A letter of application should create enough interest to make the potential employer want to look at your application in greater detail by reading your CV and hopefully invite you for an interview.  Your application letter, however, should not contain too much detail about your experience and qualifications because that is the job of the CV (see the module on Writing Resumes/Curricula Vitae).

Layout and style

The letter should be limited to one page and a few paragraphs will normally be sufficient. It is better to address a letter to a specific person, e.g. Dear Miss Chan, rather than to Dear Sir or Madam . However, in some job advertisements the name of the person you are writing to is not given. It is good practice to try to find out the following information before you write your letter:

• the full name of the person you are writing;
• their title – Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms, Dr, Professor, etc, and;
• their position – Personnel Manager, Human Resources Manager, etc.

All this information can be obtained by a quick phone call to the company. Remember, never write Dear Miss W. Chan. It should be Dear Miss Chan. Do not use the initial except in the address. If you start with Dear Sir/Madam, it is accepted practice to finish with Yours faithfully. Whereas, if you start with Dear Miss Chan, you may finish with Yours sincerely. Your letter should be neat and free from careless mistakes. You can follow the blocked and open punctuation style as shown in the Sample Letter of Application at the end of this module. For more information about the different layout styles of business letters, read pp.12-13 in Business Writing for Hong Kong. Whichever layout style you choose to use, you should use it consistently throughout the letter.

Structure of the letter

The general structure of the letter is given below:

Paragraph 1 It should state clearly why you are writing and where you saw the job advertised.

e.g.

I would like to apply for the post of … as advertised in today’s issue of ..

With reference to your advertisement in … on …, I am writing to apply for the position of …

Trainee Manager

I would like to apply for the above post (of Trainee Manager) as advertised …

Paragraph 2 It should give a little information about your qualifications and experience. Make sure the information you give is relevant to the job that you are applying for.

1. As you can see from my enclosed CV, I have worked in my present position for five years. During this time I have gained invaluable experience in …
   
2. I am currently a student at HKPU studying …….. I am due to graduate in……. Although I have been studying full time, I have had a number of summer jobs which have helped me to gain experience in …
   
3. My experience over the past two years has been at the managerial level, where I have had responsibility for …

Paragraph 3 It should say why you believe you are suited to the job and what you can offer the company. Those currently employed can state the reason for wishing to change their present job. However, you should not sound critical of your present employer.

e.g.

1. I am currently working as a receptionist in …The reason for my seeking a new position is that I wish to pursue a secretarial career. Unfortunately, there are no openings for advancement in my present employment.

2. For the last two years I have been working as a receptionist in …Unfortunately the company is moving its main offices overseas and I have therefore decided to look for a new position. I believe that the experience I have gained in … has given me the qualities you are looking for …

3. I believe I would be an asset to your company. I will be able to bring with me my experience of … which I believe would be useful in this position …

4. I feel that my ability to … will help/enable me to …

This is probably the most important paragraph of the letter. It is also the hardest part to write because you need to “sell yourself” without appearing too arrogant. However, you do need to be quite forceful and direct, showing that you possess the skills for the job you are applying for.

Paragraph 4 It should tell the reader  when you are available for an interview and how to contact you.

e.g.

1. I would like to have the opportunity to talk to you further about my application. I am available for interview at any time and I can be contacted at/on …

2. I am available for an interview at any time but would appreciate two days notice. I can be contacted on/at …

I look forward to hearing from/meeting you soon.

3. As requested in the advertisement, I enclose a copy of my resume together with a recent photograph.

I look forward to meeting with you to discuss my application further. I am available … and can be contacted on/at …

Remember you might have to give a bit more detail than in the above examples. You can also combine the language in these examples. The Sample Letter of Application at the end of this module is developed from the Sample CV in a related module, Writing Resumes and Curricula Vitae. You may compare the two documents to see how you can select useful information from your CV and highlight it in your application letter.

Also, it is sometimes useful to gather information about the company so that you know more about its background and policies. This may help you present yourself in the best light.

Electronics is that branch of science and technology which makes use of the controlled motion of electrons through different media and vacuum. The ability to control electron flow is usually applied to information handling or device control. Electronics is distinct from electrical science and technology, which deals with the generation, distribution, control and application of electrical power. This distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950 this field was called “radio technology” because its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters, receivers and vacuum tubes.

Most electronic devices today use semiconductor components to perform electron control. The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch of physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems come under electronics engineering. This article focuses on engineering aspects of electronics.

