Search results for 'tag:Universities tag:Contractions' matching tags 'Universities' and 'Contractions'

Re: the checking of an important email

Grammar Geek — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:13:40 GMT

Dear (Not Hello)[addressee name],

My name is (don't use a contraction here) [my name], and Iâm a student of psychology at the University of Costa Rica. My research group is focused on ecological videos. Could you be a bit more specific? The person may want to know what you're looking at, exactly.

Because I hold you your contributions to this field in high regard, I would appreciate the opportunity to ask you some questions via e-mail about the creation and distribution of ecological videos.

I look forward to your reply.

Thank you,

[your name]

PS - Welcome to English Forums.

Re: need someone to read my motivation letter.. urgent??? =)

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:24:52 GMT

I am writing to apply for the Master degree program in Global Studies at *** University.

My career aim is in international organisation, working in the field of integration and cultural identity. Therefore I would like to gain a deeper theoretical knowledge in globalisation, media and communications, and ethnicity and cultural diversity - both from thematic and disciplinary perspectives. I believe the best place to achieve my career objectives is to study at *** University, earning the Master degree in Global Studies.

I graduated in Political Science and International Relations in October, 2007 with a grade of *** from the University of ***. I decided to focus my degree on human rights, approached from an historical, philosophical and sociological point of view. I also had the great opportunity to study abroad for a year, thanks to the Erasmus programme. I decided to come to Sweden, at *** University, where I attended the International law and Human Rights programme and Intercultural Studies programme. I passed both with distinction.

Today, I can honestly say I could not have made a better choice. That experience gave me the opportunity to know myself better and to grow, both as a person and as a student. I found myself being able to adjust easily to a different environment, to plan my time in the most productive way, and to develop strong relationships with my classmates from all over the world. The year abroad also had a great influence on my studies, thanks to my professors, with their enthusiasm and teaching methods.
The experience in Sweden not only gave me the idea and material for my final thesis, but also made me aware of the importance of an intercultural and multidisciplinary approach to the study of issues related to integration and cultural diversity.

My thesis is an analysis of the relationship between national identity and integration policy in Sweden, a topic that captured my attention when studying at VÃ¤xjÃ¶ University. I decided to elaborate on this subject on my own for my final work. I then decided to focus on the integration of migrants, an interest that not only considers the Scandinavian reality, but is extended to the whole European citizenry.

I have looked with attention at the programme of the Master in Global Studies and the wide range of available courses, together with the freedom given to the students to pick one of them based on personal preferences. This approach immediately got me interested.

I chose *** University because I liked how the programme is structured and the emphasis given to independent work methods, critical assessment, and the opportunity to do an internship or field work. Either of these would be very useful when seeking future employment. I am sure that a master in Global Studies will give me the method and knowledge to pursue a career in international or local organisations that focus on issues related to integration and cultural identity.

I am currently an intern at ***, a X company involved in the management of real estate projects in the X port area. Even though the work environment has nothing to do with my studies, I do think this experience is a great opportunity for me. I am learning the basic rules of conduct in a professional environment, the respect of schedules and working hours, the importance of team work, and personal responsibilities, as well as support and recognition of merit. I can say I am no longer fearful of not knowing how to do something, because I realise that asking for help is valued by those who have more experience, Thanks to this internship, I also had the opportunity to strengthen my weaknesses, both on a human and professional level.

I have been a member of the Scout movement since I was eight years old and I was a leader of my local section for two years. Thanks to all the experiences and meetings I had the chance to attend, I learnt the importance of responsibility, independence and autonomy, and the relevance of working and making decision as part of a team. I also learnt how to handle deadlines under pressure.

In July, 2006. I participated in a mission organized by a voluntary association called â***â in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as an international electoral observer for the presidential elections. That occasion helped to develop organizational skills and my ability to work in an international environment.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I am eager to gain new experiences and knowledge, and in my opinion, this program is the best way to achieve them. I am positive that *** University will give me a proper foundation and will be an excellent learning environment for my professional career.

Thank you very much for considering my application. I look forward to your positive response.

Sincerely,

_____________________-

Suggestions: shorter sentences, do spell-check, don't use contractions (I'm for I am) in this letter. Good luck! well written; I am sure you will do well!!

