscross (v) – alluvia (n, sing alluvium) – soil consisting of mud, silt and sand deposited by flowing water, especially by flood-water
distinct (adj) – clear; separate
moderate (adj) – not extreme; having neither too much nor too little of something
temperature (n) – degree of heat and cold; high temperature, low temperature, etc.
humidity (n) – moisture in the air; dampness in the air
monsoon (n) – a season in Southern Asia (including Bangladesh, India and other countries around the Indian Ocean) with heavy rain. and high temperature
Lesson 1.4 – Reading events
Look at the pictures. They are not numbered (1,2,….. 8) in the right order. Try to think about the story of the woman in the picture and write the numbers of the pictures sequentially, i.e. in the order the events in her life happened. Now read the story and check your answer.
Fig : Events in a woman’s life
Majeda Begum was a village girl. She was the oldest among her 3 sisters and 2 brothers. Majeda went to school. But when she was in class 5, her father died and she had to leave school. Majeda was a hard-working girl. She used to work in some farmers’ houses in the village. With the little money she earned, the little amount of rice she got from the farmers’ wives. Majeda helped her family to survive.
Majeda was married when she was only 17 to Halim, 20, in the same village. They were a happy couple. Together they worked hard and in 4 years they could buy a plot of land. In the 5th year of their marriage they had a lovely daughter, Ayesha.
But their happiness did not last long. To celebrate their 7th marriage day Majeda was cooking some special food in the afternoon. Suddenly she was called outside. Some villagers brought Halim’s dead body in the yard. He was probably bitten by a snake while he was cutting jute in his field.
At first Majeda could not think about anything. But one thing she thought she must do. And that was to raise little Ayesha properly. So she took a loan from the Grameen Bank, bought a treadle pump and had it installed in her field. The Thana Agricultural Extension Officer helped her a lot.
Majeda is now happy. She herself operates the pump and irrigates the field when necessary. Now she grows enough rice for her and Ayesha. If you ask her, “What is the happiest day in your life?” she will answer, “I have three happiest days not one in my life. They are: the day I was married, the day Ayesha was born and the day the treadle pump came to my field.”
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Study these words.
survive (v) – to cope with difficult circumstances; to continue to live or exist in adverse or difficult situations or conditions
celebrate (v) – to enjoy oneself on a special occasion; to celebrate, for example a birthday, a marriage day, a team’s victory in the football match, etc.
bitten (pp. pr t bite. pt bit) – A dog can bite a man. but a man cannot or should not bite a dog.
raise (v, pt & pp raised) – to bring up; to look after install (v. n installation) to set up an apparatus or a piece of
equipment so that it is ready for use to install an air-conditioner, an intercom, etc.
irrigate (v, n irrigation) – to supply water to especially dry land
Here are the main events in the life of Mr Kamal Ahmed. Arrange the events in the order they happened and write a paragraph using them.
Today is our topic of discussion Writing a description advanced
Writing a description advanced
What do you know about the role of rural women in the following agricultural activities? Write a short paragraph on each activity (5-7 sentences). No 1 is done for you.
Our rural women play a major role in rice cultivation. They can sow aus rice or plant aman seedlings after the field is prepared. They can also do the weeding when weeds grow with the young plants. Most harvesting and post-harvesting work is done by them.
After threshing the grains either by hand or by using cattle or a machine, they winnow the dust, pieces of grass, leaves etc away by the winnowing fan (kula). Then they dry the grains and put them in the store. Or they make them ready for husking or for marketing.
Think about the following questions and write answers to them.
a) Are the rural women involved in agricultural activities skilled workers? (Mostly no)
b) If no, how can they carry out all the four types of activities mentioned in the example answer above? (experience, learned by doing, etc.)
c) Make a list of activities which rural women have learned to do by doing over time. Also make another list of activities which could be effectively carried out only by skilled workers.
d) How can the rural women increase their efficiency through skills training?
