Dear friends, How are you all? You all must be preparing for the exams. Don’t take exams on your nerves. Just relax and read our advice page to get to know overcoming stress. Also, SMS and internet chatting has introduced us to a new language- slang language. Don’t forget to read back to back to back two pieces on it. Take care, edi
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Coverstory
Storytime
Coverstory
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Advice
Hey kids, kindly send us letters, stories, poems and events detail on the following address: youngnation@nation.com.pk Or Editor Young Nation 4- Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore.
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Thanks
once
article, story and poem.
again and will
May your magazine prosper
send you more
by leaps and bounds!
articles Inshallah.
Your biggest fan,
At the end I would
Hassan Arif
like to share this:
Dear edi,
“Life is not about
Hi edi,
to remain error
How are you? Your magazine
free. Life is about correct-
is very informative and best
ing mistakes.”
of all magazines. I simply
Regards,
love reading it. I am sending
Hafsa Jawaid
you some drawings. Please publish them. I want to be a
Thank you so much for making my article a part of your magazine. Mother’s Day issue was overall great. Keep up the same hard work to rejoice us.
Dear edi,
cartoonist so it will be great
Hope you are doing fine.
and encouraging if you pub-
This is my first letter to any
lish them.
magazine. I will be happy if
Thanks,
you publish it along with my
Kamran Anwer
Mr. Logophile word: Rendezvous (n) Meaning: 1- A popular gathering place The café is a favorite rendezvous for youngsters. 2- A meeting at a prearranged time and place. He was late for their rendezvous.
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
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Quaid’s Pakistan By Ali Kamran We forgot Iqbal The vision is lost The west remembered him The constitution is just a book frost It made us confused The policies are before us We search them Within the western thoughts The nation’s vision is impaired consequently We observe and analyze with that eye Which has been replaced? So our vision is unintelligible to us now We are the lost ones Our mission is failed Our hands are tightened with western ropes We are confused That why the destination is invisible to us On the Day of Judgment Before both honest Lawyers We will be held account for their Pakistan They will put us a question “Where is Iqbal’s Pakistan?”
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
Life on the wheelchair!! By Mahnoor Naseer Having a life on two sets of wheels Waiting for the day when you shall heel Having people drive you around Not knowing how to, Set your feet on the ground Seeking every day for someone to help Looking at everyone like you are an elph Always waiting for someone to push you all day Not being able to run and play What kind of life is this? I don’t know what a normal life is My spirit breaks down When I see my little brother Running on the ground When I look at others Looking straight me With Eyes fill with sympathy What kind of a future is for me? Life maybe not fair Sitting all day on a wheelchair But I won’t give up I will one day stand up Life maybe rough But I got to tough I’ll fight for my own survival
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Almost everyone in this world is my rival So what I can’t walk I still can hear and talk I still can smell and see I still have many possibilities I still am a human being With Just one missing quality But who cares, in my hand is my future So what, I have to demand on others Every thing happens for a good reason Being on a wheelchair is not treason I maybe not normal But I’m sure, I’m special. Cricket team By Hassan Arif Here some the winners There go the losers Afridi takes a catch Simon Katch gets out Akmal always looks for a shot And parks his car in the parking lot Younas is ready to take off his pants Umer goes to pick his brother from Cantt Pakistan will always win Leaving the losers’ heads in the bin
We all are familiar with the term “Short Massaging Service� abbreviated as SMS. Technology plays a vital role in the field of communication and cell phone is one of the most usable communication instruments at global level which has an attractive and cheaper communication facility i.e. SMS. In today’s fast paced world almost everything is getting short. Time is short, messages are short but the worst thing is that even in the short messages our language has become too short that many of us can not understand it. Text messages
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
Cover Story By Sahar Saqlain
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have changed the way of expressing among young generation. The modern SMS language is consisted of shortened phrases, acronyms and abbreviations. This language is may be useful in messaging as it saves time and expenses. Notwithstanding the myriad benefits provided by the SMS in enhancing communication and improving global business generally, the SMS has been found to be of detrimental effect on the language proficiency of learners. Many experts agree that le text te messaging has served more bad b than good, especially to the youngsters. Children learning yo English language now think that E this is an official and standard language. Teachers usually complain that students are using informal SMS abbreviations in their daily writings. They are blurring the lines between formal English and informal SMS language that consequently leads them to commit a number of errors, ranging from incorrect spellings to ungrammatical sentence construction
in their assignments and tests, which make teachers confuse because they are not familiar with the language. This is also increasing the generation gap as older generations who do not frequently use text messaging may not understand the message that contain such a slang language. For instance many of you normally use ‘SHUD’ instead of ‘SHOULD’. The pronunciation of these two words is the same, and it is advantageous to use the first spelling from an SMS message, because it saves space and time. It is even simpler to write because it is spelled like it is spoken. This simplified spelling would also affect words like ‘WOULD and COULD’. Nevertheless, the simplified spelling is not acceptable according to the English grammar rules. Ultimately you become a victim of the SMS language and punished by teachers. SMS language has brought many changes to common words writing as be became b, see or sea became c, okay became k, are became r, you became u, why became y,
