Category: Language

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Jules Verne

He dreamed of traveling

• to the Moon and back
• in a hot air balloon
• in a submarine 20000 leagues under the sea
• to the center of the earth
• around the world in 80 days (a remarkable feat for his time)

He inspired people to transform most of his wishes into reality.

• He sent three men from a Cape in Florida to orbit the moon, and returned them safely to earth.
• A century later — around Christmas of 1968 — Apollo 8 with Frank Borman, James Lovell and Bill Anders made Verne’s dream a reality. The space ship was launched from Cape Canaveral (later renamed Cape Kennedy), which is within striking distance of the spot chosen by Vernes.
• In July 1969, Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin landed in Tranquility Bay on the Moon.

• When President John F. Kennedy proclaimed, “Before this decade is out, we will send men to the moon and then bring them back safely to earth”, there was no substantial plan to support his dream.
• Wernher von Braun, a German rocket scientist, and his team were given a “level of trust” to work on the NASA project.
• It would need baby steps : Mercury, Gemini & Apollo projects to have one, two and three astronauts to man the space ships.
• It was not clear how to implement the important phase. e.g. How can a direct hit to the moon cause a safe return to earth? Folklore said that an engineer scribbled on his lunch bag a “spider” landing on the moon and returning. His dream resulted in the design of the Lunar Module. The rest is history.
• The take away is that “If you can dream, others can fulfill [your dream].”

My Early Dream

• My dream — more than two decades ago — was to get the sayas and alumni get reconnected electronically (virtually) and physically (face-to-face).
• In 1999, we founded the “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” and ex-rit.org website.
• With the help of countless sponsors and volunteers, the First RIT Grand Reuion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe (SPZP) was held in San Francisco, California, USA in October 2000.

• Seven SPZPs have been held
  USA in 2000, Singapore in 2002, 2007 and 2010, Yangon in 2004, 2012, 2016.
• SPZP-2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.

My Recent Dream

• It was to compile and publish a story of our beloved land, our ancestors, mentors prime movers; those who helped build the “Rice Bowl of Asia”; those who dragged it to LDC (Least Developing Country) status; unsung heroes who tried to overcome the “Adhamma Era” and rebuild the nation into former glory.
• I have written numerous articles / posts.
• 2500+ posts can now be read from my web site — hlamin.com
• I have broadcast 220+ educational videos.
• We request Volunteers (paid or unpaid), Subject Matter Experts, Editors, Proofreaders, Presentation Gurus, Sponsors, Contributors & Supporters to help implement my Dream.
• @hmin3664

U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :

Dreaming and creating inspiration for others to be able to fulfill your dreams are two different animals, if you will, by themselves. I, like many others, have dreams but we do not have your dedication, perseverance and drive to inspire others,

As I have said many times here, my hats off to you, I am very proud to be considered your friend, and informal pupil. And to your significant other (Ma Sein Yie) to take care of you/look after you and your sons while you would be deep into these projects. Please convey my regards to your family members

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

TED Talks

• TED Talks started 30+ years ago.
• In the beginning, the talks were mainly about
  (a) Technology
  (b) Entertainment
  (c) Design
• The talks now cover a much broader scope.
• Each talk cover lasts around 18 minutes.
• The videos can be found on TEDTalks.org and YouTube.

TEDx Talks

They are similar to TED talks, but they are organized by regional and local organizations.

Daw Thin Thiri Mon is the daughter of Dat Pone Sann Aung (RUBC Gold, M74) and Dr. Anna Myint. She is the niece of Sayama Daw Tin Tin Myint (Emma Myint, ChE70). She is a co-organizer of several TEDx Talks in Yangon.

In TEDx Inya Lake, U Nay Oke (St. Paul’s) talked about two Burmese Poets from the “Khit San Sar Pay” era. One was his beloved mother Daw Khin Saw Mu. The other was Minthuwun (Saya U Wun). They were students of Saya U Pe Maung Tin (Pali Scholar who proposed to establish a separate Burmese Department at the University of Rangoon). U Nay Oke gave the background of the short story “Bagyi Aung Nyar De ဘကြီးအောင် ညာတယ်” by U Wun (Minthuwun). He remarked that the true story should be visited since it led to the emergence of Myanmar Kabyar, and all the main characters alluded in the story — ICS U Tin Tut, ICS U Ba Tint, Minthuwun and Daw Khin Saw Mu — have passed away.