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Now combine all the answers to the above questions (a-d) so that they make a well-planned composition.
Note these words and expressions.
thresh (v) – beat the grain out of the plants. Threshing is usually done by hand or by turning 3-5 head of cattle round and round on the spread-out plants. Threshing can also be done by a threshing-machine.
market (v) – to prepare the rice by threshing, winnowing, drying. etc. for sale. Also to organise its sale by taking it to a market place, shop, etc.
husbandry (n) – farming/management
cattle (n pl) – cattle are bulls and cows. (‘head’ is used with cattle to mean a unit of a flock or herd. Twenty head (not heads) of cattle are grazing in the field.
fatten (v) – make a cow/bull fat usually by giving the animal special feed. The livestock officer at the thana instructs rural women about how to fatten a cow or a bull.
poultry (n pl) – chickens, ducks and other birds that are kept for their eggs and meat
residue (n) – unused part or portion. Rice husks, stalks are agricultural residues. They remain after the use of rice.
husks (n) – Husks are the outer covering of grains (rice, wheat) or seeds.
husk (v) – to remove husks from rice by a ‘dheki’ or machine
bagasse (n) – dry pulp that remains after the extraction of juice from sugarcane or similar plants. Bagasse is used as fuel or for making fibreboard.
Today is our topic of discussion Writing a description elaborate
Writing a description elaborate
Look at this picture and try to think about these questions and then write answers to them.
Fig : A tea garden
1. What is the woman doing? (pluck)
2. In which district or districts can you find this scene?
3. What will she do with the leaves when her basket is filled up? (deliver to the factory or to the vehicle used for carrying them to the factory)
4. How do we get made or manufactured tea out of these leaves? (leaves prepared in the factory….)
Read the following description of tea manufacture.
(1) Fresh tea shoots are plucked from a garden. Each shoot usually has two leaves and a bud.
(2) These leaves are then taken to the factory for manufacture. There in the factory these leaves are treated in various methods and style.
(3) The leaves are first made to pass through a process called withering. As a result of a 12-18 hour-withering, loss of moisture and some chemical changes take place in the leaves.
(4) The next stage in the tea manufacture is distortion of the withered tea leaves, known as processing. The leaves are loaded into a rolling machine where they are ruptured, crushed, torn and curled. It is here where the tea gets flavour, colour and aroma.
(5) Immediately after the leaves are crushed and bruised, fermentation begins. In this process, through a series of chemical reactions, green colour turns into coppery black.
(6) The well-fermented leaves then are passed through the dryer for drying. During drying more than half the weight of the withered leaves is evaporated. Drying is required to make the leaves suitable for storage and transportation.
(7) The last stage in the tea manufacture is sorting. After the leaves are dried, they are quickly cooled off. Then the tea particles of different sizes are separated through a mechanically operated sieve with meshes of varying sizes. As the leaves are sorted. They are packed according to a number of grades.
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Read each of the paragraphs in B above in which an action or a sequence of actions has been described. Notice how a bold-printed word in a paragraph helps to express the sequence of actions within the paragraph or between two paragraphs. These words are: first, next, after, then, as a result, last, etc.
Since they connect one action or idea with the other or since they indicate the sequential progression of actions/ideas, they are called connectives. Now write how these connectives are linking two or more activities in the whole text.
Example
The word then in the second para shows how the action of plucking tea shoots (para 1) leads to the action of taking these shoots to the factory for manufacture (para 2).
Activity: Describe the process of making sugar from the sugarcane.
Clues:
Farmers grow sugarcane-ripe sugarcane stalks sold to the sugar mills- stalks are shredded (cut) soft pith (spongy substance) is put into crushers juice is extracted-boiled-decolourised (made colourless) -crystallised (made into crystals)-packed-marketed
Use different paragraphs for different activities, showing the use of connectives in describing the whole process. Some other connectives are: but, so, therefore, though, consequently, this, that, however, etc.
