Search results for 'tag:Writing tips' matching tag 'Writing tips'

Re: Pointers on writing songs?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:47:17 GMT

I've compiled a list of lyric writing tips here:
http://thepenguindisagrees.blogspot.com/
If anyone has any suggestions or feedback we'd love to hear it.

Need Your Helps about a Traning Program..

Harem — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:15:23 GMT

Hi all...First of all i wanna thanks to every1 who read this post and try to help me...Now this summer i would like to go Usa for a training program.I work with a company in my country for this program and they told me that i ve to write a employe application letter which will send to the company in Usa to find me a training job...Anyway so they gave me a cover letter but i found that very simple so i d like to write a more impressive one..Therefore i m looking your helps..

This program is a tourism training program... And i need to tell that my benefits on that way which i gained since 8 years education and working experiences.. And i ve to tell them that i was a university student which was about Tourism management but i droped down ther education in 3 rd years for gaining more experience as a working.. Thats the point but donno how can i write that in a formal way...And also i ve to tell them i will continiou the education later i did not stop the education just took a break for getting more experience in business life more than the books... (i hope i can tell ya what i mean exatly) ..i have to tell them my experiences in the tourism life and have to point my expectations by this training program but cant do that coz of my suking english .. :D Hopefully some1 can help me in this way...Greatful for all helps.. Thanks

Motivation letter for Msc in foreign Uni.

Zeitgeist — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:10:48 GMT

Hey guys!

I'm a new registered member of the site, but an old-time visitor. I've acquired numerous valuable ideas and tips here, which helped me a lot to write the following motivation letter. If anyone could give me further advises on how to make it better, that would be real great. I'll have to mail it in two weeks, and I'm really looking forward any help. Thanx a lot in advance!

Dear Madam/Sir,

My name is [-] and I am hereby applying for the Master of Science in Business Administration program at the [-] for the 2008 fall term.

I am taking this step as the culmination of a long process of my life. I have determined to place education and my future career in the center of my life at a quite young age. After the 6^th year, I have left my primary school for a six year secondary school program highly focused on languages. During these years I have developed a great interest in business activities and economical issues and I realized the importance of foreign languages as the tools of becoming an international-minded, enlightened businessman.

Choosing the College of International Management and Business at Budapest, the capitol of Hungary as the institute of my undergraduate studies was the first embodiment of my determination to become part of the accelerated business life of our days. Learning in a city of 2 million can teach a lot outside the classrooms as well. While the college has given me professional knowledge of economical, business and social issues, the life in this metropolis with different cultures has improved a lot on my personality and point of view.

Since I was taking the International Business Economics program at the college, I have absolved a wide range of courses dealing with international business processes and methods. After acquiring the basic knowledge of economy, my interest pointed towards the cross-boarder activities of different business players. Accordingly I have specialized in Export-import management, which has helped me a lot to understand how such developments of the world of our days as the European Union and the spread of multinational corporations had affected the business life, which I am willing to take part of.

As the embodiment of the significance I put on the knowledge of foreign languages, I decided to take the Translator and Interpreter specialized in Business (in English) specialization voluntarily. This set of courses has not only developed my language skills but has brought me closer to the understanding of the Anglo-Saxon education and introduced me to learning in a foreign language.

During the last semester of my undergraduate studies, I have been an intern at the Hungarian Ministry of Economy and Transportâs Investment and Trade Development Agency, which has enriched me with numerous valuable skills. Besides enhancing my professional knowledge of the cross-boarder flow of goods and capital I have learned the basic rules of conduct in a professional environment, the respect of schedules and the importance of team work and personal responsibilities outside the school.

By the end of my undergraduate studies it has become all clear to me that I want to pursue an international carrier focused on business conducted within and between different countries. In order to achieve this, I need to widen my understanding and deepen my theoretical knowledge of international business activities. As Hungary is in the introduction phase of the Bologna system, the palette of Master programmes is still limited and in order to follow high quality education the choice of a well-established foreign university as the [-] seems to be a logical idea.

I believe that completing the MSc in Business Administration program would make me able to become a valuable employee of any corporation with international operations. Nevertheless, a year spent in [-] which is a historical trade and business center of Europe could give me such further experiences that I can greatly benefit from throughout my career.

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

Yours faithfully,

And thank you very much for any response from you guys.

Re: wish clauses

Goodman — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 17:52:34 GMT

Yoong Liat wrote:
Hi Goodman

You wrote: I have been labeled and called by many descriptions, hinted being âIgnorantâ is the first ...

