Search results for 'tag:Writing styles tag:Constructions' matching tags 'Writing styles' and 'Constructions'

Need advice to improve my writing style

Musicgold — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:11:10 GMT

Hi,

I am a non-native English speaker and need some tips on improving my professional writing style. My job involves writing analysis of various economic and financial events and my career growth is in jeopardy as my writing style is not as professional as my English speaking colleagues.

To explain you about my level of English writing, I have easily passed exams like TOEFL and IELTS, and comfortable with different grammar rules.

My problem is I get stuck with sentences which I have never constructed before. I donât understand how to explain a situation in sentences that are easy to understand but donât sound awkward.

As for my efforts to improve my writing, I have tried two methods:
1. Writing a page on some topic everyday.
2. Noting down unfamiliar sentence constructions in whatever I read.

The problem I found with the first method is the review of what I write. I donât know anybody who can review my writing for me everyday.

With respect to the second method, I have collected 70-80 pages of unfamiliar/ new sentence constructions so far ( in a Word document). However, I donât know how to leverage this database. I canât read all of it in one setting, and just use the collection to look up for examples.

Could you please suggest me some methods that can help me in improving my professional writing?

Thanks,

MG.

Re: What's the logic behind this?

komountain — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 02:37:30 GMT

Hi, JTT and MrP.

First, I am not a Japanese. komountain is just my log-in handle. I know 'mountain' is 'yama'
in Japanese. I know just that much about the language. Asked many times, however, if Koyama is my real name, I am tempted to ask back if it sounds strange, pompous, arrogant, silly, or something in Japanese.

Second, judging from your responses, "Child as he was" doesn't seem to be the same as
"Child though he was". This is where I'm shaken up. In this particular construction, I have always thought 'as' is equivalent to 'though', thus interchangeable. My first-language dictionaries I have just consulted list two sentences fitting the construction in question.

*Woman as she was, she was brave.
*Hero as he was, he shuddered at the sight.

If you both still shake your heads on these examples, I am linguistically behind the times and so too are the dictionaries. I am afraid I have too old an English writing style under my belt.
If that is the case, I'm more than ready to throw away the apparently problematic structure. While looking for a garbage can, I'm waiting for a few more feedbacks.

Re: Question about a paragraph

Taka — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 07:04:40 GMT

As for coherency, I 'd say "yes, in general ": Engish writing style is linear whereas Japanese style is circular, comparatively speaking. I can tell when English oriented people read Japanese type of writing, they might say "Man...this author is going nowhere..." whereas Japanese reader might say "What a simple, tasteless style this English writing has!" But it's all the matter of relativity, IMO.

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As you are British imigrant, let me ask about this: When I see a really straight forward type of writing, with the clear topic sentence, body, and conclusion, it's usually written by an American. On the other hand, when I have trouble finding such clear construction in writing--or should I say "when it's really elaborated"?--it's usually, not always though, written by a British.

So my question is, is British writing style not so strict in its organization compared to the American?

Re: Mona

miriam — Sun, 20 Jun 2004 07:59:10 GMT

Hello again, Radrook.

I've never downloaded music from the web. Unfortunately, I don't know if L. McKennitt's songs are available on the net. Have you heard of Enya? I think she's most popular than L. McKennith. Their music is very similar. If you like Enya, you'll probably like McKennitt's songs too.

I'm not sure it is his profound approach what makes Keats poems dificult. I think it must be his writing style, his constructions... and I can always put the blame on the fact that English is not my first language! ~laughs~ I find Keats as difficult as Whitman, whose poems also made me suffer when I was in college!

Now Frost is different. I can't say I like "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", but "Fire and Ice" is one of my favourite poems, together with "Not to Keep", "Fragmentary Blue" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay". "The Road Not Taken" is also a poem I like; I think it was the first poem by Frost I read.

I haven't read Dylan Thomas (you were referring to him?), but I like many of Emily Dickinson's poems. They are sad and many will leave a bitter taste in my mouth every time I read them, but I like them all the same. "Exclusion" is perhaps my favourite. I also love "Hope is the thing with feathers", "It was not death, for I stood up", "I'm nobody! Who are you?", and "As imperceptibly as grief".

Still, Shakespeare's sonnets are something different, and by far my favourites. And, since I can't put two words together that will rhyme and make sense at the same time, I am happy with reading what the gifted write, have written, or wrote.

Miriam