Today is our topic of discussion Writing a description
Writing a description
Look at these pictures and write the numbers of the pictures in the appropriate blanks below.
Fig : At the Sundarbans
1. Some tourists are walking inside the Sundarbans.
2. Local people are carrying ‘golpatta’ (used for making house roofs) in their boats.
3. Spotted deer are drinking water.
4. This paddle steamer ferries between Dhaka and Khulna.
5. The Royal Bengal Tiger is swimming in a creek.
6. A tourist is enjoying the scenic beauty of the mangroves and the river in the Sundarbans.
Look at the pictures and write a short paragraph for each question in Column A. Develop the paragraph using the points given in Column B against each question. No 1 is done for you.
Example: Where is the Sundarbans?
The Sundarbans is in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. It is spread in the southern coast of three districts Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat along the Bay of Bengal.
Note these words.
paddle steamer (n) – a large steamer. It is pushed through the water by the movement of large wheels which are attached to its side
creek (n) – a narrow strip of water that goes from a sea or lake into the land
mangroves (n) – trees that grow along coasts or on the banks of large rivers in hot countries
bask (v) – to enjoy the warmth and light (of the sun), e.g. Crocodiles bask on river banks. Too much of basking in the sun is not good for your skin.
herd (n) – a herd is a large group of animals of one kind. All the animals in a herd live together. e.g. herds of deer
in southwestern part ‘in’ indicates ‘inside’/’within’. e.g. Rangpur is in the north of Bangladesh.
[Notice the use of ‘on’ and ‘to’ to indicate locations. e.g. The river Dauki is on the north of Tamabil (on the border). Meghalaya is to the north of Bangladesh (outside).]
boar (n) – a wild male pig
snipe (both sing and pl) – a type of bird with a long beak. It normally lives in wet land.
Activity: Describe the sea beach at Cos’x Bazar. Use these clues?
1. Where is it?
(Give location – 160 km from Chittagong)
2. How big is it?
(World’s largest natural sand beach 120 km wide beach. stretching up to 330 meters at low tide)
3. What are the main attractions for the tourists?
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(scenic beauty: rolling waves-boats at a distance moving slowly sunset, sunrise on the waters bathing, swimming-walking along the beach collecting shells, taking photographs or just viewing the scenic beauty sitting under a beach umbrella staying at picturesque motels, cottages along the beach, enjoying fried and grilled sea-fish-shopping at the beach shopping centres)
Today is our topic of discussion Writing reports 2
Writing reports 2
For case 2, for example, in Lesson 7.1 above, the writer may prepare the following outline for his report.
Causes of primary school dropouts in ‘X’ thana
It is assumed that the writer has collected information about the number of primary schools, population, their occupation, literacy rate, teachers, their qualifications and commitment to their profession, enrolment rate, dropout
rate, causes of dropouts as reported by the teachers, parents, the thana education officer, student themselves.
He/she has got all the necessary data through interviews, discussions, TEO office, questionnaire, etc. Now he/she gets down to writing an outline for his/her report.
Outline
Introduction :
Purpose of the report (TOR) — size and population of the union
Body:
Number of schools-size of the catchment area for each school food for education – dropout rate causes of dropouts people’s attitude — their occupations-poverty-children’s help
Conclusion:
Education to be meaningful to their life — students going to schools willingly
Recommendations :
Training of teachers – practical components to be included in the curriculum school hours to be convenient community involvement education for the parents academic supervision -physical structures with greater facilities
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Note these words and expressions
it is assumed – that it is taken to be true that; it is supposed that—–
assume (v) – to take as true; to suppose
literacy rate – number of people in a country (or a region) who can do simple reading, writing and counting, e.g. The present literacy rate in Bangladesh is about 40%. This means about 40 people out of 100 can read, write and count at the basic level.
enrolment rate – number of children per 100 who get admission to a class, e.g. The present enrolment rate at the primary level in Bangladesh is about 70%. This means out of 100 children 70 are admitted or enrolled.
dropout rate – number of students who do not continue their studies for various reasons, e.g. The present dropout rate at the end of the primary cycle (i.e. at the end of class 5) is more than 50%.
dropouts (n) – students who drop out (i.e. who leave school without finishing their studies)
commitment (n) – strong belief; responsibility
profession (n) – occupation (here teaching)
catchment area – The catchment area of school is the area (i.e. the village town or city area) from where the students come to school.