I'm not hinting that you're ignorant. I say that if a learner tells me "informal" means "wrong", I'll understand that he says so because he is ignorant. But you are not a learner. You're one of the members who have a good command of English. So that's why I say it's not correct for you to say that a usage, which is classified as "informal", is wrong.

I've reproduced below what Michael Swan has to say about "I wish I was ... " and "I wish it wasn't ..." and let the members decide whether you're right to say "I wish it was not raining" or "I wish it wasn't raining" is a wrong usage.

We can use 'wish' to express regrets - to say that we would like things to be different. We use a past tense with a present meaning in this case.
I wish I was better-looking.
I wish it wasn't raining.

In a formal style, we can use 'were' instead of 'was' after 'I wish'.
I wish I were better-looking.

(Basic English Usage by Michael Swan)

Best wishes.

Liat,

With our differences in point of view, I appreciate your reply. For all intents and an purposes, I am still a learner on a different level but I perhaps have the advantage being in a completely English environment and therefore, I may appear to have better command. That said, I do feel there is a certain slight inconsistency among all the different English websites, particularly on the subjunctive. There should not be any argument that âIf I wereâ or âI wish I wereâ is a subjunctive mood. The difference of the agruement really lies in the defining of the rules and the mood expressed in the senstence. The early website quoted âI wish I wasâ as informal.

In reality, after reading this article, that is indeed incorrect. The bottom line, " I wish I was" is against the subjunctive ruels. Take a look at the explanation on this website then you may come to agree with what I said in my earlier threads.

Confusingly enough, in the "self test", some of of the answers are considered "acceptable" or "informal" by some. I should hope that this piece will settle all questions about indicative and subjunctive moods.

Subjunctive Mood

However, if a form of the verb to be were used in that sentence, all polished writers would agree that the subjunctive is necessary: "If he were [not was] ...
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GIW Home		writeDate(); Mon Oct. 8, 2007 \| Tell a Friend \| Subscribe \| Order Our Book
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	Writing Tip: July 30, 2001 The Subjunctive Mood Examine the verbs in each of the following sentences: 1. If Harrison were chosen to be the next chief executive officer of the corporation, several controversial hiring practices would change. 2. If I were you, I would increase my weekly contribution to the company-sponsored retirement fund. 3. I wish that his report were longer. 4. We recommend that the trip be postponed because of violence in the region. 5. The finance department requests that he submit updated budget projections each month. All the above sentences are correct. Two terms apply to the mood of English verbs: indicative and subjunctive. An indicative verb makes a statement that is factual, whereas a verb in the subjunctive mood is used to indicate a situation or condition that is hypothetical, doubtful, or conditional. In the indicative mood, we would never write "Harrison were," "I were," "report were," "trip be," or "he submit," but these verbs are correct in the examples above because each of the sentences is written in the subjunctive mood; that is, in every case, the sentence is describing a situation that is hypothetical or conditional: 1. Harrison is not now the C.E.O., but hypothetically he could be chosen for that position. The conditional nature of the position is suggested by the word if. 2. Again, as the word if makes clear, I am not, in fact, you. So once again the situation is hypothetical and conditional: I would save more only under the condition that I became you. 3. His report is not, in fact, longer, so the sentence speaks of a hypothetical situation. 4. The trip is not currently postponed, so the subjunctive mood is appropriate to suggest a possibility, not an actuality. 5. He is not currently submitting reports monthly, so we use the subjunctive mood to discuss the possibility--not the actuality--of his doing so. For all verbs except to be, the present subjunctive mood is most often made by omitting the characteristic s ending on verbs with third-person singular subjects. Thus, whereas in the indicative mood we would write "man leaves," in the subjunctive mood we would omit the s on the verb leave: "The judge insisted that the man not leave town." For the verb to be, we simply use be for all present tense subjunctive mood verbs and were for all past tense forms, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (New York: MJF Books, 1993) points out that while many subjunctive-mood phrases are commonly used in ordinary speech--"if I were you," "if need be," "far be it from me," and so on--strict use of the subjunctive mood is rare, even in the most formal speaking and writing situations (243). Very few people would write, for example, "If he arrive on time, we will have dinner before the show." However, if a form of the verb to be were used in that sentence, all polished writers would agree that the subjunctive is necessary: "If he were [not was] to arrive on time, we could have dinner before the show." The Harbrace College Handbook (13th edition) lists other common, fixed expressions that are stated in the subjunctive mood: "so be it," "be that as it may," "as it were," and "God bless you" (99-100). TEST YOURSELF Which of the following sentences need verbs in the subjunctive mood? 1. If I was Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones is chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation was longer. 4. It is critical that every potential donor gives blood during this shortage. ANSWERS 1. If I WERE Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones BE chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation WERE longer. This is almost the exact sentence identified as correct in your past post. 4. It is critical that every potential donor GIVE blood during this shortage. Copyright 2001 Get It Write More Tips \| Tell a Friend *Special Request:* Please share these tips with friends and colleagues and encourage them to subscribe. (If you post the tips to an internal distribution list of any size, please tell us the nature of the list and the number of subscribers. We would like to know how many people we are reaching with this service. We appreciate your positive feedback and excellent comments!)

