adhunika blog

We all know (more or less) how to write in English as we learned English language as a mandatory subject (second language) in the primary, secondary and higher secondary education levels in Bangladesh.  I remember learning how to write formal and personal letters in English grammar classes.  After I came to US and completed my Bachelor’s degree, I had to take English writing class and a Speech Communication class.  Regardless of what I had learned in my major/minor/elective courses, I am applying the knowledge and practice I gained from these two classes directly in my everyday life.  When preparing business letters, I am still applying my knowledge from secondary school.  There are many books and training classes offered on business English writing.  There are seminars and workshops available on speech communications, business presentation as they are important parts of business world.  However, no one ever taught me how to write an effective email.  Email has taken a major place in personal and business communications in today’s life but no institutional training classes are required on effective email writing.  Most of us just picked it up along the way.
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[Selina Huq is a guest blogger, who has been an Advising and Registration counselor for the past seven years in US. - Admin. ]

 As an Academic Advisor I am very familiar with curriculum requirements for student pursuing various majors. I assist new and continuing students with college policy, registration procedures, course selection and four year planning.

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This post is dedicated to Ms. Syeda Z. Noor - a daughter, a sister, a wife, a loving mother of three, a grandmother, and a role model for many in her community. She was the Principal of a Girl’s College in Dhaka, who retired in 2000, diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2003, and passed away in December 2005. For last couple years the Pink Ribbon has taken a shape of her whom I wish I met. ~  Shahnaz

During the month of October in US, it is hard not to notice the ‘Pink Ribbon’ which symbolizes Breast Cancer every where we look. The campaign against breast cancer doesn’t stop only in advertising, the information about the disease and prevention is easily accessible at the hospitals, clinics and of course on the internet.

According to the American Cancer Society, over 215,000 women in USA are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. A person over the age of 50 accounts for 75% of breast cancer cases, the cancer is treatable and there is over a 96% five-year survival rate when breast cancer is caught before it spreads to other parts of the body.

 

 

 

 

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Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh and the Grameen Bank have been jointly awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. 

Mr Yunus, an economist, founded the bank, which is one of the pioneers of micro-credit lending schemes for the poor, especially women, in Bangladesh.

BBC News

 

With a heavy heart I am writing today about Madhabi. She is a little 6/7 year old girl used to work as a domestic worker for a well off and so called educated family in Dhaka. She has been brutally tortured by her employer and now she is fighting for her life in a hospital bed. The story has been published in Star Weeknd Magazene.

While many of the families treat their domestic workers very well, many others are no better than Madhabi’s employer. This is an extreme case, but who knows how many are there we don’t hear about.

There might be many psychological reasons why people are cruel to other people; but it is true that the lack of proper legal action is one of the biggest reasons that are encouraging many to continue the act of cruelty towards their household workers. It is not only the physical abuse, think of this: your employer is constantly yelling at you, very seldom you get a break from your work, how would you feel?

I would encourage our readers to give it a though and come up with suggestions on how to improve this.

Consider these scenarios:

• You are talking to your boss about a promotion you deserve but she thinks you are not ready yet.
• You notice that your husband is not throwing the trash as he is supposed to, you bring that up (in a not-so-pleasant way) and before you know you two end up in a heated debate on how less each of you care for the other.
• Your neighbor is building a fence, you think that is within your boundary, you tell him about this and the next thing you remember is he threatens you to see in the courtroom.

All these above conversations have the characteristics of a crucial conversation. What makes them crucial and not just unpleasant - is that the results could have a huge impact on the quality of your life.

By definition, a crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where
1. Stakes are high
2. Opinion vary
3. Emotions run strong. (more…)