Write the report on Causes of primary school dropouts in….. (your)….. thana union (based on the outline in A above)
Remember, for writing this report you will have to go to the thana education office or Directorate of Primary Education and visit as many schools as possible in your area for collecting necessary information.
Once you have got enough materials, facts, information, write your report using the format: Introduction, Body, Conclusion and Recommendations. Put charts, fact sheets, etc (if you have collected) in relevant places within the body of the report or put them at the end as appendices. Also give a bibliography if you have made use of any documents, books, journals, etc.
This report should be in about 2500 words (10 pages or so). So give a summary or abstract in about 250 words before Introduction. But write the summary after you have written the report and add it to the final draft.
Today is our topic of discussion Writing reports 1
Writing reports 1
A. You can write a report on an event, on a situation, on almost anything. Yesterday, for example, there was a clash between two football teams. Your school team and the AB School team were playing the final match in the Inter-School League Cup.
Immediately after half-time something happened with a penalty and the supporters of both the teams were found running into the field. They started pushing each other. For about half an hour it was a complete chaos. The play had to be abandoned. Now your headteacher has asked you and two of your colleagues to write a report on the incident. Let’s call it case 1.
Again, a researcher, asked by an NGO or a government department, may come to a thana and spend a few days talking to the children, parents and teachers. He has got an assignment to write a report on the causes of Primary Schools Dropouts in Trisal.
Let’s call it case 2. In both the cases the report writers have got reasons why they are writing their reports. In casel, they were asked by the headteacher to write the report, and this assignment is part of their job. In case 2, the researcher must have a written contract or a TOR (terms of reference) in which the following things are specified:
– Deadline for submitting the report
– Lenghth of the report
– Amount of money the writer will receive for writing the report, (etc.)
Notice, in case 1 there may be no written TOR. They might have been just asked by the headteacher to write the report.
B. Once you know why you are going to write a report, the next thing for you is to try to evaluate the reader(s) of your report. In case 1 above, the headteacher has asked for the report. But even other teachers and outsiders like managing committee members and police authority may be its readers.
In ease 2, the report is likely to have even wider readership. So the writer as he/she goes on writing the report must ask himself/herself, “How much does the reader already know? How much does he/she need to know? How best can I give him/her the information/facts he/she needs?”
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C. After you have known your reader(s), you have to identify the sources of information and collect it for writing the report. There are various ways of collecting information or data. You can observe events, situation, you can interview people (for both cases 1 & 2), you can also study reports, journals, documents, books, etc.
and prepare a questionnaire. But remember all the information, facts you have collected for your report, may not be true or may be biased. So before you use any information in your report, test its reliability.
This you can do by taking into account the status and position of the person you are going to interview and the reputation of the writers/publishers of reports, journals, books, etc. you are going to study. Perhaps, the easiest way of assessing the value of some information is to ask more than one person about its reliabity.
Thus equipped with all the necessary information, facts, etc., you are now ready to start writing the report.
Note these words and phrases.
readership (n) – The readership of a newspaper, journal, magazine or book is the number and type of people who read it.
questionnaire (n) – A questionnaire is a set of questions circulated among a lot of people. They fill in the
questionnaire (i.e. answer it) – The sender collects the filled in questionnaire, analyzes the answers and finds information, facts for his/her report or survey.
reliability (n) – If some information is reliable it is likely to be correct. So reliability of the information is its correctness.
