i have a hard time with my college english writing. english is my second language, what can i do to better my writing. esp. ESSAY . i took a writing class but it just did not help that much. any advice.
2007-02-05 02:13:59 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
Were you talking about writing essays in general or writing essays for your class? (Ideally, they should be the same but there's usually a difference)
If you were talking about essays for your class, you're much better off taking a 30 min appointment with your professor and sorting things out. Go to her/him with the following questions:
1. Where did I screw up in my previous essays? (word this differently :-) )
2. What makes a good essay?
a) How do I start the topics
b) How do I divide the topics
c) How do I know how much to write in each topic? (You don't want to write too much about one thing and too little about another)
d) Are there any specific punctuation rules and/or other rules that you absolutely care about? (for e.g., some professors love to have two spaces after every "." and some absolutely hate it when you start a sentence with "But")
3. Any other questions you may have
These are also the questions you have to ask yourself before writing any essay.
Other tips:
1. It also helps if you have someone else read your essay and give their opinions.
2. "Brainstorm." Spend some time thinking about what you're going to write before you actually start writing. Take a piece of paper and write a word or two about the things you think you "might" write about. Once you come up with a few of those, you can take a look at them, choose the ones you like and start "connecting them" in your essay.
Those are my 2 cents. Hope this helps.
2007-02-05 03:01:25 · answer #1 · answered by Mahurshi Akilla 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
English is my second language also, but I always get an A for my essays and papers. I am a Junior student in State University right now. What I did was took time to learn the basics. Without the fundamental understanding of any language, it is hard to write. Also, if you try to speak correctly, it would help as well. And get in the habit of using a dictionary with your own language, it helped me tremedously. Little things in everyday life helps. Good luck, you can do it!!
2007-02-05 10:27:50 · answer #2 · answered by Pluto 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most colleges and universities will have a writing tutoring service, which is often free for students. Ask a writing professor or academic counselor about tutoring. Where I worked, we even had tutors specifically trained to work with ESL students.
That might be the kind of one-on-one help you need to really make a difference, beyond what you learned in your writing class.
2007-02-05 11:00:43 · answer #3 · answered by espresso! 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't need help writing; you need help understanding how English is used. And for this, reading is your best bet. The more you read (English) the more you understand how to put the words together. Do enough reading, and the writing will come naturally.
2007-02-05 10:20:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can you write it in your native language and then translate? What kinds of problems are you having? Writing papers is something I am pretty good at so if you want you could email me one and I could help and give some advice.
2007-02-05 10:20:36 · answer #5 · answered by micheletmoore 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
read as much as you can, even if it's easier books to get a grasp of the language. you could also hire a tutor or ask someone to help you write your ideas out.
2007-02-05 10:20:07 · answer #6 · answered by wendy_da_goodlil_witch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