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Antonym

• Antonyms are words which have almost the opposite meaning for the given context.
• Since some words have multiple meanings, one must be careful of the meaning associated with an antonym.
• For example, Love and Hate are antonyms.
• In Pali, the antonyms of Lobha (Greed), Dosa (Anger or Hatred) and Moha (Ignorance of Delusion) are Alobha (Non-greed), Adosa (Non-hatred) and Amoha (Non-ignorance or Wisdom).

Homonym

• Homonyms are words which sound the same.
• Examples
  air, heir
  rain, rein, reign
  throne, thrown
• A puzzle based on homonyms :
  “What is the difference between the Prince of Wales and a cricket ball?”
  The Prince of Wales is heir to the throne. A cricket ball is thrown to the air.

Idiom

• is usually a phrase whose meaning is not obvious
• gets the meaning accepted due to usage over time
• is a linguistic device
• During my middle school days, one of my uncles gave me books (including “A Book of Idioms”). From the book, I learned that “the hand that rocks the cradle” stands for “a mother”.
• “Rain cats and dogs” is an idiom which means “Rain heavily”. In this example, the idiom uses a metaphor.
• No one knows the root of the idiom “kick the bucket” meaning “dies”. Someone guessed that a man being hanged by a rope might kick a bucket.
• Idioms should be used sparingly. If you combine two idioms mentioned above and say “The hand that rocked the cradle kicked the bucket” you might receive LOL (Laughing Out Loud).

Synonym

• Synonyms are words which have almost the same meaning for the given context.
• Since some words have multiple meanings, one must specify the meaning associated with a synonym.
• Dictionary, Thesaurus, Lexicon and Vocabulary are synonyms.
  Their usage depends on the context. In general, Lexicon is a body of knowledge (or dictionary) of Latin and Greek.
  At one time, Lexicon is a card game where players create words and score points. It was superseded by Scrabble.

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Types

There are several classifications. They are not mutually exclusive.

• Natural Language
• Native Language / Mother Tongue
• Foreign Language
• Spoken Language (e.g. Myanmar Sagar)
• Written Language (e.g. Myanmar Sar)
• Ideal / Universal Language (e.g. Esperanto)
• Machine Language
• Programming Language
• Compiled Language
• Interpreted Language
• Assembly Language / Symbolic / Macro
• Scientific & Technical Language
• Business Language
• Specialty Language (e.g English as a Specialty Language)
• Domain Language
• Meta Language (to describe a language)
• Sign Language
• Body Language
• Dead Language

Major Languages

• Chinese
• English
• Spanish
• Arabic

Dialects

Some languages have dialects.

• English (UK, USA, Australia …)
• French (France, Canada …)
• Spanish (Spain, Latin America …)

English

• English is not our native language.
• For studying abroad, we had to take TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) to prove that we had a reasonably good command of English.
  TOEFL covers (a) Reading Comprehension (b) Listening Comprehension (c) Essay
• Several Community Centers in the USA offer ESL (English as a Second Language).
• Saya Des Rodgers taught English at RIT. He did further studies in the UK. He taught “English as a Specialty Language” (aka ESL in Canada.)

by Hla Min

Updated : May 2035

Analogy

• Comparison of two things that are similar.

Analog

• May stand for “a person or an object which may be compared to another”.
• Devices may be analog, digital or hybrid.
• An analog device uses information represented by a continuous variable.
• An analog thermometer measures temperature via the expansion of the mercury in its bulb.
• The speedometer displays the speed of a car via the needle on its dial.
• Some early computers are analog. e.g. Differential Analyzer
• The sounds produced by a musical instrument are analog.
• Analog information may be digitized by using appropriate sampling techniques.

Converter

• ADC is a tool to convert Analog to Digital.
• DAC is a tool to convert Digital to Analog.