Urdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is the national language and one of the two official languages (the other being English) of Pakistan. Being spoken in five Indian states, it is also one of the official languages of India. Its vocabulary developed under Persian, Arabic, Turkic and Sanskrit. In modern times Urdu vocabulary has been significantly influenced by Punjabi and even English. Urdu was mainly developed in western Uttar Pradesh, India, but began taking shape during the Delhi Sultanate as well as Mughal Empire (1526–1858) in the Indian Subcontinent.
Language scholars independently categorize Urdu as a standardised register of Hindustani termed the standard dialect Khariboli. The grammatical description in this article concerns this standard Urdu. In general, the term "Urdu" can encompass dialects of Hindustani other than the standardised versions. The original language of the Mughals had been Turkic, but after their arrival in South Asia, they came to adopt Persian and later Urdu.
The word Urdu is believed to be derived from the Turkic or Mongolian word 'Ordu', which means army encampment. It was initially called Zabān-e-Ordu-e-Mu'alla "language of the Exalted Camp" (in Persian) and later just Urdu. It obtained its name from Urdu Bazar, i.e. encampment (Urdu in Turkic) market, the market near the Red Fort in the walled city of Delhi.
Standard Urdu has approximately the twentieth largest population of native speakers, among all languages.
Urdu is often contrasted with Hindi, another standardised form of Hindustani. The main differences between the two are that Standard Urdu is conventionally written in Nastaliq calligraphy style of the Perso-Arabic script and draws vocabulary more heavily from Persian and Arabic, while Standard Hindi is conventionally written in Devanāgarī and draws vocabulary from Sanskrit comparatively more heavily.Most linguists nonetheless consider Urdu and Hindi to be two standardized forms of the same language; however, others classify them separately due to sociolinguistic differences.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Computer speech synthesis software for education
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal language text into speech.
Most of the text-to-speech software can read text-based files with natural voices using various voice engines. The text-to-speech voice engine on Vista is Microsoft Anna, and Microsoft Sam on the Windows XP. Vista users can hear a very clear voice of Anna, and the voice quality of Microsoft Anna is much better than that of Microsoft Sam.
The speech synthesis Windows program called narrator has been shipped with Windows2000, Windows XP and Vista. It reads text files and converts speech into wave and mp3 files, users can import generated audio files to portable devices, and listen to them while walking, jogging or commuting to work.
Speech synthesis has been a vital assistive technology tool and its application in this area is significant and widespread, now commonly used by people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties as well as by pre-literate youngsters. Meanwhile, speech synthesis applications and gadgets are language learning tools.
Speech synthesis techniques are now also used in entertainment productions such as games, anime and similar, and widely used in telecommunication products too.
Most of the text-to-speech software can read text-based files with natural voices using various voice engines. The text-to-speech voice engine on Vista is Microsoft Anna, and Microsoft Sam on the Windows XP. Vista users can hear a very clear voice of Anna, and the voice quality of Microsoft Anna is much better than that of Microsoft Sam.
The speech synthesis Windows program called narrator has been shipped with Windows2000, Windows XP and Vista. It reads text files and converts speech into wave and mp3 files, users can import generated audio files to portable devices, and listen to them while walking, jogging or commuting to work.
Speech synthesis has been a vital assistive technology tool and its application in this area is significant and widespread, now commonly used by people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties as well as by pre-literate youngsters. Meanwhile, speech synthesis applications and gadgets are language learning tools.
Speech synthesis techniques are now also used in entertainment productions such as games, anime and similar, and widely used in telecommunication products too.
The time bomb that is science in British schools
“Recently my stepdaughter was at the end of an English lesson and the teacher asked what she had next. When mathematics was mentioned, the teacher indicated that maths was a tough subject and not really what a person doing English should be studying.” This anecdote from Professor Peter Main, director of education and science at the Institute of Physics (IOP), points to the existence of a worryingly archaic attitude in British schools.
The perception that ‘boys do maths and science, and girls do humanities and arts’ is one that most people would scoff at today, but research into the options chosen by boys and girls at 13 suggests that gender-stereotyping still exists in schools and is narrowing the career options of thousands of teenagers.
