Pat Fredshaw's Posts

Boosting Your English Writing Skills - 13 Tips

Posted by Pat Fredshaw on November 17, 2015

Really good writers are a minority. Although writing is a major part of high school and college coursework, most people are not motivated enough to improve their writing skills – probably because most professions do not require huge amounts of writing. If, however, you write for a living, you need to make sure that your writing skills are, frankly, stunning. This means good grammar and composition, but it also means your own unique style creativity, and critical thinking. Here are 13 tips that will be lifelong, because becoming a better writer never stops.Fine Tune Your Basic SkillsIf you have deficits, you probably know what they are. Do you tend to write run-on sentences? Or fragments? Do you have problems with subject-verb agreement or placement of adverbs? The best thing you can do is get a good grammar and composition reference book – something like Elements of Style. When you have a question, you can look it up – this book is well-organized by specific grammatical elements.Read, Read, ReadOne of the things that research shows when it has evaluated writing skills among students who read well, tend to be better writers. This is reasonable, because the more someone reads good writing, the more it is absorbed. Readers have larger vocabularies and better writing styles too, so there’s a good incentive. And you can read whatever you like – science fiction, mystery novels, favorite non-fiction, etc. Reading academic and scholarly pieces may not be your best choice, however, because if you are writing content, that style is just not suitable.Write as Much as PossibleWhen you learned how to ride a bike; when your learned how to read; when you learned your multiplication tables – you practiced. Writing is no different. You must force yourself to write, and there really are not shortcuts here. – Learning to write well is a process that involves writing, identifying your errors, fixing them, and writing again.Take a WorkshopYour community college offers writing courses and workshops with all sorts of purposes – remedial writing for those with skill deficits; writing for publication; creative writing. Sign up for one – you will get some solid instruction.Find Writing Groups to JoinThere are both online and offline groups of writers that exist to share their work, to provide evaluations and to make suggestions. These can be really invaluable. Consider joining one if only online. You will get to read some great and not-so-great writing, and you will get support that you need to keep working on your skills and talents.Find an Author You Love to Read – Study and ImitateIf there is an author you love to read and whose style you would like to develop, take a closer look. Take a piece s/he has written – a chapter of a novel, a short story, an essay, and really analyze. How are the sentences structured? If you are a content writer find a blog writer you love to read. What about his/her style appeals to you? How is the topic introduced? What are the transitions between sub-topics? Are there phrases that have a lot of impact? You will probably see certain commonalities among the blogs that really engage you.• They have openings that make you want to read on – whether that is a story, some surprising facts, a joke, etc.• The make their points in an organized way.• They may add some humor• They may be a bit “punchy” when they make their pointsThese are all things you can learn to do. It takes practice and it takes some thought before you being. A lot of bloggers say they leave their introductions for the end, because they want to think about them as they write the “meat” of the piece.Print out a blog or two that you really like. Pick a different topic and see if you can imitate the structure and style – with practice you will be able to do this well.Remember – your success as a writer builds with time – take each step toward success and feel good about yourself.Always Start with an Outline, No Matter How Rough it isYou created a lot of outlines as a student, and you “know the drill.” Fortunately, your outlines for what you write now are for your purposes not those of your teacher. Do whatever works for you to organize your content, but do get it organized before you write – even a list of the order in which you will cover those sub-topics.Be Your Worst EnemyWhen you finish a piece of writing walk away from it for just a bit. Come back and be the worst English teacher you ever had. Print it out and go over it with a “red pen.” Get rid of unnecessary wording. Shorten those long sentences. Find “weak” words and replace them with powerful ones.Read Your Writing Out Loud to YourselfFirst, you find a lot of your own mistakes, because, if you have good verbal language skills, you will automatically realize what isn’t right.Second, you will be able to see if the whole thing makes sense, if it flows well, and if the detail you have put in really supports the point you are making.Best of all worlds? Find a friend or team member who is willing to read it and be an “enemy” too.First Drafts are Usually Pretty BadDon’t become frustrated. If you only knew how many great writers re-write their stuff several times before publishing it. Just think of yourself as being among the “greats” if you end up re-writing a few times – they do it too.And if you have an editor who seems to pick apart everything? Live with it. That’s their job. If you really want to write, and you have editors reviewing your work, you need to develop a really thick skin.Keep it SimpleIf you have ever read Hemingway, and I hope you have, you will understanding simplicity of style. If you can’t find an author you really like, then get a copy of Old Man and the Sea and study it. A 7th grader can understand it. Write like Hemingway.Don’t Cut Corners on the ResearchIf you need support for your points, or you need to gather some knowledge yourself before you write, take the time to do it right. Don’t be lazy – making up statistics or failing to cite sources – you look unprofessional, and you won’t be trusted in the future.Don’t Beat it to DeathNo piece of writing will ever be perfect. You could re-write a hundred times and still go back and change even more. At some point, you have to stop and say, “This is a good piece of writing, and it will stand as it is.” At some point, if only because of a deadline, it has to be finished.Be nice to yourself. You know you want to write; you know that getting better is a process; you know that every kind of writing needs a different style. The style you need now may not be one you are used to, but it can become one in which you excel with some work.