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
we became v, the became d, at becomes @, ate became 8, for becomes 4, too became 2, won became 1, great became gr8, late became l8, tomorrow became 2mro or “2moro”, today became 2day, Your and You’re became ur”, wonderful became 1drfl, someone became sum1, no one became no, any one became ne1 see you became c u, for you became, 4u easy became ez, enjoy became njoy and many more. SMS are used as a way of communication and an effective communication always have impact on the reader but critics say that this type of communication destroys the way kids read, think and write. The two biggest problems a child has to face due to this short handwriting includes: First children are unaware of the correct use of punctuation that actually beautify the sentence, since it does not observe grammatical and syntactic rules of a standard English language. The second concern is the use of lowercase letters. Students aren’t using capital letters where they should. This over texting habit has brought the care free attitude of kids to the classrooms. Assignments containing slung language also show unprofessional attitude of yours. Mostly, the SMS language affects two aspects of language proficiency stated above, namely, skills to express oneself eloquently through writing and skills and ability to use words appropriately in context. Students who are in the process of learning English are now unable to differentiate the context and situation appropriate for the use of the SMS language. Due to this rapid use of short abbreviation in SMS many words have
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been added to ‘Oxford Dictionary’ by this year. Such as “OMG (Oh My God)”, “LOL (Laughing Out Loud)”, the symbol for “heart (<3)” and “FYI (For Your Information)” This will made most of you happier because from you can officially use these words, no matters that these word cannot beautify your sentence. But kids if you use these inappropriate word in daily write it can create a negative image in the minds teachers and may be your teacher start disliking you for whole life. So the conclusion is that the SMS language does not conform to grammatical or syntactic rules of the English language, nor does it conform to spelling rules. It has been indicated that the English language proficiency of the learners is negatively affected by learners’ exposure to the SMS language.
Is text ruining the English language? While all the rest of the class complained about the lack of time to solve such a
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
lengthy paper I was the one beaming with joy to write all the essays in time and could not comprehend the fact why others thought it lengthy. The mystery was reveled when the papers were handed back and mine had innumerable red blotches on it. Confused, on scrutinizing what I had done wrong, I realized that my teacher had marked vari-
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Cover Story By Rabia Siddiqi
ous question marks and exclamation marks with comments on the answers written in text message short hand. Then it dawned upon me that maybe since my Ma’am belonged to a different ‘age’ she did not know the new-age linguistics and I rose up to enlighten her up with this new development. The argument which took place is as follows:
with hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate. Me: Ma’am, this is called text message short hand I can translate these for you, this word ‘n’ mean ‘and’ and this ‘b4’ mean before. This is very rampant now-a-days, the youth of today use it while texting through cell, internet chatting and more over it is widely used in contemporary advertising, have not you heard “I’m Lovin it?” Me: Excuse me Ma’am, why have you marked my paper with red marks….. (I was really lost for words here; I did not know how to break the ice without offending her and what would be the best word to use- wrong, this way, bloodied red…?) But thankfully she replied before I could finish. Ma’am: You! What is this gibberish? I have to admit her icy voice did send chills down my spine, zipped the lips of the rest of the class and with their eyes turning towards me brought me in the limelight. Oh well, so I was now the center of attraction. She was really :@ (angry). Me: essays? (I gulped) Ma’am: Your paper is riddled Young Nation-May 21, 2011
I sin-
cerely
adapt and mould language to suit different contexts. Ma’am: This just portrays the laziness of today’s youth. This is not Standard English, some of your symbols make no sense to me it may me quick for you but I had to drain dozens of tea-cups in myself to make sense out of your nonsense. You need to realize that everything has its place, and in formal essay writing, spelling and grammar apply. Do I make myself abundantly clear? Me: ok, but these words here, these are now added in Oxford English dictionary…this LOL, it means laughing out loud and this…. I peeked up at her face and no
tried my best to explain her.
wonder my Ma’am eyes were
Ma’am: I am aware of the fact
twitched and she was glaring
that texting has seamlessly en-
at me icily through her thick
tered the contemporary youth
spectacles, which had slided to
lifestyle and is clearly the pre-
the tip oh her nose. There are
ferred mode of communication
deep frowns on her forehead
with friends and even family.
for a split second she reminded
Screw these technological inno-
me of the movie “How to tame
vations that are playing havoc
your dragon”
with the vocabulary and gram-
Me: are you all right? (There
mar.
was something menacing about
Me: Ma’am, but there are many
that look and I felt that my
advantages of short hand, you
voice seemed to come form a
see they take less space, are
deep pit)
less time consuming…..