Re: Where to find daily conVerSation

Tanit — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:13:00 GMT

Hi K.,

I spent a whole year in the UK, doing a postgraduate course. To make things worse, I chose to go to Wales because Cardiff Uni is at the cutting edge in my field. Have you ever heard somebody speaking with a Welsh accent? For the first two months there, I only wanted to cry... In spite of my excellent performances during tests and exams (I had taken the FCE, the CAE and the TOEFL), I could understand very little outside the Uni
You know, most teachers' accents were pretty standard and easy... something like BBC's anchors, and my classmates were mostly international students, each with their own accent (we were a funny bunch!). I simply became accustomed to them... Welsh English (there was a girl who had a nice Swansea accent), Scottish English, Cornish English, Virginia English (AmE), Indian English, but also French-English, Chinese-English, Pakistan-English, Greek-English and lot more! Oh, I really miss them!
However, cashiers in supermarkers and kids playing in the parks were too hard for me... real English, lots of phrasal verbs I had never heard before, lots of contractions, and intonation quite different from the one I am used to!!!
Funnily, for a piece of coursework I had to interview six people. I was quite discouraged when I had to do the write-ups of the interviews (I remember you posted in the thread I created, "Spoken English").

Anyway, what I wanted to say is: formal education (all of the four skills) has helped me a lot to deal with University tasks, or with "formal" situations; it was not of (great) use, though, when it came to "real", daily life. I had often to guess, but people were usually kind, and when I made it clear I hadn't understood, they would repeat slowlier what they had just said, or rephrase it.

Re: Thatcherian principles

Clive — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 05:43:45 GMT

Hi,

Here is one opinion on this subject, excerpted from http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article1222567.ece

. . . under Margaret Thatcher the universities were encouraged to expand those departments and faculties which were regarded as more "economically useful" to Britain: the sciences particularly, but also subjects such as economics and accounting. Those of us who were lecturing at universities in modern languages in the 1980s perceived this emphasis to imply a demotion of modern languages, an impression which was confirmed when the very survival of many language departments depended on their becoming "service departments" to subjects more valuable to her vision of society and of Britain's needs.

Some ML departments did extremely well out of servicing these departments and expanded considerably as a result. But this was not generally the situation in UK universities, and that decade was marred by the contraction of ML departments. A Germanist, Romanist or Slavist whose sole competence lay in a foreign language was far less of an asset than was an economist or natural scientist who also spoke German, Spanish or Russian.

She was herself an Oxford graduate (in Chemistry), but (from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher) In 1985, as a deliberate snub, the University of Oxford voted to refuse her an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for higher education. ...

Best wishes, Clive

Re: What does "prepy" mean?

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 23:31:31 GMT

I think that "prepy" is a contraction of the french word "pre-papan" which is the male equivalent for "pre-maman"!
So the english word prepy refers to a man who is "pregnant".

Nobody dare to remove it!

Seriously, I enclose the definition taken from "Collins Cobuild Dictionary",
-preppies are young people, especially in America, who have often been to a prep school or Ivy League University, and who are conventional and conservative in their attitudes, behaviour and style of dress
-if you describe someone or their clothes, attitudes or behaviour as a preppy, you mean that they are like preppies or trying to be like preppies.

Re: please, check if there is any mistake as English expression

Thundr — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 16:49:21 GMT

Nik, I have made a few corrections. I hope you find them helpful.

