Hi!
I hope you've made it this far. If so, welcome to the Spring 2012 Writing and Grammar 5 blog. On this blog, you will write about various topics and read about what other students have to say about these topics. More than anything, I'd like our blog to provide a forum for you to express your ideas and opinions. Therefore, it is important that you spend some time thinking about and writing your response. The more you write, the more interesting your response will be for me and the other students to read! At the same time, don't worry too much about having perfect grammar. The important thing is that you express your ideas fully (with enough information to understand what you want to say) and clearly (in a way everyone who reads it can understand).
For our warm-up question, I'd like you to write about your goals for this class. More specifically, what are 3 personal goals that you have for Writing and Grammar 5 this semester. These goals can be quite specific or more general. Please explain why each goal is important.
Thanks for writing. I look forward to reading your responses.
Josh
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I have many goals this semester in writing and grammar class. First,I hope to improve the grammar in my writing,because it is my important problem. Second,I want to make my writing better. For example,the strategies for writing essays. In addition,I wish to use the academic vocabularies that I studied and memorized in writing. Finally,I hope that in the end f this semester I will become good in writing.
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DeleteHi Aisha,
DeleteBased on what I've seen of your writing so far, I'd say that you are already a good writer. However, there are activities and strategies we will do in class this spring to make you an even better writer.
Here is a small comment that might help you improve your writing:
Transitions like "for example," "also," and "moreover," are ALWAYS followed by an independent clause. In your response, you say "For example, the strategies for writing essays." Now, I understand your idea, but this is not a complete sentence. You need a subject and a verb.Here's an example:
-->For example, I want to learn strategies for writing essays.
This is a very common problem in students' writing, but it's an easy one to fix!
My first goal is quickly writing. When I write something, I think about it seriously so don't hit upon clear ideas. I want to change this before the end of this class. Next goal is trying not to forget this blog and writing in short time because I'm poor at typing therefore this activity also takes a long time. Last is using many kinds of grammar and a lot of vocabularies. Sometimes I wrote same words and used same grammar again and again. I need learn more vocabularies besides attempting to use different grammar.
ReplyDeleteHi Kate,
DeleteI think that writing on the class blog will definitely help you type faster. Including variety in our writing is a big part of this class. I hope to be able to encourage you to use variety in your grammar and vocabulary.
Here are two small (related) comments on punctuation in your writing:
1) remember to add a comma before FANBOYS whenthese conjunctions connect two independent clauses (see sentence #3 above);
2) put a semi-colon (;) before and a comma after transitions like "therefore," "thus," and "moreover." You can also put a period before these transitions.
Examples:
I stayed up all night, so I was tired in class.
I stayed up all night; therefore, I was tired in class. (or . Therefore,)
Hi everyone
ReplyDeleteThe best goal in my life will be when I improve my English and graduate ELI with good grades in order to be able to study at The University of Montana. My main goal is to improve my writing and grammar first because of my major I want to go to International Relation (Diplomat)at The University of Montana so in future I will face writing a lot. Before when I was back in my home I hated writing I just wanted to study abroad and speak with their language and have a lot of friend but I didn't imagine that I will study at US, and at this University and also I will try to improve my writing and grammar. When I came to US and studied first couple months, then I got how writing and grammar is important, and everyone must to improve grammar and writing. Previous semester was challenging for me because I never studied like this how people are studying here in US. I hope "INSHAALLOH" to not make any absents and come to all classes and try my best to improve my writing and grammar. And also I want to thank Josh for this spectacular thought creating a blog which we can freely write our thoughts and improve our writing. I highly appreciate for what he did, thank you.
I didn't know that you wanted to be a diplomat. What an interesting career choice! You will need to do a lot of writing (in English I would guess) for this type of job. I'm looking forward to reading your a thoughts on this blog.
DeleteTo improve your punctuation for FANBOYS and transitions (also, for example, etc.), see my comment above on Kate's response.
You also want to be careful with run-on sentences. Run-on sentences are when you have two sentences next to other that are not separated with a period OR connected with a connecting word. If you look at sentence #2 (My main goal....) and sentence #3 (Before when I...), you might see that both sentences have independent clauses right next to each other with no punctuation or connecting word between them. To fix this problem, try to add a period or connecting word.
To fix sentence #2, I would simply add a period:
My main goal is to improve my writing and grammar first because of my major. I want to go.....
Go ahead and try to fix sentence #3!
I think I have 2 goals. Writing is my strong point. I like to write something I like in delay life. I practiced TOEFL IBT writing for 1 year. So, usually I know how to organize an essay and make it more tidy. Also I can writing fast and make sure they are still OK to read, because of the TOEFL IBT. I always like to finish an essay within 30 minute. I can't and don't like to spend a lot of time in an essay. But now I try to edited the essay a few times to make it perfectly. The other one is I like to listen others advice and discuss with them. I think it can make me better, also it is the fast ways to find other idea in my essay. It is not a embarrassing thing. It is a best way to keep in the right way. I'm lucky to have some nice classmate and an excellent teacher.It is my pleasure.
ReplyDeleteHi Bohan,
DeleteOne thing that you certainly have is smart, friendly classmates. I'm sure that it will be very beneficial to hear their ideas and advice on your writing. One thing we will do in this class is peer editing. During this activity, other students will read your paragraph/essay and offer their suggestions. I think you'll enjoy this type of "peer feedback."
There really aren't any major grammar errors here, so instead of writing out a new comment on your grammar, I will simply direct you to two comments above, both of which should help your writing:
1) To improve your punctuation for FANBOYS and transitions (also, for example, etc.), see my comment above on Kate's response.
2) You also have a run-on sentence; see my comments under Oyatullokhi's response to help with this problem.
First of all, learning correct grammar and getting various writing patterns are my goal in this Writing and grammar class. Grammar is important not only writing but also conversations. Second goal is to learn a lot of vocabulary and idioms. I think my most weak point in English is the lack of vocabulary and incorrect vocabulary. English has huge quantities of vocabulary. When I use English (speak, read and write), I often feel my lack of vocabulary. So I have to remember more and more vocabulary. Final goal is enjoy writing. If I wrote English essays or something, I might feel more interesting to write. It might not enjoy writing always, but I am going to back to Japan after this semester. So I want to enjoy life in Missoula including writing class. I have these 3 goals. To study hard might be the only way to achieve it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Fumika,
DeleteI certainly hope that you enjoy writing in this class. To encourage you to enjoy what you write, I will always let you choose your own topics. If you choose something you're really interested, writing will be easier and more enjoyable.
Here are a couple of comments on your grammar/punctuation:
You use "So" at the beginning of two sentences. Review my comments above under Kate's response to help fix this problem.
You also use "most weak." Remember that for single syllable adjectives (strong, weak, bold, dark, sweet,) and adjectives that end in -y (happy, pretty), we simply add -est to the end of the adjective: strongest, weakest, happiest, etc. We use "most" with two or three syllable adjectives: most beautiful, most challenging, most memorable.
Hope this helps!
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