I have the impression that students found the in-class write challenging today.
Please write a short comment on what you found difficult (and anything you found easy) while doing the writing on Friday. Do you have any suggestions to help you improve your writing in the future?
Write your comment before coming to class next Wednesday. Please also read the handout, Developing a Media Education Language: From Persuasive Techniques to Analytical Tools. Have a safe and happy Halloween and stay dry . . .
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13 comments:
What I found difficult in the class writing paragraph, last Friday, was my weak English diction. As a master in dramatic literature, I used to analyze and critic many plays, stories and movies. However, I am not a master in English, and this weakness bothers me because my English knowledge is not in my real measures of knowledge and skills. Any time that I read the new story, I face with new vocabularies. This barrier is killing me to death. My nerves are breaking, and I feel exasperated. How long I have to learn English to be a master in it?
On the other hand, analyzing and criticism are very familiar to me. When I am reading a story, I can understand the theme, characters, and the main ideas of writer faster than many of students. I know, but this is my master. I do not do any magic; I learned how to analyze and do critics.
At the beginning of our writing test on Friday, I got difficulty understanding one of the questions and knowing what I was supposed to write about. My English burrier caused me lose some times focusing more in one part of the questions, so I found myself in a position of a weak and dissatisfy student. I got to know that I need more reading practice in order to gain some new vocabularies and grasp the meaning of words easily. However, writing comparison paragraph was full of excitement because it gave me an opportunity to know my ability in comparing or finding differences or similarities between two things.
Sonya and Neela, thank you for emphasizing the importance of good vocabulary (and diction, the more important as it implies knowing which word to choose among the many choices offered by English). English is a nuanced language, with many words possible to convey very similar, though distinct, meanings.
I understand Sonya's frustration, that English is "killing me" and can relate to the "barrier" that Neela speaks of. I think that you can build on your dissatisfaction and frustration by using that energy to improve. One of my primary reasons for you to have time and practice writing is to give you a chance to use what you know and are learning as often as possible.
I look forward to other responses.
What frustrated me about the in-class writing was I could not get the exact vocabulary I wanted to use even though I had a dictionary. In addition, clearly putting my thoughts into writing was another problem I had with the in- class writing. Do you have any suggestions that could help me with these problems, Brad or any of my classmates?
Last Friday, What I found difficult was my limited vocabulary, which caused me trouble of expressing my thoughts and choosing a proper word is so difficult and I am so disappointed, but inspired to strive harder.
If only I could have the magic to know everything but I don’t have that knowledge power yet. It means I needed to read, write and write more often.
Indeed, last Friday writing is a challenged and it reminded me to strive hardest. Please Brad I need your help so badly.
What I suggest is to provide us more websites to further study for better improvement and more opportunity in writing.
Brad thanks for all your effort and information to improve my language skills especially writing. To me, your love for Education is an inspiration and it’s infectious.
Usually, when I read a question, I have more than one answer to explain. That is not a big problem because after a deep thinking, I can deal with the best answer that I think is good to express. However, my difficulty is the use of quotation. What I mean is I confuse between the direct speech and the indirect one (paraphrase). I don’t know when is necessary to refer to the speaker and when is not. For example, sometimes we say the narrator said,…but other times when we are explaining an important theme or a strong idea about the story, we can’t cut our explanation by referring directly to the speaker of the quote. If the answer is we have to paraphrase, therefore, my request will be how to do that in a nice way? Also, I would be happy if you (Brad) teach us some more techniques of using quotation and paraphrase in writing.
Not only while doing in-class writing on Friday but also other writing,my biggest problem is that I am lacking in the knowledge of habits and logic of English language. I used to translate my thought to writing,so it must cause less beautiful ones . Of causse, vocabulary is also my nightmare, and I know "Rome was not built in a day". All these problems would be solved by lots of reading and writing practice, I believe.
To comparison paragraphs, I have the similar feeling with Neela's. Besides, I think it's easier to find something to start my writing than other kind of paragraphs. I sort of like that.
Hi Everyone, We will work with the stories once again on Wednesday in order to continue our practice. Really, however, your in-class writing went pretty well (better than the 12s, but then they did have harder and much longer stories to write about). In answer to Makassia and Fannie, I would say that, sometimes, time is the only answer to the question of how to get better. It takes time and it goes slowly. Language learning is much like a staircase: each new level can go on for a while without any visible sign of improvement until, suddenly, you reach the next step (where you will be frustrated again for a time!). Your patience is required; your dedication to the task is wonderful!
I felt some difficulties when I worked at in-class writing last Friday because they were totally different with the comparison paragraphs I studied before. I have never written a paragraph, which I need to compare two stories. It was a really challenge since it required me to understand and analyze the stories very well and to express my thoughts in a proper method. To improve writing, I don’t think there are some shortcuts. The only way is to read more and write more.
What I found difficulty in last friday's writing is that I can not express some complicated thoughts in English. I can express them in my native language, but when I write in English, I found it's difficulty for me to express them clearly and accurately. Like other student, vocabulary is always a big problem to me. I think we are not able to slove these problems easily and quickly. I agree with Brad's opinion, improvement bases on accumulation.
The most difficult thing to write a comment for a short story is analyzing the techniques. That is really my weakness not because I do not know the techniques but because I do not know how to express myself in proper English. So every time, I do not choose this topic but choose to analyze the personalities or other aspects which I feel I can handle. I think I should make great efforts to write different styles of comments in the future.
Well, my difficulty of writing in class test is the time. I have to carfully time myself so that I will not be left behind. That caused a certain amount of tension which your brain might not function as you normally do, in a relaxed state.
At last Friday’s in class writing, I was a little confused about the difinition about “ indirectly presenting a character” in the first topic. At first I thought that I should compare the two characters in the stories, as a second thought, I realized that it is about the writing skills. My limited vocabulary is the biggest problem for my writing. I felt that in class writing is a real challenge for me. To improve it I should read the articles more carefully, and practise writing more.
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