Worryingly, recent tests have shown that that teenage girls in Britain are lagging further behind boys in science than anywhere else in the Western World. A study of 57 nations by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysed the results of tests taken by around 20 million 15-year-olds. It found that boys in Britain were 10 points ahead of girls in science, a bigger margin than most of the participating countries, apart from Indonesia and Chile.
In the UK, girls are ahead of boys in the Double Award for science, but this is due to the popularity of biology and chemistry. It’s physics that appears to be the problem. Since the 1980s, the numbers of pupils choosing to study physics has fallen from 45,000 to 29,000 and girls, in particular, are gravitating towards other subjects.
The long-term effect of this brain-drain could be profound, as Professor Main makes clear when he asks, “Where are the engineers of the future to come from?”
“When you look at the challenges we face, from climate change and energy security to an ageing population… we need more of the next generation of school and university leavers to be scientifically trained,” says Professor Main.
The brain drain conundrum
There are those educationalists who would propound the theory that girls’ and boys’ brains are hardwired differently and hence boys naturally gravitate towards blowing things up or dismantling engines and putting them back together again. If this is so, why are girls lagging behind in science in the UK and the problem is not so acute elsewhere? It’s a conundrum that is baffling scientists, ironically.
There’s a plethora of government-backed schemes to usher girls into science – and many good role models to offer inspiration – but experts like Professor Main believe that the people behind these schemes are missing a trick.
The IOP has collated research into the reasons why girls might feel alienated from the physics lab. According to Professor Main, it’s down to a “complex mix of psychology, sociology and peer group pressure”.
The IOP report Girls in the Physics Classroom (Murphy and Whitelegg, 2006) highlighted the following key findings:
*Girls are more likely than boys to value the social context in which tasks are placed in defining a problem.
*Typical secondary physics tends not to be concerned with the social context at all.
*There’s a generally held belief among teachers and pupils that physics is ‘difficult’ and this is off-putting.
*A lack of success in the subject increases the ‘sense of inadequacy’, something that girls seem feel more than boys.
*Males are more likely than females to rate themselves as successful learners in maths and science.
*There is a lack knowledge of the range of science-related careers.
Teachers make all the difference
Girls respond better when they have a supportive, attentive physics teacher, which comes as no surprise. However, Girls in the Physics Classroom revealed several worrying trends about science teaching and gender.
It appears that teachers expect boys to do better than girls in science and physics, and in science classes, teachers tend to give more attention to boys as a group than girls….
Take a deep breath. Clearly there is much work to do in order to boost girls’ confidence and make physics more engaging and relevant to them. So, how do schools begin to address these issues?
“Within the school, two factors seem to be very important,” says Professor Main. “The first is that teachers are aware that different things are important to girls and boys; for girls, context can be important and they seem to be more sensitive to a poor classroom experience.
“The second factor is the culture of the school. The schools that encourage most girls to study physics post-16 are those that have a positive, ‘can-do’ culture.”
The IOP has prepared a series of recommendations for teachers on how to make physics teaching more engaging for girls, and has CD Roms and videos available via Teachers TV to make physics more attractive to girls (for more details, see panel below).
“Take risks in the classroom”
Many science teachers are already trying to introduce change. William Austen, a science teacher at Summer Fields, a prep school in Oxfordshire, says, “Science is about blowing things up and cutting things up and boys have always just seemed to take to it more naturally than girls. I don’t think that it is a gender specific subject anymore, though.
“In the past, the subject has been taught very poorly, but it should be the easiest subject to teach. The key is practical work, rather than textbooks. Give demonstrations with bangs and smells. There are endless possibilities and you have to take risks.”
Excursions and creative approaches have helped to ‘modernise’ science teaching at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire. “Science is a very high profile subject at the school,” says head of physics Lorraine Paine.
“We have made it more exciting by organising trips to the large Hadron collider at Geneva. We went before the machine was fired up and were able to stand in the tunnel miles under the earth, which you can’t do now. I still refer to it when teaching and the students were so fired up on their return that it is very much in conversation. We are taking the students to Houston next year, prior to the remaining space shuttle missions.” Wycliffe also organises ‘mock murders’ where students have to carry out DNA tests to find the murderer.
It sounds fascinating but will other schools be able to match this level of inspiration in physics with threats of budget-squeezing in the state sector and pressure on independent schools to watch their housekeeping? Perhaps the question is: can we afford not to?
