What are you most anxious about, when writing? For example, do you worry most about grammar and mechanics? About organization? About the deadline? About page length? Why?
As I come from Switzerland my first language is French. So most of the time I had to write in French. I also had to write in English and in German but it was a little bit different. For example in French the idea and structure was much more important than in German and English (in those classes vocabulary and grammar where also counting a lot). I didn't really struggle with the vocabulary or the grammar because I was good in learning languages.
The things that I am not very good at are more having good ideas that fit the quote I need to write about, explain them correctly and have a good text organization. Most of the time I don't have a clear idea of what I want to write so it is hard to have a good structure. I kind of stay around the idea and do not develop it enough as I should. Because of this I usually don't have enough words on my paper and I try to say as many things as I can about this subject.
I also am anxious about other people reading my essays because I don't usually think that they are very good. Moreover in FSU we are going to write only in English as if it was my language so I hope my level isn't to bad and that I won't have too many issues with it.
I haven't had bad grades in writing composition but I know I can improve a lot. I have to find a way of having a clear idea of what I want to say and develop it clearly and I hope this course is going to help me.
As I come from Switzerland my first language is French. So most of the time I had to write in French. I also had to write in English and in German but it was a little bit different. For example in French the idea and structure was much more important than in German and English (in those classes vocabulary and grammar where also counting a lot). I didn't really struggle with the vocabulary or the grammar because I was good in learning languages.
The things that I am not very good at are more having good ideas that fit the quote I need to write about, explain them correctly and have a good text organization. Most of the time I don't have a clear idea of what I want to write so it is hard to have a good structure. I kind of stay around the idea and do not develop it enough as I should. Because of this I usually don't have enough words on my paper and I try to say as many things as I can about this subject.
I also am anxious about other people reading my essays because I don't usually think that they are very good. Moreover in FSU we are going to write only in English as if it was my language so I hope my level isn't to bad and that I won't have too many issues with it.
I haven't had bad grades in writing composition but I know I can improve a lot. I have to find a way of having a clear idea of what I want to say and develop it clearly and I hope this course is going to help me.
The last blog I just commented on, Morgane's, discussed how English is not their first language either. Once I started reading your blog post I thought it was cool that there are so many diverse students in my class with me. As for the quotes, I also struggle with finding a way to include them in my paper and have it make sense. What I've learned to do is I write my entire paper without quotes and once I am done I go and find quotes that fit with each paragraph. That usually helps better than having to build a paragraph based on a quote you have earlier selected.
ReplyDeleteI took two years of German in High School so I definitely understand where you are coming from with the structure leeway in that specific language. As for the quotes, I agree with both you and Erin where quotes can be a struggle. I find it easier to find the quotes initially while mapping out ideas and topics. By doing this, it gives you enough time to fully comprehend the quote you have chosen and find a good way to integrate it in your piece of work rather than trying to find a quote that already matches your work. Sometimes when you pick them last they will not flow as well as you would like them to.
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