Some schools have well-appointed facilities of sports (athletic facilities?). Where I live in Japan, there are universities where famous sports athletes take role of teachers (not entirely sure what you're trying to say.. that they have the same respect and power as teachers? that they themselves are teachers?). However, I think of the (remove) sports as nothing but the attendant on study generally (only an extracurricular activity in addition to studies?). Personally, I believe that university shouldn't (formal English would frown upon the contraction. should not) give the same amount of money to their students' sports activity as they give to their university libraries.
My primary reason is that the number of the students who come to university in order to play sports as a primary purpose would be the minority. For example, I also have the experience that I used to go to a (once attended) university, so that I understand that the majority of high school students who wants (want) to enter university have the purpose (of entering the occupation to which they aim or gaining the necessary qualifications for a certain occupation) that in the future, they will become the occupation they aime, or get some qualifications for occupation. That is to say, most of them don't (do not) think of the sports activity as the step (could you clarify here please?). The same is true of the enormous expense for the construction of facility of the sports. For instance, although a university would (construct a stadium if their baseball team is strong) try to construct studium aiming a school where baseball team is strong, it would cost (a very large sum) vast amount of money. Considering the proportion of the number of students to play baseball to number of other students, the difference is considerably plain. Thus, (spending more money on sports facilities than the university library would be a waste of money) the spending money on sports more than library can be wast of money.
Another reason is that it is advantageous (reduce to "advantage") for university students to be able to read (as many books as they would like is) books as many as they can for their assignments. One example of this is that (remove) university students have to spend lots (again, this is informal English, change to "a great deal") of time reading books and writting (spelling error) reports. To cope with these circumstances, they need the (change to "a") good environment for assignments (change to "schoolwork"?), or (remove) a well-appointed library in which books are abundunt. In addition, if there are many students, university should spend an appropriate money on construction of the library. They sometimes need the (change to "a") quiet place to study alone in campus in spite of being campus (? remove?) (when they are writing reports or reading) if they write reports or reading books. The more wide (extensive the) library is, the more students can study there. Also, not only students, but also teachers utilize library for study. Working for the university as a teacher (professor), they have the another (an additional) job of (change to "as") researcher, and the best place for their study on campus must be library if in the campus remove). Thus, the library is the most close (closest) place to study for students and teachers. I think it must be worth spending lots (again too informal, change to something else. a large sum, a lot, etc.) of money.
My primary considerations with respect to which should be spent more money on sports or library (is worth greater spending, sports or the library) are frequency and contribution to students and teacher. Therefore, I don't (do not) agree with the opinion that university (universities) should give same amount of money to their sports' activities as they give to their university library. ããããããã

fellowship

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 15:42:51 GMT

I want to get a fellowship and this letter should be a brief summary of my research focus and its connection to my planned visit in Israel. It would be nice if somebody could correct it.

Influenced by my parents working as programmer I started to program at the age of 12 years with q-basic and Turbo Pascal. Later I went over to C and object-oriented Python. In April 2005 I start working as a student assistant at the faculty of âTheoretical Physics 2â (computational physics) at the Technical University Ilmenau. The task of our group is the research of new practices in combination with known techniques of analyses of electrocardiograms (ECG). My mayor focus lies on the development of an user-friendly interface and the visualization of the analyzed data. The originated platform independent application is meant for medical practitioner to run the analyses of the ECG of their patients and decide about medical condition and to save the obtained information in a database. The connection between the practical data received from hospital all over Germany and the theoretical handling of these data is the most interesting part of our work. Present I work on my degree dissertation (diploma work) in the field of simulations about atrial fibrillation. The aim is the research of appearance of vortex in the atrium.

Membranes (in their role as gate-keepers to cells) are responsible for signalling in the nervous system, for coordination of the contraction of skeletal muscle and the heart, forcing its muscle to function as a pump. The computer simulation of ion conductance in membrane channels is an optimal supplementation for my degree dissertation (diploma work) and also for the work on analyses of ECG. The proposed project at the Tel Aviv University will study, for example the electronic flux through a micro-channel, the influence of the concentration of different kinds of charge (i.e. Na+, Ka+, Ca++, Cl-) to the flux and the electrical conductivity. Over the coulomb interaction exists forces changing the conformation of proteins and enzymes leading to a different chemical activity and a various ranges of properties of the channel.

Professor A... N..., Tel Aviv University, visited our university in summer this year and I got the chance to attend a lecture of him and because he is also a well renowned expert in the field of statistical physics and specially in the field of biomedicine, it is a great offer for me to work in his group and to learn more about the approach of simulation. A Minerva Short Term Research Grant would give me the opportunity to study further and to accept the outstanding invitation of Professor A... N... .

big thx

Re: Help me correct my mistakes

Mister Micawber — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 13:13:45 GMT

I have been working on a study plan recently, because it is my last year in high school and I will apply to a university next year.
I know that if I want to be admitted to a prestigious university, I must study efficiently, so I have made a plan; now I am trying to get used to it and work with it. My Chinese teacher always told us to value our time. She said that study is not the only way, but it is the easiest way to achieve success in the future.