The perception that ‘boys do maths and science, and girls do humanities and arts’ is one that most people would scoff at today, but research into the options chosen by boys and girls at 13 suggests that gender-stereotyping still exists in schools and is narrowing the career options of thousands of teenagers.
Worryingly, recent tests have shown that that teenage girls in Britain are lagging further behind boys in science than anywhere else in the Western World. A study of 57 nations by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysed the results of tests taken by around 20 million 15-year-olds. It found that boys in Britain were 10 points ahead of girls in science, a bigger margin than most of the participating countries, apart from Indonesia and Chile.
In the UK, girls are ahead of boys in the Double Award for science, but this is due to the popularity of biology and chemistry. It’s physics that appears to be the problem. Since the 1980s, the numbers of pupils choosing to study physics has fallen from 45,000 to 29,000 and girls, in particular, are gravitating towards other subjects.
The long-term effect of this brain-drain could be profound, as Professor Main makes clear when he asks, “Where are the engineers of the future to come from?”
“When you look at the challenges we face, from climate change and energy security to an ageing population… we need more of the next generation of school and university leavers to be scientifically trained,” says Professor Main.
The brain drain conundrum
There are those educationalists who would propound the theory that girls’ and boys’ brains are hardwired differently and hence boys naturally gravitate towards blowing things up or dismantling engines and putting them back together again. If this is so, why are girls lagging behind in science in the UK and the problem is not so acute elsewhere? It’s a conundrum that is baffling scientists, ironically.
There’s a plethora of government-backed schemes to usher girls into science – and many good role models to offer inspiration – but experts like Professor Main believe that the people behind these schemes are missing a trick.
The IOP has collated research into the reasons why girls might feel alienated from the physics lab. According to Professor Main, it’s down to a “complex mix of psychology, sociology and peer group pressure”.
The IOP report Girls in the Physics Classroom (Murphy and Whitelegg, 2006) highlighted the following key findings:
*Girls are more likely than boys to value the social context in which tasks are placed in defining a problem.
*Typical secondary physics tends not to be concerned with the social context at all.
*There’s a generally held belief among teachers and pupils that physics is ‘difficult’ and this is off-putting.
*A lack of success in the subject increases the ‘sense of inadequacy’, something that girls seem feel more than boys.
*Males are more likely than females to rate themselves as successful learners in maths and science.
*There is a lack knowledge of the range of science-related careers.
Teachers make all the difference
Girls respond better when they have a supportive, attentive physics teacher, which comes as no surprise. However, Girls in the Physics Classroom revealed several worrying trends about science teaching and gender.
It appears that teachers expect boys to do better than girls in science and physics, and in science classes, teachers tend to give more attention to boys as a group than girls….
Take a deep breath. Clearly there is much work to do in order to boost girls’ confidence and make physics more engaging and relevant to them. So, how do schools begin to address these issues?
“Within the school, two factors seem to be very important,” says Professor Main. “The first is that teachers are aware that different things are important to girls and boys; for girls, context can be important and they seem to be more sensitive to a poor classroom experience.
“The second factor is the culture of the school. The schools that encourage most girls to study physics post-16 are those that have a positive, ‘can-do’ culture.”
The IOP has prepared a series of recommendations for teachers on how to make physics teaching more engaging for girls, and has CD Roms and videos available via Teachers TV to make physics more attractive to girls (for more details, see panel below).
“Take risks in the classroom”
Many science teachers are already trying to introduce change. William Austen, a science teacher at Summer Fields, a prep school in Oxfordshire, says, “Science is about blowing things up and cutting things up and boys have always just seemed to take to it more naturally than girls. I don’t think that it is a gender specific subject anymore, though.
“In the past, the subject has been taught very poorly, but it should be the easiest subject to teach. The key is practical work, rather than textbooks. Give demonstrations with bangs and smells. There are endless possibilities and you have to take risks.”
Excursions and creative approaches have helped to ‘modernise’ science teaching at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire. “Science is a very high profile subject at the school,” says head of physics Lorraine Paine.
“We have made it more exciting by organising trips to the large Hadron collider at Geneva. We went before the machine was fired up and were able to stand in the tunnel miles under the earth, which you can’t do now. I still refer to it when teaching and the students were so fired up on their return that it is very much in conversation. We are taking the students to Houston next year, prior to the remaining space shuttle missions.” Wycliffe also organises ‘mock murders’ where students have to carry out DNA tests to find the murderer.