An electronic component is any physical entity in an electronic system used to affect the electrons or their associated fields in a desired manner consistent with the intended function of the electronic system. Components are generally intended to be connected together, usually by being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Components may be packaged singly or in more complex groups as integrated circuits. Some common electronic components are capacitors, resistors, diodes, transistors, etc. Components are often categorized as active (e.g. transistors and thyristors) or passive (e.g. resistors and capacitors).

Silahkan pilih materi mata kuliah anda [pada bagian kategori].

1EA and 1EB students >>> English 1 and English 2

2EA and 2EB students >>> English 3

3EA and 3EB students >>> English 4

TUGAS ANDA! Assignment for 3EA and 3EB – CLICK HERE

ESSENTIAL Articles on Electronics – CLICK HERE

TRONIK E-LEARNING ON ELECTRONICS – CLICK HERE

FREE BOOKS!  on Electronics http://openbookproject.net//electricCircuits/

DEFENISI ISTILAH ELEKTRONIKA [English] – linked to Wikipedia

0-9

16VSB – 2VSB – 32VSB – 4000 series – 4VSB – 555 timer IC – 7400 series – 8VSB

A

Absolute gain – Acceptance pattern – Access control – Access time – Acoustic coupler – Acquisition – Adaptive communications – Adder – Adjacent-channel interference – Alarm sensor – Aliasing – Allied Radio – Alternate party – Alternating current – AM radio – Amateur radio – Ambient noise level – American Radio Relay League (ARRL) – Ammeter – Ampere – Amplifier – Amplitude distortion – Amplitude modulation – Analog computer – Analog decoding – Analog – Analog to digital converter – Analogue switch – Analysis of resistive circuits – Angular misalignment loss – Antenna – Antenna blind cone – Antenna effective area – Antenna gain – Antenna height above average terrain – Antenna noise temperature – Antenna theory – Aperiodic antenna – Aperture (antenna) – Aperture illumination – Aperture-to-medium coupling loss – Apollo Guidance Computer – Arithmetic and logical unit – Armstrong oscillator – ARRL – Articulation score – Astable – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line – Asynchronous communications system – Asynchronous operation – Asynchronous start-stop – Atmospheric duct – Atmospheric waveguide – Attenuation – Audible ringing tone – Audio system measurements – Audiophile – Automatic call distributor – Automatic data processing – Automatic gain control – Automatic link establishment – Automatic number identification – Automatic sounding – Automatic switching system – Autovon – Availability – Available line – Avalanche diode – Azimuth

B

Backplane – Backscattering – Back-to-back connection – Backward channel – Balance return loss – Balanced line – Balancing network – Ball grid array – Band gap – Band-stop filter – Bandwidth compression – Bare particular – Barrage jamming – Baseband – Battery (electricity) – Baud – Baudot code – BCS theory – Beam diameter – Beam divergence – Beam steering – Beam – Beamwidth – Bel – Biconical antenna – Big ugly dish – Bilateral synchronization – Billboard antenna – Binary classification – Binaural recording – Bipolar junction transistor – Bipolar signal – Bit inversion – Bit pairing – Bit robbing – Bit stuffing – Bit synchronous operation – Bit-count integrity – Bits per second – Black facsimile transmission – Black recording – Blanketing – Bluetooth – Blu-ray Disc – BNC connector – Boresight – Breadboard – Bremsstrahlung – Bridging loss – Broadband Internet – Broadband wireless access – Broadband – Broadcasting – Burst transmission – Busy hour – Busy signal – Bypass

