Back-to-School!

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Subject: Back-to-School!

ON CAMPUS April 2020 Issue

Creative Campus Good Friday Closure

Creative Campus will be closed on 10 April 2020 for the Good Friday public holiday.

Classes will resume on Saturday 11 April 2020.

We remain contactable via Whatsapp @ 88502499 [10am-5pm], or via email chalk@creativecampus.com.sg. Do give us some time to get back to you.

Campus News

COVID-19 Update

The Singapore Government has mandated the suspension of all centre-based enrichment classes from 26 March (Thursday) till 30 April 2020 (Thursday) inclusive.

Since end-Jan 2020, all students have been given the option to attend their classes via video conferencing. This has worked seamlessly. Creative Campus will adhere to the guidelines to safeguard the health of staff and students. We remain operational with all lessons conducted online.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak has affected us all, inconveniencing all of us in one way or another. We are all in this together and hopefully, with technology, sheer commitment and willpower, the learning continues. We endeavour to make each lesson just as engaging online as they have been in-person.

Should you require more information, do email us at chalk@creativecampus.com.sg, or call us at 6455 3063.

NOTE: To keep the Campus community safe, please DO NOT enter the premises if:

you have been overseas in the past 14 days
you have a fever or any other respiratory symptoms
you have come into close contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient in the past 14 days, or
you are currently serving out a Stay Home Notice or Leave of Absence

Updated Class Schedule
Classes are ongoing at Creative Campus. Please refer to our updated class schedule.

For a list of our ongoing promotions, click here.

Find out what we do: insights into Creative Campus (NEW)

The 2019 national exams are done and dusted. The respective post-mortem analysis can be found on our website. You can even access a sample of our worksheets online. Click on the links below to find out more:
~ PSLE analysis and sample worksheet
(100% of our students scored A* and A for PSLE 2019)
~ 'O' levels analysis and sample worksheet

(100% of our students scored A and B for GCE O-Levels 2019)
~ 'A' levels analysis and sample worksheet

English Enrichment

Abbreviations

Picture credit: Singapore English (2007) by David Deterding

Singaporeans love abbreviations, or 'short-forms'. Foreigners frequently comment on the sheer number of the abbreviations that we have and somehow all seem to have memorised.

Did you know that not all abbreviations are equal? There are several categories of abbreviations, three of which are more common in Singapore. Let's explore the three in order.

Clippings

Clippings simply refer to 'clipped', or truncated, words. This more often occurs with longer words that we tend to shorten in speech.

The clipped part may be from the back of the word, like in 'exam(ination)', 'ad(vertisement)', or 'pop(ular) music'. It can also be from the middle, like 'spec(tacle)s' or 'math(ematic)s'. There are also clipped words that omit all but the middle, such as '(in)flu(enza)' and '(re)frige(rator)'.

A uniquely Singaporean example of clipping is 'sabo', which comes from the word 'sabotage'.

Acronyms vs Initialisms

Acronyms and initialisms have the same starting point: when an initial letter from each word is taken and combined. This way, a longer phrase can be shortened very quickly.

These two types of abbreviation have a 'pseudo' (fake) counterpart, called a pseudo-acronym, which happens when the letters don't actually stand for anything. Case in point: while the once-ubiquitous instant messaging platform ICQ may look like an acronym, it is merely a play on the words "I seek you".

Acronyms and initialisms are different in that acronyms are read like an actual word, while reading out an initialism means pronouncing individual letters.

For instance, 'ASEAN' is an acronym; it is read as 'ah-sean', not 'A-S-E-A-N'. On the other hand, 'UK' (United Kingdom) is an initialism.

Acronyms are less common than initialisms in Singaporean parlance. Examples of acronyms are 'SOTA' (School of the Arts) and 'MINDEF' (Ministry of Defence').

Meanwhile, the list of initialisms is far too long to list! Everyday examples include 'HDB', 'CCA', 'PIE' and more.

Test Yourself
Are these words abbreviations or not? If they are abbreviations, what kind are they?

Q1. A*STAR
Q2. condo
Q3. MOE
Q4. laser
Q5. IOU
Q6. USA
Q7. LOL
Q8. aircon
Q9. radar
Q10. BBQ

Answers

A1. acronym (Agency for Science, Technology and Research)
A2. clipping (condominium)
A3. initialism (Ministry of Education)
A4. acronym (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation)
A5. pseudo-acronym. It comes from the pronunciation of "I owe you".
A6. initialism (United States of America)
A7. initialism or acronym, depending on how you say it! (laugh out loud)
A8. clipping (air-conditioner)
A9. acronym (radio detection and ranging)
A10. pseudo-acronym. It comes from the pronunciation of "barbeque".

Critical Thinking

Unexpected Effects of a Medical Crisis

It is clear by now that the COVID-19 outbreak, which was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has great impact on all aspects of our daily lives. From politics, to work, to what dominates both media discussion and personal conversations, the pandemic has uprooted normalcy around the world.

However, aside from the devastating strain that it imposes on healthcare and social systems worldwide (please practise social distancing!), there are a few less-expected consequences of the crisis. These include:

Schools, Sports, and Space

In many parts of the world, educational institutions have shut down. According to UNESCO, 85 countries have closed schools nationwide, leaving more than 750 million children and youth affected.

This not only poses a major disruption to their education, but also severely impacts underserved students who rely on the school system for daily necessities like food. For example, more than 20 million students rely on free school meals each day in the United States.

COVID-19 has also wreaked havoc on the sporting schedule. Major events like the Premier League (soccer) and the NBA (basketball) seasons have been postponed, while high-profile tennis, golf, and ice-skating events have been called off entirely. Even the International Olympic Committee has postponed the Tokyo Olympics to 2021.

The space industry is the final casualty in this list. NASA employees were called to work from home after a few of them had tested positive for the coronavirus, leading to delays in space research. Furthermore, European launches have been postponed indefinitely.

A Silver Lining?

If we were to look on the bright side, we can say that a few otherwise-ignored issues have been brought into the light. For instance, there have been moves to protect the homeless population in parts of America and Canada, who have no homes to isolate themselves in.

Unexpectedly, the drastic changes in our collective lifestyles - specifically, the drastic decrease in flights and industrial production - have temporarily reduced carbon emissions. Researchers measured a 25% drop in China's carbon emissions after the nation's lockdown in late February, as factories halted production.

Of course, whether any of these positive effects will last is entirely dependent on how the world continues to deal with the crisis.

Something to consider…

Q1. In SG, schools were closed for 3 weeks during the SARs outbreak in 2003. Do you think schools should close during the COVID-19 outbreak? Why or why not?

Q2. What has been your saddest and happiest observation or experience during this global pandemic?

Have you checked out our ebooks?

Two of them are FREE! Useful for all students from Primary 3 and up, these ebooks are essential building blocks for your child to have a better grasp on the English Language.

Free Brain Booster eBook Download
Download our eBook Brain Booster for revision now.
Visit the Shop Page on our Website to get your free copy!

Click here to find out more on our website.

Until the next time,

The Creative Campus Team

For more interesting articles you can use as discussion tools, do like our Facebook Page where we share them weekly.

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Address: 545 Orchard Road, #14-07/08 Far East Shopping Centre Singapore 238882
Mainline: 6455 3063

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Email: chalk@creativecampus.com.sg

Creative Campus: Learning with Latitude Pte Ltd, 545 Orchard Road, 238882, #14-07/08 Far East Shopping Centre, Singapore

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Subject: Back-to-School!