It sounds fascinating but will other schools be able to match this level of inspiration in physics with threats of budget-squeezing in the state sector and pressure on independent schools to watch their housekeeping? Perhaps the question is: can we afford not to?
Attending a Tempe Arizona HVAC School Has Many Benefits
Attending a Tempe Arizona H VAC School Has Many Benefits
This popularity is one of the benefits of attending a Tempe Air Conditioning College. The state is known for its HVAC schools and Tempe has some of the best.
Tempe, Arizona, Has Great Options When It Comes to H VAC Schools
The schools in Arizona are known to be on the very cutting edge of technology. The more knowledge you have in the field, the more services you can offer to clients once you complete your training. This state of the art technology training is a huge plus and another reason to think about attending Tempe, Arizona H VAC schools.
In addition, one of the primary reasons students decide to go to H VAC school is the ease is getting a job after they complete their training. In many cases, the better schools, of which the HVAC schools in Tempe are included, help you find your first job. These jobs often have great pay scales and start the student off right in their new career.
Of course, once you have gone through a H VAC training program you don't necessarily have to go work for someone else. You have the ability to start your own H VAC company and work for yourself which is very appealing for many people. You will be trained well enough to stand on your own feet and run your own business, if that is your choice.
Another benefit of attending a Tempe Electrical College is the possibility of getting financing through the schools themselves for your schooling. Many times they will finance your education and only request repayment after you have been out of school for a certain amount of months.
Contact a few Tempe, Arizona, H VAC Schools for More Program Information
All in all, there is no downside to attending a Tempe, Arizona H VAC school. You will learn a trade, get placed in a job and have a career. It's worth looking into if you are interested in this type of field.
This popularity is one of the benefits of attending a Tempe Air Conditioning College. The state is known for its HVAC schools and Tempe has some of the best.
Tempe, Arizona, Has Great Options When It Comes to H VAC Schools
The schools in Arizona are known to be on the very cutting edge of technology. The more knowledge you have in the field, the more services you can offer to clients once you complete your training. This state of the art technology training is a huge plus and another reason to think about attending Tempe, Arizona H VAC schools.
In addition, one of the primary reasons students decide to go to H VAC school is the ease is getting a job after they complete their training. In many cases, the better schools, of which the HVAC schools in Tempe are included, help you find your first job. These jobs often have great pay scales and start the student off right in their new career.
Of course, once you have gone through a H VAC training program you don't necessarily have to go work for someone else. You have the ability to start your own H VAC company and work for yourself which is very appealing for many people. You will be trained well enough to stand on your own feet and run your own business, if that is your choice.
Another benefit of attending a Tempe Electrical College is the possibility of getting financing through the schools themselves for your schooling. Many times they will finance your education and only request repayment after you have been out of school for a certain amount of months.
Contact a few Tempe, Arizona, H VAC Schools for More Program Information
All in all, there is no downside to attending a Tempe, Arizona H VAC school. You will learn a trade, get placed in a job and have a career. It's worth looking into if you are interested in this type of field.
Benefits of Attending a California Air Conditioning School
California air conditioning schools give them both the theoretical information and the hands-on experience that they will need to make sure they are properly trained for their future in the HVAC industry.
Orange County Air Conditioning Schools
An Orange County Air Conditioning School provides people the education using the latest in technologies that many HVAC companies are looking for. As the field grows there will be more opportunities for someone trained in programs that improve their skills by giving them in-depth hands on experience and the tools they need to grow in the industry. These air conditioning schools offer programs that meet or exceed all the requirements needed for success in the HVAC industry. Students who have this kind of training get the job done, they are confident and have the skill needed to successfully complete any job that comes their way.
San Diego Air Condition Programs
There are many important benefits to a San Diego Air Conditioning Program that help the student to succeed in their chosen field. Many schools that are available will help the student by offering them financial aid services, so that they are able to attend school without the added stress of where the money will come from. They get professionals in the field of air conditioning to teach them about the ins and outs of HVAC, who have had experience as a specialist in their fields. These air conditioning schools offer their classes in fully equipped facilities and laboratories that ensure that their hands on experience are realistic. Additionally, once the student has completed their training they will find that their schools will assist them in finding the right company to work for. Training in California air conditioning schools will allow you to succeed in the world of HVAC and give you the experience to stay ahead of the competition.