C

Cable modem – Cable television – Caesium standard – Call collision – Call set-up time – Call-second – Capacitive coupling – Capacitor – Capture effect – Carbon nanotube – Card standards – Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection – Carrier shift – Carrier system – Carrier wave – Carrier-to-receiver noise density – Carson bandwidth rule – Cassegrain antenna – Category 5 cable – Cathode ray tube – Central processing unit – Chadless tape – Channel – Channel noise level – Channel reliability – Character-count integrity – Characteristic impedance – Charge-coupled device – Chemical vapor deposition – Chirping – Chroma subsampling – Circuit breaker – Circuit noise level – Circuit reliability – Circuit restoration – Circuit switching – Circular polarization – Circulator – Citizens’ band radio – Cladding – Clapp oscillator – Clean room – Clear channel – Clearing – Clipping – Clock gating – Clock signal – Closed circuit – Closed waveguide – Closed-circuit television – CMOS – Coaxial cable – Co-channel interference – Code division multiple access – Code word – Coherence length – Coherence time – Coherence – Coherent differential phase-shift keying – Coherer – Coil – Coilgun – Collinear antenna array – Collinear antenna array – Collins Radio – Colpitts oscillator – Combat-net radio – Combinatorial logic – Combined distribution frame – Common base – Common battery – Common collector – Common control – Common emitter – Commonality – Common-mode interference – Communications center – Communications satellite – Communications security – Communications system engineering – Communications system – Communications-electronics – Compact audio cassette – Compatible sideband transmission – Composite image filter – Composite video – Compulsator – Computer – Concentrator – Conditioning equipment – Conducted interference – Conduction band – Conductive coupling – Connections per circuit hour – Conservation of radiance – Constant k filter – Content delivery – Contention – Continuous Fourier transform – Continuous operation – Continuous wave – Convolution – Copper – Cord circuit – Corner reflector – Cosmic noise – Costas loop – Coulomb’s law – Counter – Coupling – Covert channel – Covert listening device – CPU design – CQD – C-QUAM – Critical frequency – Cross product – Crossbar switch – Crosstalk – Crystal filter – Crystal radio receiver – Current – Current bias – Current-to-voltage converter – Cutback technique – Cutoff frequency – Cutoff wavelength

D

D region – D-4 – Data bank – Data circuit terminating equipment – Data compaction – Data integrity – Data link – Data service unit – Data terminal equipment – Data transmission circuit – Data – Datasheet – DBa – DBm – DBrn – DDR SDRAM – Degree of isochronous distortion – Delay line – Delay – Delta modulation – Demand assignment – Demand factor – Demand load – Demodulation – Demodulator – Departure angle – Design objective – Despun antenna – Deviation – Dial-up – Diamagnetism – Dielectric constant – Dielectric strength – Dielectric waveguide – Dielectric – Differential amplifier – Diffraction – Digital access and cross-connect system – Digital Audio Tape – Digital circuit – Digital filter – Digital multiplex hierarchy – Digital radio – Digital signal processing – Digital signal processor – Digital to analog converter – Digital transmission group – Digitizer – DIN – Diode – DIP switch – Dipole antenna – Dipole – Direct bandgap – Direct broadcast satellite – Direct current – Direct distance dialing – Direct ray – Directional antenna – Directional coupler – Directive gain – Direct-sequence spread spectrum – Discrete Fourier transform – Discrete – Dispersion-limited operation – Distortion – Distortion-limited operation – Distress radiobeacon – Distributed switching – Diurnal phase shift – Diversity reception – DOD master clock – Doping – Double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission – Double-slit experiment – Drift – Drop and insert – Dropout – Dual access – Dual impedance – Dual in-line package – Dual-modulus prescaler – Dual-tone multi-frequency – Duobinary signal – Duplex – Duty cycle – DXCC – Dynamic range

E

Earphone – Earpiece – Earth’s magnetic field – Echelon – EDIF – EEPROM – Effective antenna gain contour – Effective boresight area – Effective data transfer rate – Effective Earth radius – Effective height – Effective input noise temperature – Effective isotropically radiated power – Effective monopole radiated power – Effective radiated power – Effective transmission rate – Efficiency factor – E-layer – Electric charge – Electric current – Electric field – Electric motor – Electric power transmission – Electric power – Electrical conduction – Electrical conductivity – Electrical connector – Electrical current – Electrical efficiency – Element – Electrical engineering – Electrical generator – Impedance – Insulation – Electrical length – Load – Electrical network – Circuit – Electrical resistance – Electrical room – Electrical signal – Electricity distribution – Electricity – Electrochemical cell – Electrochemistry – Electrode – Electrodynamics – Electrolytic capacitor – Electromagnetic environment – Electromagnetic induction – Electromagnetic interference control – Electromagnetic pulse – Electromagnetic radiation and health – Electromagnetic radiation – Electromagnetic spectrum – Electromagnetic survivability – Electromagnetism – Electrometer – Electron hole – Electron – Electronic amplifier – Electronic color code – Color code – Electronic deception – Electronic design automation – Electronic filter – Filter – Electronic imager – Electronic mixer – Electronic musical instrument – Electronic oscillator – Electronic power supply – Electronic switching system – Electronic tagging – Electronic test equipment – Electronic warfare support measures – Electronics – Electro-optic effect – Electro-optic modulator – Electro-optics – Electrostatic discharge – Electrostatics – Emergency Locator Transmitter – Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon – Emitter coupled logic – End distortion – Endurability – Enhanced service – Entropy encoding – Equilibrium length – Equivalent impedance transforms – Equivalent noise resistance – Equivalent pulse code modulation noise – Erase – Error burst – Error ratio – Error-correcting code – E-skip – Examples of electrical phenomena – Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) – Eye pattern