Boosting Your English Writing Skills - 13 Tips

Posted by Pat Fredshaw on November 17, 2015

Really good writers are a minority. Although writing is a major part of high school and college coursework, most people are not motivated enough to improve their writing skills – probably because most professions do not require huge amounts of writing. If, however, you write for a living, you need to make sure that your writing skills are, frankly, stunning. This means good grammar and composition, but it also means your own unique style creativity, and critical thinking. Here are 13 tips that will be lifelong, because becoming a better writer never stops.Fine Tune Your Basic SkillsIf you have deficits, you probably know what they are. Do you tend to write run-on sentences? Or fragments? Do you have problems with subject-verb agreement or placement of adverbs? The best thing you can do is get a good grammar and composition reference book – something like Elements of Style. When you have a question, you can look it up – this book is well-organized by specific grammatical elements.Read, Read, ReadOne of the things that research shows when it has evaluated writing skills among students who read well, tend to be better writers. This is reasonable, because the more someone reads good writing, the more it is absorbed. Readers have larger vocabularies and better writing styles too, so there’s a good incentive. And you can read whatever you like – science fiction, mystery novels, favorite non-fiction, etc. Reading academic and scholarly pieces may not be your best choice, however, because if you are writing content, that style is just not suitable.Write as Much as PossibleWhen you learned how to ride a bike; when your learned how to read; when you learned your multiplication tables – you practiced. Writing is no different. You must force yourself to write, and there really are not shortcuts here. – Learning to write well is a process that involves writing, identifying your errors, fixing them, and writing again.Take a WorkshopYour community college offers writing courses and workshops with all sorts of purposes – remedial writing for those with skill deficits; writing for publication; creative writing. Sign up for one – you will get some solid instruction.Find Writing Groups to JoinThere are both online and offline groups of writers that exist to share their work, to provide evaluations and to make suggestions. These can be really invaluable. Consider joining one if only online. You will get to read some great and not-so-great writing, and you will get support that you need to keep working on your skills and talents.Find an Author You Love to Read – Study and ImitateIf there is an author you love to read and whose style you would like to develop, take a closer look. Take a piece s/he has written – a chapter of a novel, a short story, an essay, and really analyze. How are the sentences structured? If you are a content writer find a blog writer you love to read. What about his/her style appeals to you? How is the topic introduced? What are the transitions between sub-topics? Are there phrases that have a lot of impact? You will probably see certain commonalities among the blogs that really engage you.• They have openings that make you want to read on – whether that is a story, some surprising facts, a joke, etc.• The make their points in an organized way.• They may add some humor• They may be a bit “punchy” when they make their pointsThese are all things you can learn to do. It takes practice and it takes some thought before you being. A lot of bloggers say they leave their introductions for the end, because they want to think about them as they write the “meat” of the piece.Print out a blog or two that you really like. Pick a different topic and see if you can imitate the structure and style – with practice you will be able to do this well.Remember – your success as a writer builds with time – take each step toward success and feel good about yourself.Always Start with an Outline, No Matter How Rough it isYou created a lot of outlines as a student, and you “know the drill.” Fortunately, your outlines for what you write now are for your purposes not those of your teacher. Do whatever works for you to organize your content, but do get it organized before you write – even a list of the order in which you will cover those sub-topics.Be Your Worst EnemyWhen you finish a piece of writing walk away from it for just a bit. Come back and be the worst English teacher you ever had. Print it out and go over it with a “red pen.” Get rid of unnecessary wording. Shorten those long sentences. Find “weak” words and replace them with powerful ones.Read Your Writing Out Loud to YourselfFirst, you find a lot of your own mistakes, because, if you have good verbal language skills, you will automatically realize what isn’t right.Second, you will be able to see if the whole thing makes sense, if it flows well, and if the detail you have put in really supports the point you are making.Best of all worlds? Find a friend or team member who is willing to read it and be an “enemy” too.First Drafts are Usually Pretty BadDon’t become frustrated. If you only knew how many great writers re-write their stuff several times before publishing it. Just think of yourself as being among the “greats” if you end up re-writing a few times – they do it too.And if you have an editor who seems to pick apart everything? Live with it. That’s their job. If you really want to write, and you have editors reviewing your work, you need to develop a really thick skin.Keep it SimpleIf you have ever read Hemingway, and I hope you have, you will understanding simplicity of style. If you can’t find an author you really like, then get a copy of Old Man and the Sea and study it. A 7th grader can understand it. Write like Hemingway.Don’t Cut Corners on the ResearchIf you need support for your points, or you need to gather some knowledge yourself before you write, take the time to do it right. Don’t be lazy – making up statistics or failing to cite sources – you look unprofessional, and you won’t be trusted in the future.Don’t Beat it to DeathNo piece of writing will ever be perfect. You could re-write a hundred times and still go back and change even more. At some point, you have to stop and say, “This is a good piece of writing, and it will stand as it is.” At some point, if only because of a deadline, it has to be finished.Be nice to yourself. You know you want to write; you know that getting better is a process; you know that every kind of writing needs a different style. The style you need now may not be one you are used to, but it can become one in which you excel with some work.