I still can’t fathom what was so
Ma’am: and infecting the lan-
offensive in this that made her
guage. (I was cut short with this
to snatch my paper, unmark it
retort)
and asked me to rewrite the es-
Me: No Ma’am, even Shake-
says 50 times in Standard Eng-
speare introduced few new
lish to ensure my attendance
words in the language… and I
in the next classes. Oh, I mean
think text messaging is a per-
rolling on floor laughing. End
fect example of how people
of my sad story.
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Young Nation-April 30, 2011
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Young Nation-April 30, 2011
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Over
confidence is
always bad
Naima was a bright student! She had always been securing the first position in the class. It was always beyond any doubts that the highest marks amongst all the sections of the ninth class of the Seedlings Higher Secondary School would be obtained by Naima! Every teacher seemed to be proud of Naima, who had won various laurels for the school. She had also taken part in some international mathematics competitions and had made the school proud. Her parents were also very fond of her and used to boost of her achievements a lot! At times her sibling felt very bad as their parents kept on talking about Naima only to
their friends and neighbours. “It seems that our parents also discriminate!” Sara often thought. She was two years younger than Naima but unlike her elder sister was just an average student, studying in the same school where everyone loved to talk about Naima and only Naima! Naima and her class mates were to appear in the country’s Board Examination. The school offered extra classes to prepare their weak students as well. It was optional for every student to avail the opportunity or not. The teachers were eager to help every student out! When Naima read the circular related to the extra classes, she said,
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
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Story Time
By Saira Sai aira ra Owais Owa wais is s Adil Ad A dil di “I don don’t need them.. I don’t think I need to know any thing in the whole book of Mathematic, I know all! Its better that the school concentrates on the weak students!” At the same time Iman was also standing there, she was going through the circular again and again as if was trying to be certain that the offer was not a joke and the school authorities would really be doing something for the weak students! It was a blessing for her as she had been flunking in the Mathematics for quite some time. Naima knew she had a definite edge on that particular subject therefore smiled at Iman’s interest in the circular and waved at her proudly.
The extra classes went on. The teachers were working hard. The students were also striving as it was their last chance to make their concepts clearer. They knew they had to concentrate, ask and practice the various problems in order to gain marks! Naima on the other hand started her preparation separately. She marked the areas that required her attention more. She was confident about the Mathematics and Physics and hence paid more attention to literature and other subjects. The school announced the time table for the prelims. Everyone was worried as on the basis of the prelims they were supposed to
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
get their admit cards for the final Board Examination….. Some one was shocked! Tears were falling on the red rosy cheeks. Everyone was surprised and was watching the girl who was holding her prelims result in her hands and standing outside the headmistress office for quite a long time. It was Naima! She had been called by the School’s Headmistress along with all other students who could not perform well in the preliminary examination, though conducted by the school but based strictly on the pattern of the Board Examination. The school was shocked, there were whispers heard in the air about an unusual! “How could Naima not perform well?” Even the teachers were stunned. “Naima I didn’t expect this from you! You have scored only 60% in the Mathematics examination. The physics practical had also gone so bad. We gave extra time and tuitions to our students then why didn’t you avail the opportunity?” Asked Mrs. Ahmad angrily. “Speak up! I am waiting for your reply”, she thundered at last. “We have expected so much from you and thought that you would fetch position in The Board for the school but your performance has disappointed me a lot. Either we were fools or you have decided to make fool of yourself!” Mrs. Ahmad lost her temper completely. “I thought I knew everything”, Naima could only say these words and at the same time fell on the ground. She was taken to the hospital where she was admitted for the next few days. She could not bear the disgrace, the shame and the attitude of her headmistress who had always pampered Naima a lot. There were only twelve days left for the Final Examination. Naima could not waste a single second. It was Sara who sat by her side and helped her in her studies. She motivated Naima to recollect herself and put in her best. Naima needed
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confidence and Sara was the first person who showed her trust in to Naima’s capabilities. Day and night Naima studied, practiced the Mathematics problems now on paper (not orally as before), did the other subjects without a glitch that time and was set to appear in the Examination she had always dreamt of. She talked less to her friends at the Examination centre (before and after the paper) and concentrated on her studies only. Instead of wasting her time on watching and probing on other’s preparation; she only wanted to keep a check on herself! After her bad performance in the prelims, no one bothered for answers during the Board papers. She was also an ‘average’ student then! She thought she had lost her identity but Sara encouraged her to fight back for it. The result was out! Naima had grabbed the third position in the whole province. Her teachers, headmistress, parents and everyone hugged her, congratulated her and showered her with gifts and praises. She could be very flattered as in the past years, but she reacted a bit differently that time… she thanked everyone very decently and stepped down from the stage of the Seedling’s huge auditorium and walked straight to her sister, who was standing among all the other school mates. She hugged her younger sibling and thanked her in front of the whole school. “I may have obtained no huge score if my sister, my well wisher and a true friend had not supported me a lot especially when I had lost confidence in myself! She trusted me when no body was ready to count on me any more”, Naima was crying… it was the first time that Sara was credited for any thing in her life! An average student for the first time in the Seedlings history had contributed to the fate of ‘excellence’ ….. Sara’s eyes were sparkling and this spark would take her miles ahead!