F

Fab (semiconductors) – Semiconductor device fabrication – Facility – Facsimile converter – Fading – Fading distribution – Fail safe – Fall time – Fan-beam antenna – Farad – Faraday cage – Faraday constant – Faraday’s law of induction – Far-field region – Fault management – Fault – FCC registration program – Federal Standard 1037C – Feed horn – Feed – Feedback – Ferroelectric effect – Ferromagnetism – Field (physics) – Field – Field effect transistor – Field strength – FPGA Field programmable gate array – Filled cable – Filter design – Filter (signal processing) – Flip-flop – Fluorescent lamp – Flutter – Flux – Flywheel effect – FM band – FM improvement factor – FM improvement threshold – FM radio – Forward error correction – Fourier series – Fourier transform (see also List of Fourier-related transforms) – Four-wire circuit – Four-wire terminating set – Fractal antenna – Frame – Frame rate – Frame slip – Frame synchronization – Framing bit – Freenet – Free-space loss – Freeze frame television – Frequency assignment – Frequency averaging – Frequency counter – Frequency deviation – Frequency frogging – Frequency modulation synthesis – Frequency modulation – Frequency standard – Frequency synthesiser – Frequency – Frequency-division multiplexing – Frequency-exchange signaling – Frequency-hopping spread spectrum – Frequency-shift keying – Fresnel equations – Fresnel reflection – Fresnel zone – Front-to-back ratio – Fuel cell – Fuse (electrical)

G

Gallium arsenide – Galvanometer – Garble – Gateway – Gating – Gauss – Geiger-Mueller tube – Gel electrophoresis – Gemini Guidance Computer – Gender changer – Global Positioning System – Global system for mobile communications – GNU Radio – Grade of service – Graded-index fiber – Ground constants – Ground loop – Ground plane – Ground – Groundwave – Guided ray – Gyrator

H

Halftone characteristic – Hall effect – Hamming code – Hamming distance – Handoff – Handshaking – Hard copy – Hardware register – Harmonic analysis – Harmonic oscillator – Harmonic – Hartley oscillator – H-channel – Heat sink – Helical antenna – Helmholtz coil – Henry (unit) – Hertz – Heterodyne repeater – Heterodyne – High frequency – High-performance equipment – High-speed circuit-switched data – Hop – Horn – How to test three-phase electrical supply – How to test three-phase pumps – Hybrid balance – Hybrid circuit – Hybrid coil – Hybrid coupler – Hysteresis

I

IEEE 802.11 – IEEE 802.15 – IEEE 802 – Image antenna – Image impedance – Image frequency – Image rejection ratio – Image response – Impedance matching – In-band on-channel – Incidental radiator – Independent sideband – Index of cooperation – Inductive coupling – Inductive reactance – Inductor – Industrial Computers – Information transfer – Information-bearer channel – Infrared – Input – Insertion gain – Insertion loss – Inside plant – Integrated circuit – Intensity modulation – Intentional radiator – Intercept – Interchange circuit – Intercharacter interval – Interconnect facility – Interference – Interferometry – Intermediate-field region – Intermodulation distortion – International Electrotechnical Commission – Interoperability – Interposition trunk – Intersymbol interference – Inverse multiplexer – Inverse-square law – Ion pump – Ionosphere – ISM band – Isochronous burst transmission – Isochronous signal – Isotropic antenna

J

Jam signal – Jamming – Jansky – Jitter

K

Karnaugh map – Kendall effect – Key pulsing – K-factor – Kirchhoff’s circuit laws – Klystron – Knife-edge effect

L

Laser – Launch angle – Launch numerical aperture – Lead-lag effect – Leaky mode – Light bulb – Light-dependent resistor – Light-emitting diode – Lightning – Limiting – Line code – Linear feedback shift register – Linear regulator – Lip synchronization – List of antenna terms – List of telecommunications encryption terms – List of telecommunications transmission terms – List of telephony terminology – LM741 – LNA – Loading characteristic – Loading coil – Loading – Lobe – Local battery – Logic families – Logic gate – Logic – Log-periodic antenna – Long-haul communications – Longitudinal redundancy check – Long-tailed pair – Long-term stability – Loop – Loop gain – Loop-back – Low frequency – Low noise amplifier – Low-performance equipment – Lumped element model