Today is our topic of discussion Writing memorandums
Writing memorandums
A memorandum or memo (pl memorandums or memos) is a letter written inside an organisation. Memorandums usually carry messages which the employees of an organisation exchange at their work. Here is a model memo. Read it carefully.
German-Bangla Association
Date : 12 March 1999
To : Nazrul Islam
From: Rudia Sheffer
Subject:
Cost information for a 3-day training workshop at NAPE
The last Board meeting decided to hold this workshop at NAPE on 15-17 May with 20 participants from different places in greater Mymensingh district. Invitation letters have already been sent to the participants. Could you please find out how much the cost for the following would be ?
1. TA for 20 participants (list with their home addresses attached)
2. Costs for hostel rooms
3. Costs for food and refreshments
4. Costs for workshop hall/room equipped with OHP, whiteboard, etc.
Please call me if you need to know anything more. I’d be glad if you could give me the information by March 25.
Note the following aspects of the memo
1. Usually large organisations have printed memo stationery with headings such as name of organisation, Date, To, etc. However, handwritten memos are also used. In that case the name of the organisation does not have to be written.
2. A memo does not use any salutation (i.e. Dear Sir, etc.). It also does not have any complimentary ending (i.e. Yours sincerely, etc.).
3. A mema does not have to be signed. The writer just initials after his/her typed name.
However, in the case of a handwritten memo the writer usually initials it after the whole message.
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Memorandums can also be written for circulating a policy/directive of an organisation. Here is a model memo written by the Executive Director of an NGO to all the employees. Read it carefully.
Project for Underprivileged People (PUP)
Date: October 14, 1998
Το : All employees
From: Hasanul Kabir Chowdhury
Subject:
Lunch at PUP Cofeteria
PUP is going to have its own cafeteria on the ground floor of Building 11 from November 1. You can have lunch there at subsidised rates. You can entertain one guest but for that you need to buy a guest coupon from the cafeteria counter.
You don’t have to pay cash for your meals. The cafeteria will maintain a register for the employees. Please make sure that they have rightly marked you present or absent for a meal. The lunch bills will be deducted from your monthly pay. If you don’t eat the cafeteria meal, you can still go there and eat your packet lunch/snacks you have brought with you.
All possible care is being taken to serve hygienic food and safe drinking water.
Write the following two memos.
(a) In A above Rudia Sheffer wrote a memo to Nazrul Islam requesting information about the costs of a 3-day workshop. Now Nazrul Islam replies also in a memo. Write the memo for Nazrul Islam. (The costs of different items don’t have to be exact. Approximate charges will do).
(b) The ABC Company paid huge telephone bills for the last 2 months. In a Board meeting some measures are suggested to check this excessive use of the company phones from the next month. Some of the measures are:
– All officers below directors will lock their phones during their absence.
– All NWD calls will be given through reception. The Receptionist will record the phone number and the purpose of an outgoing NWD call.
– One phone at the reception will be available 24 hours for emergencies.
Now write a memo on these directives asking all the employees to follow. The writer is the Managing Director of the ABC company.
Today is our topic of discussion Writing a letter to the newspaper
Writing a letter to the newspaper
If you want to write to a newspaper, the topic/issue you want to write about must be of public interest. The language of the letter must be simple and clear so that it is easily understood by the general or at least by the majority of the readers. Send your letter or take it personally to the letter-to-the-editor section with a covering letter. Here is a model covering letter.
The Editor The Daily Star
House 11, Road 3
Dhanmondi R/A
Dhaka 1205
Dear Sir,
I would request you to publish the following letter in your widely- circulated daily. The letter tries to ventilate public demand for rebuilding a bridge on the only road connecting the northern unions of Sribordi thana to the district headquarters, Sherpur.
The Sujanpur bridge has been badly damaged by the recent floods. The bridge is on the river Tenachira. It is on the district board road at Bashkanda, not very far from the thana headquarters. It was a wooden bridge which was used by all types of vehicles-trucks, buses, jeeps, cars, rickshaw-vans, rickshaws, etc and the pedestrians as well.