Orange County Air Conditioning Schools
An Orange County Air Conditioning School provides people the education using the latest in technologies that many HVAC companies are looking for. As the field grows there will be more opportunities for someone trained in programs that improve their skills by giving them in-depth hands on experience and the tools they need to grow in the industry. These air conditioning schools offer programs that meet or exceed all the requirements needed for success in the HVAC industry. Students who have this kind of training get the job done, they are confident and have the skill needed to successfully complete any job that comes their way.
San Diego Air Condition Programs
There are many important benefits to a San Diego Air Conditioning Program that help the student to succeed in their chosen field. Many schools that are available will help the student by offering them financial aid services, so that they are able to attend school without the added stress of where the money will come from. They get professionals in the field of air conditioning to teach them about the ins and outs of HVAC, who have had experience as a specialist in their fields. These air conditioning schools offer their classes in fully equipped facilities and laboratories that ensure that their hands on experience are realistic. Additionally, once the student has completed their training they will find that their schools will assist them in finding the right company to work for. Training in California air conditioning schools will allow you to succeed in the world of HVAC and give you the experience to stay ahead of the competition.
Management and Media Science Education in India–Boom Time for Students
Wise men are intrigued by the way the education system in India has been transforming itself through the ages —from the days of yore, when knowledge rested only with the sages and was handed down to a select few by word-of-mouth to the present times when a spurt in the number of educational institutions, both government-funded and private, has spread knowledge to all nooks and crannies of this vast country. This revolutionary change has come about exclusively to cater to the changing needs of the society, the job market, and the demands of the students to stay afloat in these competitive times.
Apart from extending the reach of education, the educational institutions have also introduced new curricula to help students know, understand, and thus function effectively in the varied emerging and flourishing professions. Business Management and Administration and the Media Sciences are two such emerging fields. The top-notch educational institutions in India offering programs in these fields know the specific requirements of these two industries from their workforce.
The Business Administration and Management courses being offered imbibe the business learning that has evolved through the years and this includes foreseeing and forecasting business trends, identifying viable business solutions, being able to feel the pulse and respond to the demands of clients, and the best practices of running an organization. Aside of the technical skills required to start or manage a business, the goal of these management education programs is also to inculcate in the students an urge to “make things happen,” the ability to integrate and apply knowledge garnered from different fields, and cultivate an open mind that is receptive to new influences and ideas.
Mass media in the present times change form almost continuously and visionaries are never too late to tap into their hidden potential. Mass media thus functions as a means of communication and keeping in touch, a vehicle of marketing, a platform to raise issues and concerns that affect global communities, and an educational resource. To reap the benefits offered by the mass media, you need to be well conversant in the language that it speaks. Mass Communication courses and Media Science programs strive to impart this knowledge to the students. Students are taught to speak the language, understand the science and the technical know-how that drives these media, and how best to use the many forms to one’s benefit.
Apart from extending the reach of education, the educational institutions have also introduced new curricula to help students know, understand, and thus function effectively in the varied emerging and flourishing professions. Business Management and Administration and the Media Sciences are two such emerging fields. The top-notch educational institutions in India offering programs in these fields know the specific requirements of these two industries from their workforce.
The Business Administration and Management courses being offered imbibe the business learning that has evolved through the years and this includes foreseeing and forecasting business trends, identifying viable business solutions, being able to feel the pulse and respond to the demands of clients, and the best practices of running an organization. Aside of the technical skills required to start or manage a business, the goal of these management education programs is also to inculcate in the students an urge to “make things happen,” the ability to integrate and apply knowledge garnered from different fields, and cultivate an open mind that is receptive to new influences and ideas.
Mass media in the present times change form almost continuously and visionaries are never too late to tap into their hidden potential. Mass media thus functions as a means of communication and keeping in touch, a vehicle of marketing, a platform to raise issues and concerns that affect global communities, and an educational resource. To reap the benefits offered by the mass media, you need to be well conversant in the language that it speaks. Mass Communication courses and Media Science programs strive to impart this knowledge to the students. Students are taught to speak the language, understand the science and the technical know-how that drives these media, and how best to use the many forms to one’s benefit.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)