M

Macroelectronics – Magnet – Magnetic core memory – Magnetic field – Magnetic flux quantum – Magnetic flux – Magnetic levitation – Magnetism – Magneto-optic effect – Magnetosphere – Magnetron – Main distribution frame – Main lobe – Manchester code – Maser – Mask work – Master frequency generator – Maximal-ratio combiner – Maximum power – Maximum usable frequency – Maxwell coil – Maxwell’s demon – Maxwell’s equations – m-derived filter – Mean time between outages – Mediation function – Medium frequency (MF) – Medium-power talker – Mediumwave – Michelson-Morley experiment – Microelectronics – Microphone – Microwave auditory effect – Microwave oven – Microwave – MIL-STD-188 – Minimum bend radius – Mode scrambler – Mode volume – Modem – Modular synthesizer – Modulation factor – Modulation rate – Modulation – Molecular electronics – Monostable – Moore’s law – Morse code – MOS Technology 6501 – MOS Technology 6502 – MOS Technology SID – MOS Technology VIC-II – Mu-law algorithm – Multicoupler – Multi-element dipole antenna – Multimeter – Multipath propagation – Multipath – Multiple access – Multiple homing – Multiplex baseband – Multiplexer – Multiplexing – Multiplication ALU – Multivibrator

N

N connector – Nanotechnology – Nanowire – Narrative traffic – Narrowband modem – Narrowband – National Electrical Code (US) – Natural frequency – Nature versus nurture – Near-field region – Negative resistance – Negative-acknowledge character – Net gain – Netlist – Network administration – Network architecture – Network management – Neural network – Neutral direct-current telegraph system – NI Multisim – Nickel metal hydride – Noise figure – Noise level – Noise power – Noise temperature – Noise weighting – Noise-cancelling headphone – Noise-equivalent power – Non-return-to-zero – Normalized frequency – NTSC – Nuclear magnetic resonance – Null – Numbers station – Numerical aperture – Numerically controlled oscillator – Nyquist interval

O

Off-hook – Off-line – Ohm – Ohmmeter – Ohm’s law – Oliver Heaviside – Omnidirectional antenna – One-way trunk – On-hook – On-line – Open circuit – Open spectrum – Operational amplifier – Optical density – Optical fiber – Optical path length – Optical spectrum – Optoelectronic – Orthogonal frequency division modulation – Orthomode transducer – Oscilloscope – Out-of-band signaling – Output – Outside plant – Overflow – Overhead information – Overmodulation – Override – Overshoot (signal)

P

Packet switching – Packet-switching node – Paired disparity code – PAL – Par meter – Parabolic antenna – Parabolic microphone – Parallel transmission – Parasitic element (electrical networks) – Parity bit – Passband – Passive radiator – Patch bay – Path loss – Path profile – Pauli exclusion principle – PBER – PCB layout guidelines – Peak envelope power – Peltier effect – Performance measurement period – Periodic antenna – Periscope antenna – Permeability – Permittivity – Personal Locator Beacon – Phantom circuit – Phantom loop – Phase – Phase distortion – Phase jitter – Phase modulation – Phase noise – Phase perturbation – Phased array – Phase-locked loop – Phase-shift keying – Philberth-Transformer – Photodiode – Photoelectric effect – Photolithography – Photon – Physical layer – Pickup – PID controller – Piezoelectricity – Pin grid array – Pirate radio – Planar array – Planar array – Planck’s constant – Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy – Point-to-point construction – Polarential telegraph system – Polarization – Polling – Polyphase system – Portable people meter – Potential difference – Potential divider – Power – Power connector – Power supply – Preamplifier – Preemphasis network – Preemphasis – Preferred values – Preventive maintenance – Primary channel – Primary line constants – Primary time standard – Principal clock – Printed circuit board – Processor register – Product detector – Programmable logic device – Propagation mode – Propagation path obstruction – Propagation – Proration – Pseudorandom noise – Pseudorandom number sequence – PSK31 – Pulse amplitude – Pulse duration – Pulse – Pulse-address multiple access – Pulse-code modulation – Pulsed inductive thruster – Pulse-width modulation – Push-to-talk operation – Push-to-type operation – Pyroelectricity

Q

Q code – QRP operation – Q-switching – Quadrature amplitude modulation – Quadrature – Quality assurance – Quality control – Quantum harmonic oscillator – Quartz clock – Quasi-analog signal – Queuing delay

