Subject: On Campus September 2020 Issue: Plan ahead! Primers, Holiday Programmes, New Class Schedules and more!

ON CAMPUS September 2020 Issue
Campus News

Are you Exam-Ready?
The Acing 'O' Level English and PSLE Treasure Chest classes start this month. Conducted by our directors, these are short-term intensive classes that will give your child that added boost for the upcoming examinations. Visit our website for more details.

Primed for Success
In our years of experience, moving up to Primary 1 and Secondary 1 usually brings about teething problems. As such, Primer classes for Pre-Primary 1 and Pre-Secondary 1 are designed to ease students into the next level up. Registration is now open. 
Additionally, a plethora of holiday activities await your child this November/December. 
Call us to register your interest.
Class Schedule and Promotions
Your child's safety remains our priority. Hence, all students are given the flexibility to attend classes online or in-person. In-persons continue at Creative Campus under strict safe distancing measures. Please refer to our updated class schedule
Do contact us should you require another timeslot that is currently not on the list.
For a list of our ongoing promotions, click here.
English Enrichment
Rebracketing

Rebracketing, also known as resegmentation or metanalysis, happens when words are split into parts different from the way they were originally. It is common in languages all over the world, and it is one of the ways in which new words are formed.

To understand rebracketing, consider the word "metanalysis". The understanding of this word is naturally "meta + analysis", but it could also be understood as either "met + analysis" or "meta - nalysis". It is this ambiguity that leads to rebracketing.

Examples
Apron
One of the most famous  -- indeed, the quintessential -- examples of rebracketing is the word 'apron'. Although the modern word is 'apron', it was actually 'napron' or 'naperon' in Middle English, as derived from French napperon (meaning doily or small tablecloth).

Through the process of rebracketing, the phrase "a napron" gradually became understood as "an apron".

Alcoholic
The word 'alcoholic' contains not one, but two, examples of rebracketing -- a testament to the productivity of rebracketing as a process that creates new words!

The now-English 'alcohol' actually came from Arabic al-kuḥl, where al means 'the' and kuhl means 'powder'. We can thus say that the original division of 'alcohol' is 'al+cohol'.

However, the word has now been divided into 'alco+(h)ol' -- as shown by the emergence of words like 'methan-ol' or 'xylit-ol' (which are chemical terms referring to specific alcohols).

'Alcoholic' itself has also undergone rebracketing; 'alcohol+ic' is now understood as 'alco-holic', where the new suffix 'holic' now suggests obsession or addiction. This gives rise to words like "workaholic", "shopaholic", "chocoholic", and more.

Can you think of more rebracketed words?

Test Yourself
Which of the following words have undergone rebracketing?

Q1. nickname
Q2. lone
Q3. newt
Q4. plane
Q5. oracle
Q6. blog 
Q7. hamburger
Q8. coleslaw

A1. Y (an eke name → a nickname)
A2. Y (al+one → a+lone)
A3. Y (an eute → a newt)
A4. N
A5. N
A6. Y (web+log → we+blog)
A7. Y (Hamburg+er → ham+burger)
A8. N

Critical Thinking
The Magic of Synesthesia
Photo by garlandcannon

Have you ever wondered what it might feel like to see sounds, hear touch, or taste numbers? Well -- if you happen to have certain forms of synesthesia, you might be able to.

What is synesthesia?
The human brain has astounding capabilities. Synesthesia is a phenomenon that some people have: when one sensory or cognitive pathway is stimulated, they experience involuntary stimulation in another sensory or cognitive pathway.

For example, the most common form of synesthesia -- "grapheme-colour synesthesia" -- happens when individual letters or numbers (the 'graphemes') appear to have colours in the mind's eye of the person who has synesthesia.

Types of synesthesia
There are no fewer than nine types of synesthesia, and some sources report up to 73 forms. Here are some examples:
  • Mirror-touch synesthesia: People with this form of synesthesia experience the same sensation in the same (or mirrored) part of the body that another person feels. For instance, if they saw their friend's shoulder being touched, they would feel a sense of touch on their own shoulder.
  • Sequence-personality synesthesia: People with this form of synesthesia associate personalities with each member of an ordered sequence. For example, they might see each day of the week or each letter of the alphabet as having a different personality.
  • Music-colour synesthesia: People with this form of synesthesia experience colours when they hear music. Naturally, some of them turn to music and art. For instance, Melissa McCracken paints songs into colours. Famous creatives such as Vincent van Gogh, Lady Gaga and Pharrell Williams also reportedly have synesthesia.
Boon or bane?
While synesthesia may sound intriguing to people who do not have synesthesia, what do the latter group think of their ability to perceive multiple senses at one instant?

It turns out that most of them see synesthesia enjoy how their ability enhances their lives.

In the words of singer Pharrell Williams (who sang the popular pop tune Happy): "The ability to see and feel (this way) was a gift given to me that I did not have to have. And if it was taken from me suddenly I'm not sure that I could make music."

Something to Consider…
Can you think of any downsides to synesthesia? Would you want to experience it? Why or why not?

Potential downsides: 
  • may cause ridicule especially when young; may be ostracised;
  • may be overwhelming or distracting;
  • may be painful in some instances (e.g. mirror-touch synesthesia)
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
To safeguard our students and manage the number of daily visitors in the new normal, we no longer entertain walk-in enquiries. However, we remain fully committed in assisting you via our mainline, email and/or WhatsApp messaging services.

Mainline: 6455 3063
WhatsApp (messaging services only): 8850 2499
Email: chalk@creativecampus.com.sg
Address: 545 Orchard Road, #14-07/08 Far East Shopping Centre Singapore 238882

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* Mondays to Fridays: 10am to 5.30pm
* Saturdays: 9am to 4.30pm
* Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays


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