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Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

Learn English Writing

Posted by About Tuesday, 17 December 2013 0 comments


For many ESL students learning to write good English is much more difficult than learning to speak. Even advanced level students face this problem. There are a number of reasons for this:

  • Written communication is more formal than spoken communication.
  • You have to avoid grammatical or spelling mistakes in written communication.
  • Spoken communication, on the other hand, isn’t exactly about grammar: It allows for more grammar mistakes. What’s more, you don’t have to learn spelling to speak.
  • People tend to think while writing; not much thought goes into speaking.
The following points can be helpful when considering how to learn English writing skills:
Speaking skills are something that we learn unconsciously. Writing, on the other hand, takes a conscious effort on the part of the learner.
Writing involves the learning of a number of rules and structures.

How to improve one’s writing skills

Good writing skills can be developed with practice. The first thing that you need to do is to learn the grammar rules. Although, you can speak without learning much grammar, you won’t be able to write correct sentences if your knowledge of grammar is poor. So if your job involves a lot of writing, there is no excuse for not learning the rules.
Learn different sentence patterns. These are the basic structures that we use to construct sentences. A basic understanding of the most common sentence patterns will help you to write numerous grammatically correct sentences.
Keep writing. That is true. Your writing skills improve with practice. Therefore, make it a habit to write at least 200 words a day. Keep a diary. In this digital age, blogging is perhaps better than writing a diary. Participate in online forums where people express their ideas in English.

Summarizing

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The summary of a passage is the passage in its shortened form. In a summary, we only express the main ideas. And to keep it short, we must express those ideas in as few words as possible.

What is a good summary?

A good summary must be complete in itself. It must contain all the important information in the passage so that a reader, who doesn’t have time to read the original passage, will have no difficulty in understanding what the passage is about.
The summary should be brief, clear and precise. That said, it should not be a number of disjointed simple sentences. You can use linking expressions to connect the ideas.
Give ideas, facts or points in the order in which they are given in the original passage.
If the original passage contains sentences in direct speech, it must be changed into indirect speech in the summary.
The summary must be written in the writer’s own words. As far as possible avoid using the same words that appear in the original passage.
A summary must not contain anything that is not in the original.

How to summarize a given passage?

Read the given passage carefully and try to understand what it means. If you don’t understand it by reading it once, read twice or thrice until you know the details.
Try to find out what the passage is about. Sometimes you will also need to find a suitable title for the summary.
After reading the passage prepare an outline summary containing all the important points.
Prepare your summary with the help of the outline. Do not refer to the original.
If the passage is in poetry, express its ideas in prose.

How to summarize a given passage

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In the busy world of today people have little time to read long winding reports and documents. Summaries, on the other hand, are easy to read. They are short and include only information that is relevant.Here are some guidelines for summarizing a passage.

Read the given passage to find out
  1. What the passage is about
  2. What its tone is
  3. What type of writing it is
Find a title for the passage
The title should be a brief statement of the central theme. It should be pointed, not vague.
Read the passage again, as carefully as possible trying to understand every sentence. Since you have already understood the central theme of the passage, it should be easy for you to find out what is important and what is not important.
Anything that is not related to the central theme is irrelevant or superfluous and should not be mentioned the summary.
In the passage the author may have expressed the same idea in different words for emphasis. There is no room for repetition of ideas in a summary.
Examples and illustrations are often easy to dispense with. If you find an example indispensable, it may be included in the summary.
Do not include quotations, metaphors, similes and other figures of speech.
Before you start writing the summary, jot down the important ideas in the passage. Do not copy words and phrases from the passage. As far as possible the summary should be written in your own words.

Paragraph writing tips

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A paragraph is the smallest unit of prose composition. It may be defined as a group of sentences relating to a single topic.

Every form of prose composition (e.g. letters, essays, stories) should be divided into paragraphs. A paragraph may be long or short. There are no rules regarding the size of a paragraph.
Tips on writing paragraphs
Unity of thought
A sentence deals with just one thought. In the same way, a paragraph should deal with only one central idea. The ideas need to be developed in a logical order. They must flow neatly between the paragraphs.
Use linking words
Use linking words to achieve the effect of unbroken continuity. For example, the words hence, so, therefore, but, and, or and then will connect the sentences and make the paragraph a well-knit whole. Use expressions like on the other hand, on the contrary, nevertheless, but, yet and still to contrast ideas or present alternatives.
The first sentence is the key sentence in a paragraph. It should introduce the central topic. The last sentence should round off the idea expressed in the paragraph.
Variety
Use varied sentence patterns in the sentence. There should be both long and short sentences. This rule of variety also applies to the size of the paragraphs. For example, put a short paragraph after a long one. It will afford variety and relief to the eye as well as to the mind.

Precis-writing

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A precis is a summary. Precis writing is an exercise in compression. A precis is the gist of a passage expressed in as few words as possible. A precis should give all essential points so that anyone reading it will be able to understand the idea expressed in the original passage.

Note that precis writing is different from paraphrasing. In a paraphrase you should give all the details: you should not leave out any details. A paraphrase will be at least as long and sometimes longer than the original. A precis, on the other hand, must always be shorter than the original. It should express only the main theme that too as briefly as possible.
How long should a precis be?
There are no rigid rules regarding the length of a precis. But as a general rule, it should not contain more than a third of the total number of words in the original passage.
Uses of precis writing
Most people read carelessly and fail to fully comprehend the meaning of the passage. Precis writing forces them to pay attention to what they read because no one can write a summary of a passage unless they read it carefully. So summarizing teaches one to read with concentration.
Precis writing also improves your overall writing skills. It teaches you how to express your thoughts clearly, concisely and effectively.You learn to choose your words carefully and construct your sentences in a logical and concise manner.