R

Race hazard – Radar – Radiation angle – Radiation mode – Radiation pattern – Radiation resistance – Radiator – Radio beam – Radio clock – Radio electronics – Radio frequency induction – Radio frequency – Radio horizon range – Radio horizon – Radio propagation – Radio range – Radio Row, Manhattan – Radio station – Radio – RadioShack – Radiotelephone – Radioteletype – Radix-64 – Railgun – Random access memory – Randomizer – Ray transfer matrix analysis – RC circuit – RC – RCA jack – RCA – Reactance – Receive-after-transmit time delay – Received noise power – Receiver – Receiver attack-time delay – Reception – Reconnaissance satellite – Record medium – Reference antenna – Reference circuit – Reference clock – Reference noise – Reference surface – Reflection coefficient – Reflections of signals on conducting lines – Reflective array antenna – Refractive index contrast – Regenerative circuit – Register transfer level – Relational model – Relative transmission level – Relaxation oscillator – Relay – Release time – Remote operations service element protocol – Remote sensing – Repair and maintenance – Repeater – Repeating coil – Reproduction speed – Reradiation – Resistor color code – Resistor – Resonance – Response time – Response – Responsivity – Return loss – RF connector – RF modulator – RF power margin – RF probe – RF shielding – RFID – RGB color space – Rhombic antenna – Ring current – Ring latency – Ring modulation – Ringback signal – Ringdown – RJ45 – RL circuit – RLC circuit – Robot – Rogowski coil – Root mean square – Routing indicator – RS-232 – RX – Rydberg formula

S

S/PDIF – Sacrificial anode – Sampling frequency – Scalar field – Scanner – Scanning electron microscope – SCART – Schema – Schematic – Schumann resonance – Scrambler – Screen – SECAM – Second audio program – Security management – Self-clocking signal – Self-synchronizing code – Semiautomatic switching system – Semiconductor device – Semiconductor – Sensitivity – Sensor Networks – Separate channel signaling – Serial access – Serial ATA – Serial Peripheral Interface Bus – Serial transmission – Series and parallel circuits – Shadow loss – Shannon limit – Shannon’s theorem – Short circuit – Shortwave – Shot noise – Shrinking generator – Side lobe – Sideband – Sidereal time – Siemens – Signal (information theory) – Signal compression – Signal processing gain – Signal processing – Signal reflection – Signal transition – Signal-to-crosstalk ratio – Signal-to-noise ratio – Signature block – Significant condition – Silicon bandgap temperature sensor – Silicon – Simplex circuit – Simplex signaling – Sinc filter – Single frequency networks – Single phase electric power – Single-frequency signaling – Single-polarized antenna – Single-sideband modulation – Skew – Skin effect – Skip zone – Skywave – Slant range – Slewing – Slew rate – Slot antenna – Slow-scan television – Software-defined radio – Solar cell – Soldering – Solenoid – Sound card – Space diversity – Space tether – Spark gap – Specific detectivity – Specification – Speckle pattern – Spectral width – Spectrum – Spectrum analyzer – Speed of light – Speed of service – SPICE – Spill-forward feature – Spillover – Spin glass – Spot beam – Spread spectrum – Spurious emission – Squelch – Standard telegraph level – Standard test signal – Standard test tone – Standing wave ratio – Standing wave – Starpath Supercharger – Start signal – Start-stop transmission – Static electricity – Steady-state condition – Step-index profile – Stoletov’s law – Stop signal – Stopband – Store-and-forward switching center – Stressed environment – Strobe light – Stroke speed – Subcarrier – Subtractive synthesis – Sudden ionospheric disturbance – Supercomputer – Superconductivity – Superheterodyne receiver – Superparamagnetism – Superposition theorem – Supervisory program – Suppressed carrier transmission – Surface wave – Surface-mount technology – Surveillance device – Survivability – S-Video – Switch – Switched-mode power supply – Synchronism – Synchronization – Synchronizing – Synchronous network – Synchronous optical networking – Synthesizer – System integrity – Systems control