The transport of all sorts of agricultural and farm products from the rural areas to the district town takes place through this road. Also finished goods from towns and cities come to the local trading centres through this road. But with the flood washing away more than half of the bridge, the lifeline for many of the rural people seems to be cut off.
Though the bridge has been temporarily repaired, trucks and buses are still off the road. Light vehicles use it very cautiously. The transport of some essential goods is carried out by boat. However, this cannot go on for long. The bridge must be rebuilt.
The local people think that the bridge should be rebuilt with concrete not just repaired with wood for its sustainability and long-term benefits for the people of this area. They appeal to the concerned authority for immediate action.
Yours truly
Rafiquddin Sarker
Sujanpur
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Note these words and phrases.
covering letter – a letter sent with a document, account or with goods briefly explaining the contents
ventilate (v) – make an issue or a grievance widely known
headquarters (n) – The word always ends with an ‘s’, but it can be either singular or plural. Abbreviation is HQ. e.g. The Bangladesh Biman’s headquarters is/are in Dhaka. It means a place from which an organisation is controlled.
lifeline (n) – anything on which somebody or something depends for existence
sustainability (n) – If anything lasts long it is sustainable. The quality or state of being sustainable or being alive is sustainability.
appeal (v) – make an earnert request
Write answers to these questions.
1. What does a covering letter that goes with a letter to the editor of a newspaper say?
(Cluse: identity of the writer- importance of the subject/issue- purpose)
2. Write two paragraphs- one on agricultural products and the other on a poultry- farm products which are likely to be transported from the rural areas through the Sujanpur bridge to the district headquarters and to the capital city. Mention what transport (i.e. vehicles) is used for carrying these products.
Department of Agricultural Extension Khamarbari, Dhaka 1215
Dear Sir,
Supply of 4 copies of “Illustrated Guide to IPM in Rice in Tropical Asia”, published from IRRI, Philippines
VFAP is an NGO. It gives necessary training to farmers, agricultural workers coming from all over the district. Side by side with conducting training programmes, we develop extension resources and training materials. To facilitate these activities VFAP has a library which is user- friendly and has a good collection of books and journal on agriculture, especially Bangladesh agricultural extension activities.
We should be grateful if you would send us 4 copies of the above- mentioned guide for our library use. I am sure, the book will help our trainers, researchers and farmers to be acquainted with the latest IPM technology required for our agricultural development, especially in rice IPM.
May we look forward to receiving the book?
Yours sincerely
Kazi Salam Sikdar Executive Director
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Note these words/expressions
DAE
Department of Agricultural Extension. This department is under the Ministry of Agriculture and is headed by a Director General.
DANIDA
Danish International Development Agencies
IPM
Integrated Pest Management. The integrated way of using insecticides (e.g. DDT) and biological control (e.g. birds used to consume locusts) is the basis of pest management.
IRRI
International Rice Research Institute in Philippines. We have BRRI (Bangladesh Rice Research Institute) at Joydebpur.
User-friendly
If anything is user-friendly, the users can easily and comfortably use it. The library is user- friendly, which means there are facilities and arrangements in the library (i.e. adequate desks, chairs, easy-to-find books and journals, proper lighting, ventilation, etc.) which help and attract people to come and work there.
We should be grateful if you would
This is a formal expression used to request services, things or information. You can also use: I would be grateful if you could… etc.
to be acquainted with
If you are acquainted with something, you know about it because you have learned it or you have experienced it.
Also you may be acquainted with a person. In that case it means you have met him or her and you know him or her.
May we look forward to receiving
The body of a request letter usually ends with this kind of expression. You may also use: I look forward to receiving……..
We look forward to your help and cooperation.
I look forward to seeing/meeting you Monday, 12 May.
We look forward to continuing our long association. (etc.).
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