10 Online Resources for Learning to Speak English Like a Native

Posted by Pat Fredshaw on October 5, 2015

English is widely regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn due to the complexities of the rules of grammar and pronunciation along with the variations in usage that depend on geographical area, and even the background of the person speaking. Many of the classes available that teach English focus on teaching English that is very formal and that adheres to the rules of grammar and structure. This can be a great way to begin learning the language, but it does not guarantee that you will learn to speak English like a native speaker. If you want to learn to speak English like your English speaking friends and co-workers, take a look at these 10 online resources.

1.   The English Learner Movie Guides

Part of learning the English language is gaining an understanding of slang, idioms,            colloquialisms, and other uses of the language that isn't quite 'by the book'. One great way to get an education in this is through watching movies. The English Learner Movie Guides is a website where the plots of various movies are discussed with explanations about the terms and phrases used in the movies that are geared towards helping non English speakers gain a better understanding.

2.      LiveMocha

LiveMocha offers you the opportunity to learn English through both social experiences (conversations), and direct learning opportunities (courses and lessons). Join up and you will        have the chance to interact with the other 2 million + LiveMocha members.

3. Essay Supply

Essay Supply is a great website for ESL students who need extra assistance with their writing assignments due to deficits they have in understanding and expressing themselves via written English. Those who wish to learn to speak better English can also read the various blogs on website for educational insight and examples of proper written English.

4.      Verba Learn

You can use VerbaLearn as your free online educational source for learning vocabulary words     and commonly used English phrases. Study mediums include flashcards, games, video, and    audio learning methods.

5.      Activities for ESL Students

Take a look at A4ESL.ORG. You can choose from an amazing variety of bilingual quizzes, puzzles, vocabulary quizzes, and grammar quizzes. There are even some teaching resources for those who are helping others to speak English as well as a native can.

6.   English Speak

Englishspeak.com is a website that uses simple audio playback to help you learn spoken English. You begin by listening to various conversations ranging from quite simple to more        complex. As you listen to the conversations, you can read along in order to associate the written word with the spoken. If you struggle to understand English when it is spoken too quickly, you         can use the option to listen to conversations that have been slowed down.

7.   Talk English

Talk English uses the concept of memorization as a means to learn language. The idea is that in order to speak English, you must listen to English and then learn the language by repeating correctly used sentences and phrases until you have committed them to memory.

8.   DailyStep

This website was formed by an English teacher who realized that her ESL students often had great skills when it came to writing and reading in English, but struggled with verbal     communication using English. To fix this problem, she created a teaching method that focuses on improving communications skills for ESL individuals. This is a premium service, but you can try a few lessons for free before committing to more

9. Word2Word

Word 2 Word is essentially an online repository of resources for anybody who wants to learn to speak English. You can select from choices that will lead you to Youtube videos, online translators, dictionaries, classes, and chatrooms. Each resource has been specifically designed to     help non English speakers improve and develop their skills.

10. Effortless English Club

Many non English speakers struggle to learn to speak English in a way that sounds natural, is not slow, and otherwise matches the tone and tempo of native English speakers. This deficit causes many people to feel embarrassed about their English skills. Effortless English Club provides an online course that is specifically dedicated to helping people learn to speak English        in a way that sounds natural and is easy to understand.