T

Table of standard electrode potentials – Tactical communications system – Tactical communications – Tactical data information link–A – Tantalum – Tape relay – T-carrier – Technical control facility – Telecommunication – Communications – Telecommunications service – Teleconference – Telegrapher’s equations – Telegraphy – Telemetry – Telephone tapping – Teletext – Teletraining – Television – TEMPEST – Tensor – Tesla coil – Tesla patents – Test antenna – Tether propulsion – Thermal noise – Thermistor – Third-order intercept point – TNC connector – Three phase – Time-assignment speech interpolation – Time-division multiple access – Time-division multiplexing – Time-domain reflectometer – Time-out – Tinfoil hat – Toll switching trunk – Total harmonic distortion – Total internal reflection – Traffic intensity – Traffic shaping – Transceiver – Transcoding – Transducer – Transformer – Transient electromagnetic device – Transimpedance amplifier – Transistor radio – Transistor – Transistor-transistor logic – TTL – Transition metal – Transmission coefficient – Transmission level point – Transmission line – Transmission medium – Medium – Transmit-after-receive time delay – Transmitter attack-time delay – Transmitter – Transmitter-studio link – Transparent latch – Transponder – Transverse redundancy check – Traveling-wave tube – TRF – Triangle wave – Trimline telephone – Troposphere – Tropospheric ducting – Tropospheric wave – TRS connector – Tuner – Twisted pair – TX

U

Ultra high frequency – Ultra Wideband – Ultraviolet – Unavailability – Uncertainty principle – Uniform linear array – Unijunction transistor – Unintentional radiator – Uplink – Upright position (electronics) – User (telecommunications)

V

VAC – Vackár oscillator – Vacuum tube – Valence band – Validation – Variable length buffer – Varicap – Varistor – VDC – Vector field – Veroboard – Very high frequency – Very-large-scale integration – VHSIC hardware description language – Video cassette recorder – Video Game Console – Video teleconference – Video teleconferencing unit – Video – Vintage amateur radio – Virtual circuit capability – Virtual circuit – Virtual ground – Voice frequency primary patch bay – Voice frequency – Volt- Voltage bias – Voltage-to-current converter – Voltmeter – Vox

W

Wardenclyffe Tower – Warner exemption – Watt – Wave impedance – Wave propagation – Wave – Waveform – Waveguide antenna – Waveguide – Wavelength division multiplexing – Wavelength – Wheatstone bridge – Whip antenna – White facsimile transmission – Wideband modem – Williams tube – Wink pulsing – Wire wrap – Wire – Wireless access point – Wireless community network – Wireless network – Wireless personal area network – Wireless – X-dimension of recorded spot – XLR connecto

Y

Yagi antenna – Y-delta transform – YUV

Z

Zener diode – Zero dBm transmission level point – Zero insertion force (ZIF) – Zero-dispersion wavelength – ZigBee – Zig-zag in-line package – Zobel network – Zone melting Z-transform –

* Be very clear about how much time you have – and stick to that time in preparing your presentation. It’s very difficult to ‘cut’ a PowerPoint presentation at the event itself, so it’s a great mistake to run out of time. Most presenters prepare too much material; but nobody ever complains that a presentation was too short (it always allows more time for questions).

* Be very clear about your key message – and ensure that everything in your presentation is both consistent with, and suppportive of, that key message. You should be able to articulate the message in a phrase or a sentence and indeed you might want to use that phrase or sentence in one of your first slides, or one of your last, or even both.

* E-mail your presentation to the event organisers in advance. Ask them to load it onto a laptop, run it through, check that it looks fine, and confirm that with you. Then you don’t have to worry about the technology when you arrive at the venue; you can concentrate on the delivery of your material. Also it enables the event’s organisers to run off copies of your slides, so that they are available to them in good time.

* The first slide should announce the title of your presentation, the event and date, and your name and position. This may seem terribly obvious, but many speakers miss off some of this basic information and then weeks later listeners (or their colleagues back at the organisation) are not clear who made the presentation or when. You should try to make the title catchy, so that you immediately have the interest of your audience. A challenging question works well – for instance, a presentation on the global economic crisis might ask: “Is this the end of capitalism as we’ve known it?” Or a play on words works too – for example, a presentation on next generation broadband could be titled “The Slow Arrival Of Fast Broadband”.

* The second slide should seize the attention of your audience for your presentation. It could be the central proposition of your presentation or a conventional wisdom that you wish to challenge or a relevant or witty quote from a leader in your field. If it is amusing or controversial or both, so much the better.

* The third slide should set out the structure of your presentation. The default structure should consist of three themes that you intend to examine. For a very short presentation, there might only be time for two; if you want to look at more than five areas, write a book instead.

* Each theme should be the subject of a small number of slides. Again, a good working assumption is that three slides for each theme is about right. Less than two and it isn’t substantive enough to be a separate theme; more than five and it should probably be broken up into two themes.

* Each slide should have clear heading. A question is often a good way of winning attention – but, in that case, make sure you answer the question in the body of the slide.