Advice:

Don't use contractions in essays.
Must = have to

Re: Motivation letter! Emergency help!

anon1 — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 15:57:56 GMT

Dear Sir/Madam,

[I would like to express my interest for an admission to the third year of my BA in International Marketing and Management at Nanyang Technological University â Nanyang Business School, Singapore.]

Why not...

I am applying to the third year of my BA in International Marketing and Management at Nanyang Technological University â Nanyang Business School, Singapore.

After studying two years of the Marketing Communications programme at BI Sandefjord, I needed to do something else. [oh, oh, why does he need to do something else????] I spent two months backpacking in Southern Africa. I learned a lot about a totally different culture [just one?] and met many interesting people. When I got back to Norway, I realised that I wanted to start studying International Marketing instead of Marketing Communications. I talked with a student counsellor who signed me up for some courses ["signed me up for some courses" sounds very informal] that I needed to complete the transfer. I am now more motivated than ever to finish my BA in International Marketing in Asia.

[Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has established an international reputation and produces outstanding graduates. NTU has proven themselves worthy partners to two hundred different universities in thirty countries, included Norway. The close relationship with well-known global companies ensures that theoretical expertise is supported by real experience of culture-based communication and global market strategy analysis. A year at NTU will offer an academic experience and provide opportunities for self-development. It will be an exciting new phase of my life.]

This sounds very patronizing and is wasted space. They know who they are. But they don't know anything about you. And they have to make a decision about you. So I would use this opportunity to tell them about you mostly. You need to say why you have chosen them, but I would stop with the patronizing comments and focus on why you chose them.

Iâm [I am....don't use contractions in formal writing] looking forward to interacting with fellow students with different cultural backgrounds, which will contribute a better understanding of how to promote business in those cultures, since different cultural values require different marketing strategies.[long complicated wandering sentence. You need to show focus. Your academic career shows "wandering" too. Is this person a wanderer? Or is he focused on achieving his goals?] This I hope will help me respond effectively in an international business environment.[Not sure what that means.] I look forward to graduate from NTU with strong bonds to my fellow students and the international alumni network.[More patronizing comments] I hope that my experiences at NTU will equip me to manage my future well and also prepare me to make significant contributions to the development of my country.[Platitudes...nothing tangible] To both get a Norwegian as well as an international diploma may be a positive thing [You sound like Martha Stewart in the US...."that is a good thing"....try to be a bit more formal] when I apply for interesting jobs in my future international career.

Thank you for taking time to consider my application. I am looking forward to hearing your response. [Phrase this in a more positive tone.]

Yours faithfully,

Re: Was vs Were

just the truth — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 05:12:35 GMT

It is also important to remember that this form is not acceptable for the TOEIC, TOEFL, IELTS, Eiken STEP, ACT or Cambridge Level Tests, for commercial correspondence, academic papers, essays, job interviews or many other formal situations.

>>>>>>>>>>>

Allowing, for the moment, that what you say is true, Mr M, why isn't there more outrage at the highly inaccurate 'rules' that have, for much too long, been passed off as how English actually works?

Regarding these tests you mention, active steps are being taken by all [most? many?] of these organizations to make their tests more reflective of what is real English. Expect to see fewer of these trick questions on exams such as those mentioned.

Expect to see informal conversations on TOEICs employ what is perfectly natural English. In actuality, they already do. Contractions are not for formal writing but no one would expect conversations to occur without contracted speech. Why should this abomination occur on tests. Shouldn't we strive to keep the informal out of tests? :s :s :s

Again, if teachers fail to set up a rich enough contextual situation in their test questions, that preclude all but the answer they seek, and they then mark a natural English response wrong, DEMAND that they defend their position.

It's truly a sad commentary on teaching that students are misinformed simply to satisfy erroneous test situations. As the CGEL states, students must learn all aspects of language if they are to function as natural users rather than like an inexpert person reading out of a book.

The amount of time that any one person spends in formal or test situations is miniscule compared to the time we all spend in life situations.

Regarding Eiken and the entrance exams that Japanese students are subjected to. These are not, in any meaningful way, tests of English. The president of one Japanese university, Gregory Clark [was it Tama?] abandoned them precisely because they were all but meaningless.