ADVISE
By Komal Ata
HOW TO OVER COME
EXAM STRESS
Almost everyone feels nervous before efore an exam. Butterflies in n the stomach and worrying thoughts houghts - ‘Will I be able to answer the questions?’ ‘Have I done enough revision?’ - are indications of exam nerves that are probably familiar to all stu-
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
dents. Too much anxiety can block thoughts, create a negative frame of mind, and lead to panic and potentially poor exam performance. Here are a number of things you can do to help manage exam anxiety and turn uncom-
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fortable, panicky thoughts into more creative tension. Revision tips You should develop a timetable to monitor your progress. Make sure you allocate adequate time for fun and relaxation as well. While revising a
subject, practise writing. This would be an actual simulation of the examination itself. Plan your revision and complete it in time. This will give you a sense of achievement and build your confidence. Spend as much time on recall as on reading. Practise by writing answers as you would do in the exam. This will help you remember the important points when you answer each paper. Practise writing answers under exam conditions. Take three hour tests, without a break in between, preferably at the same time as that of the exam. This will help your body clock adjust to the examination time and conditions.
Time out
As soon as you notice your mind is losing concentration take a short break to overcome mental fatigue. Stick to activities that do not break your continuation of study during these breaks. Avoid television and loud music. Your mind and body perform at their best only if you get adequate rest.
will help your brain stay sharp and help in reducing the stress. Avoid food with high fat content. Stressful foods can include processed foods, artificial sweeteners, carbonated soft drinks, chocolate, eggs, fried foods, junk foods, red meat, sugar, white flour products, chips and similar snack foods, foods containing preservatives or heavy spices. Take things light – Be Brave You should avoid any sort of negative thoughts of not performing well in the examination since this may affect your preparation as well as your performance in the examination. If thought of failure is disturbing too much, don’t lose temper and think “No one is going to shoot me if I fail in exam”. You should think that many other students are also appearing in the exam, if the paper will be difficult, it will be equally difficult for all, not only for me. Take things light during exam and start your study rather paying attention to things which increase your stress.
Maintain a regular sleep pattern
A regular seven hours of sleep is essential for the body to function well. Also, sleep at a regular time; don’t alter your sleeping cycle. Try and stop working an hour before bedtime. You will find it helpful to do some muscular relaxation, which is particularly effective in relievparticu ing stress. str Have strong faith in God! Don’t get disappointed have faith in God. You and ha should pray before you start studying. Prayer help you in increaswill he ing your yo confidence and rreducing your stress as well.
What to eat
Food rich in vitamins i and proteins, such as green leafy vegetables and fresh fruits, are a must. These nutrients
Young Nation-May 21, 2011
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Don’t cheat! By Shahida Naz There is nothing impossible, if we do hard work we can achieve what we want. We must trust in our confidence and inborn abilities. We can get marks by cheating but our conscious will always disturb us. So we should work hard on our studies. We are Muslims, our religion does not allow us to steal and cheating which is not less than a robbery and theft. We should be honest as students. Efforts and hard work develop these talents and laziness destroys them, if a student will not think of cheating he can achieve his goals. After doing hard work what we achieve make us relieved and happy. So always achieve degree by hard work that is your achievement What if you fail at your first attempt, try and again try and you will pass next time but always work hard. It is always said that hard work is key to success~
Young Nation-May 21,2011
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Young Nation-May 21,2011
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Manahil Liaquat
Hamna Shoaib
Artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Corner
Rabia Farooq
Kamran Anwer
Nmara Shahid
Young Nation-May 21,2011
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