Contractions

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The forms like I’ve, don’t etc. are called contractions. There are two kinds:

Auxiliary verb + not
  • can’t (= cannot)
  • wouldn’t (= would not)
  • shouldn’t (= should not)
  • won’t (= will not)
  • haven’t (= have not)
  • isn’t (= is not)
  • You shouldn’t do it.
  • I can’t come.
  • He won’t go.
Noun / pronoun / etc + auxiliary verb
  • I’m. (= I am.)
  • She’s gone. (= She has gone.)
  • They’ve come. (= They have come.)
  • Where’s the station? (= Where is the station?)
  • Nobody’s there. (= Nobody is there.)
Contractions are formed with modal auxiliary verbs, and also with be and have when they are not auxiliary verbs.
The contracted form ‘s can be written after nouns, pronouns, questions words, here and now.
  • She’s ready. (= She is ready.)
  • Here’s our bus. (= Here is our bus.)
The short forms ‘ll, ‘d and ‘re are written after pronouns and unstressed there.
  • She’d like to talk to you. (= She would like to talk to you.)
  • You’re very late. (= You are very late.)
  • He’ll come. (= He will come.)
In other cases we usually write the full forms.
  • Alice will be surprised to find you here. (NOT Alice’ll be …)
Contractions are not usually written with double subjects.
  • John and I have decided to go on a vacation. (NOT John and I’ve decided to go on a vacation.)
Note that in a contraction the apostrophe goes in the same place as the letters that we leave out.
Examples are:
  • hasn’t = has not (NOT ha’snt)
  • they’d = they would (NOT the’yd)
Note that shan’t and won’t have only one apostrophe each although words are left out in more than one place.
  • shall not = shan’t
  • will not = won’t

Abbreviation, Acronym and Initialism

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Abbreviation

The label abbreviation refers to the practice of writing a word or phrase that could also be written out in full using only the letters of the alphabet. Examples are: Mr for mister, Dr for doctor and Capt for captain.
In British English full stops are uncommon after abbreviations that contain the first and last letters of the full expression. Examples are: Dr and Mr
In American English, full stops are common, and Mr. and Dr. are preferred.
An abbreviation usually does not have a distinct pronunciation of its own:  we pronounce Mr as ‘mister’ and ‘Dr’ as ‘doctor’. There are, nevertheless, a few exceptions to this rule. For example, the abbreviation p. for pence is sometimes pronounced as ‘pee’.
Acronym
An acronym is a word constructed from the initial letters of the main words in a phrase.  Examples are: LASER and SCUBA. An acronym can be pronounced as a word and it has the same meaning as the original phrase.
SCUBA for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
LASER for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation
NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Initialism
An intialism is a word constructed from the initial letters of the principal words in a phrase. It is formed in the same way as an acronym but cannot be pronounced as a word. Examples are: BBC for British Broadcasting Corporation and UNO for United Nations Organization.

Semicolon, Colon and Interrogation mark

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Semicolon (;)

The semicolon represents a longer pause than the comma. It is used to separate the clauses of a compound sentence, when they contain a comma.
  • He was a simple, unassuming man; yet we all respected him.
Note that the semicolon is usually followed by conjunctions like and, but, yet or or.
The semicolon is also used to separate clauses which are loosely connected in thought.
  • As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honor him.
  • Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; writing an exact man.
Colon (:)
The colon marks a more complete pause than that indicated by the semicolon. It has the following uses:
1. It is used to introduce a quotation.
  • Solomon says: “Of the making of books there is no end.”
2. To introduce a list of items.
  • The writers I look best are: Milton, Dickens and Shaw.
  • The problem is this: which came first, the hen or the egg.
3. Between sentences grammatically complete but closely related in thought.
  • Study to acquire a habit of thinking: no study is more important.
Interrogation mark (?)
The interrogation mark is used after a direct question:
  • What are you doing?
  • Where are you going?
  • How are you doing?
Note that the interrogation mark is not used after an indirect question.
  • He asked me what I was doing.
The interrogation mark is not used after a polite request or submission.
  • Would you mind passing the salt.

The Full Stop and Comma

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Punctuation is the right use of stops in a sentence.

The following are the principal punctuation marks in English.
Full stop (.)
Comma (,)
Semicolon (;)
Colon (:)
Interrogation mark (?)
Exclamation mark (!)
Inverted commas or Quotation marks (”)
The full stop
The full stop represents the longest pause. It is used:
a) at the end of an assertive or imperative sentence.
  • She is a good girl.
  • It is snowing.
  • Put it down.
  • Come here.
b) after abbreviations and initials
  • M.A.
  • Ph.D
  • M.P.
  • Ltd.
  • Dr.
  • Mr.
Note that full stops are not normally used after abbreviations in modern British English. However, full stops are common in American English.
Comma
The comma represents the shortest pause in a sentence. It is used:
a) to separate three or more words of the same parts of speech.
  • I want to buy a pencil, a sharpener, an eraser and a notebook.
  • He is efficient, hardworking and honest.
b) to mark off phrases in apposition.
  • Alice, my brother’s daughter, is a doctor.
c) to separate words or phrases inserted into the body of a sentence.
  • They, too, have expressed their interest in the offer.
  • The police did not, however, succeed in arresting the culprit.
d) to separate a subordinate clause that comes before the main clause.
Compare:
  • If it rains, we will cancel the trip.
  • We will cancel the trip if it rains.
  • When the bell rings, we will go to the class.
  • We will go to the class when the bell rings.

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