After going through my two semesters in university, I found out that I have some difficulties when writing my essays.
The first difficulty I encountered would be the generation of ideas. Often, during the pre-writing stage, I found out that I would have insufficient points or examples to support my ideas. Also, most of my points or examples would be either unspecific or irrelevant. Thus, most of my ideas could not be communicated well to the readers due to the unclear points and examples.
The main reason for the lack of ideas is due to insufficient reading. Hence, in order to improve, I would read up more articles from magazines and newspapers. In situations where I need information instantly, articles from websites would be the best option. However, reliability would be the main the concern here. Therefore, I would check the sources and authors of the website before I use anything form them.
Vocabulary is my next difficulty. In my writing assignments, I have found out that I would repeat some of the words throughout the essay. Although it is not grammatically wrong, it lacks style and would not leave a good impression to the readers.
The main reason here, again, is the lack of reading. Thus, to improve this difficulty, I would have to read up on more articles, preferably from magazines.
To summarise, my difficulties in university writing would be the lack of ideas and vocabulary. The reason for both is due to the insufficient reading of relevant articles. Therefore, I would have to read up more if I hope to improve my writings.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
My Three Common Mistakes
After writing two essays for this module, I found out that there are some grammar mistakes which are commonly found in my essays.
The first common mistake that I made is the wrong use of articles. Usually, articles are used with common nouns or noun phrases. Articles such as "a" or "an" are used when the noun is singular, countable and nonspecific, for example, " an apple" or " a door". Articles like "the" is used when the noun is specified or known between the writer and reader. Articles are not used at all when the noun is general or uncountable, such as "water" or "oil". An example of my mistake is "... if that person has the passion and interest ...". The article "the" should be deleted and not used at all as the word "passion" is uncountable and general. Hence, the correct version should be "... if that person has passion and interest ...".
Another common mistake made would be the use of punctuations, specifically commas. Commas can be divided into four main categories: introducers, coordinators, inserters and tags. An introduer comma follows any elements that comes in front of the first independent clause in a sentence. An example is " Therefore, I decided to quit." Coordinator commas is used with a coordinating conjunction, for example, "She was tired, so she went home early." An inserter comma is used before and after any element that is inserted into the middle of an independent clause. An example would be "My brother, thus, decided to quit." A tag comma is used when adding certain elementsvto the end of a sentence, such as, "It is not right, is it?" My mistake in using the comma is "... the mindsets of people such as being..." The correct version should be " ...the mindsets of people, such as being..."
The third mistake that I made is the subject verb agreement. The verb used must agree with the subject in the same sentence. The "-s" or "-es" is used on a present simple tense verb with a third person singular, while for first or second person singular, or third person plural, there is no "s" or "es". An example of my mistake is "... the gravity measurement, which cost less..." The correct version should be "... the gravity measurement, which costs less..." since gravity measurement is third person singular and a "s" should be added to the verb.
The first common mistake that I made is the wrong use of articles. Usually, articles are used with common nouns or noun phrases. Articles such as "a" or "an" are used when the noun is singular, countable and nonspecific, for example, " an apple" or " a door". Articles like "the" is used when the noun is specified or known between the writer and reader. Articles are not used at all when the noun is general or uncountable, such as "water" or "oil". An example of my mistake is "... if that person has the passion and interest ...". The article "the" should be deleted and not used at all as the word "passion" is uncountable and general. Hence, the correct version should be "... if that person has passion and interest ...".
Another common mistake made would be the use of punctuations, specifically commas. Commas can be divided into four main categories: introducers, coordinators, inserters and tags. An introduer comma follows any elements that comes in front of the first independent clause in a sentence. An example is " Therefore, I decided to quit." Coordinator commas is used with a coordinating conjunction, for example, "She was tired, so she went home early." An inserter comma is used before and after any element that is inserted into the middle of an independent clause. An example would be "My brother, thus, decided to quit." A tag comma is used when adding certain elementsvto the end of a sentence, such as, "It is not right, is it?" My mistake in using the comma is "... the mindsets of people such as being..." The correct version should be " ...the mindsets of people, such as being..."
The third mistake that I made is the subject verb agreement. The verb used must agree with the subject in the same sentence. The "-s" or "-es" is used on a present simple tense verb with a third person singular, while for first or second person singular, or third person plural, there is no "s" or "es". An example of my mistake is "... the gravity measurement, which cost less..." The correct version should be "... the gravity measurement, which costs less..." since gravity measurement is third person singular and a "s" should be added to the verb.
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