* Each slide should normally contain around 25-35 words, unless it is a quote (when you might use more) or contains an illustration (when you will probably use less). Too many words and your audience will have trouble reading the material; too few words and you’re likely to be flashing through the slides and spending too much time clicking the mouse.

* Each bullet point should consist of an intelligible phrase, rather than merely a word or two that is meaningless on its own or conversely a complete sentence that is better delivered orally. So, for instance, do use “Focus on profitable and growing markets” rather than simply “Focus” or “Markets” or “It is necessary to focus on those markets which are profitable and growing rather than those which are loss-making and declining”. Consider this test: your slides should make sense and be useful to someone who was not present at your presentation.

* Make appropriate use of pictures. It’s a good idea to break up text with illustrations and it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words.

* The last slide should set out all appropriate contact details: certainly e-mail address and possibly snail mail address, the web site of your organisation, and any personal website or weblog if you have one.

* Make copies of your slides available. It is a matter of preference whether you do this at the beginning of your presentation or at the end. If your listeners have copies at the beginning, they can take notes simply by annotating the slides, instead of having to note down all the information on the slides. On the other hand, you might feel that, if they can see in advance the slides you are going to use, you lose the element of control or surprise. It might depend on the content of the presentation: if you are going to show detailed tables or graphs with lots of figures, your audience will probably find it easier to have a copy on their lap. It might depend on the circumstances of the presentation: if there is a large auddience, people at the back may not be able to see the screen clearly and would really appreciate having copies of the slides.

Simple Past for Beginners

Read the following discussion using the simple past tense

Robert: Hi Alice, what did you do last weekend?
Alice: I did a lot of things. On Saturday, I went shopping.
Robert: What did you buy?
Alice: I bought some new clothes. I also played tennis.
Robert: Who did you play?
Alice: I played Tom.
Robert: Did you win?
Alice: Of course I won!
Robert: What did you do after your tennis match.
Alice: Well, I went home and took a shower and then went out.
Robert: Did you eat in a restaurant?
Alice: Yes, my friend Jacky and I ate at ‘The Good Fork’
Robert: Did you enjoy your dinner?
Alice: Yes, we enjoyed our dinner very much thank you. We also drank some wonderful wine!
Robert: Unfortunately, I didn’t go out this weekend. I didn’t eat in a restaurant and I didn’t play tennis.
Alice: What did you do?
Robert: I stayed home and studied for my test!
Alice: Poor you!

Take a look at the following conjugation chart. Notice from the above dialogue and following chart that the simple past is used to describe what happened at a specific time in the past – last weekend in the above dialogue.

Two hundred NOT two hundreds

NOTE: British English takes ‘and’ between ‘hundred and …’ American English omits ‘and’. In the examples below, this is represented: (AND)

Hundreds

350 – three hundred (AND) fifty 425 – four hundred (AND) twenty five

Thousands

15,560 – fifteen thousand five hundred (AND) sixty 786,450 – seven hundred (AND) six thousand four hundred (AND) fifty

Millions

2,450,000 – two million four hundred (AND) fifty thousands 234,700,000 – two hundred (AND) thirty-four million seven hundred thousand

Speaking About Numbers

Numbers are read in the following manner in English:

million, thousand, hundred

Example:

2,350,400 => two million three hundred (AND) fifty thousand four hundred

NOTE – Remember: Use ‘and’ only between hundreds in British English. American English leaves the ‘and’ out.

Decimals

Read decimals as the given number point XYZ

2.36=>two point three six

Percentages

Read percentages as the number followed by ‘percent’

37%=>thirty seven percent

Fractions

Read the top number as a cardinal number, followed by the ordinal number + ‘s’

3/8=>three eighths

NOTE: ¼ =>one quarter, 2/3 => two thirds, ½ one half

Expressions

Here are the descriptive names of a number of important numerical expressions:

Speed 100 mph (miles per hour)
Weight 80 kg (kilograms) OR 42 lbs (pounds)
telephone number 0171 895 7056
decimal .087
date 12/04/65
percentage 75%
temperature 28° C (celsius) OR 72° F (fahrenheit)
height 1 m 89 cm
price $60
fraction 8/13
score 2-1

Would you like to practice your understanding of numbers? Here are some listening exercises:

Basic Number Pronunciation
Beginning Level Numbers Quiz
Understanding Numbers 1 (beginner)
Understanding Numbers 2 (beginner)
Understanding Numbers 3 (intermediate)
Understanding Numbers 4 (intermediate)