Re: Improvement of english grmmar

Grammar Geek — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:50:36 GMT

The first tip is to write in full sentences and never use "chat" speak:

I would like to learn some writing tips. Please reply.

Re: Improvement of english grmmar

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:17:16 GMT

writing tips pls reply

Re: Talking about language

julielai — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:57:16 GMT

I don't know what you particularly want to talk about, but I've noticed something recently that I'd like to share:

I've been surfing the net for useful writing tips, and I stumbled upon some HK sites on this topic. A couple of them have included this disclaimer: "Do not try this technique unless you're an advanced learner" or something to that effect.

I think it's totally unwise to introduce an advanced technique to a bunch of eager learners and say, "Do not try this unless you're good enough." The problem with HK learners, or perhaps ESL learners in general, is their incorrect use of overly sophisticated words, phrases and sentence structures. Somehow they get the idea that the "hard stuff" will impress their peers and teachers! If someone tells them not to try a difficult technique, they'll just go and do exactly the opposite, just to be a member of this "Advanced Learners' Club"!

Your topic is "useful (things) about language that we do not already intuitively know". Well, two things: 1) To master a language is just like mastering everything else: you need to be honest about what you don't know, so you can apply the stuff you do know to the best of your ability. 2) Some English teachers could use a lesson on human nature.

But perhaps you know all that already, at least intuitively. :-)

P.S. Ah, perhaps you don't know this: speech therapy workshops are, in some ways, more useful than linguistics courses.

Re: Please check this sentence

Yoong Liat — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 20:24:01 GMT

Princehal wrote:
Thanks for your help. I think I will leave avoid using eitheir "because" or "that" to avoid wordiness.

Mon Mar. 5, 2007 | Tell a Friend | Subscribe | Books

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Writing Tip: July 23, 2003

Writing Tip: "The Reason Is Because" vs. "The Reason Is That"

Recently a tip subscriber wrote to ask us which of the following constructions is correct:

1. The reason we were late is because there was an accident on Interstate 26.
2. The reason we were late is that there was an accident on Interstate 26.

The correct choice is sentence 2.

The first sentence won't work because the subject ("reason") is being linked to a clause that functions as an adverb: "because there was an accident on Interstate 26."

One trick for remembering which construction is correct is to think of the words "reason" and "because" as creating a redundancy, saying in effect "the reason is the reason".

Re: might and may

Forbes — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 13:48:41 GMT

Vinjenpa wrote:

I learnt from a writing tips list I belong to that there is a definite differnece between these words:

may = permission
might = possibility
can = ability

Reminds me of a schoolmaster:

Boy: Please sir, can I leave the room?

Master: You can, but you may not.

Also in traditional grammar, may is present and might is past:

He says he may come.

He said he might come.

Re: might and may

Vinjenpa — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 12:43:33 GMT

I learnt from a writing tips list I belong to that there is a definite differnece between these words:

may = permission
might = possibility
can = ability

Hope it helps!



GIW Home		writeDate(); Mon Oct. 8, 2007 \| Tell a Friend \| Subscribe \| Order Our Book
		Resources: Writing Tips \| More Tips
	Writing Tip: July 30, 2001 The Subjunctive Mood Examine the verbs in each of the following sentences: 1. If Harrison were chosen to be the next chief executive officer of the corporation, several controversial hiring practices would change. 2. If I were you, I would increase my weekly contribution to the company-sponsored retirement fund. 3. I wish that his report were longer. 4. We recommend that the trip be postponed because of violence in the region. 5. The finance department requests that he submit updated budget projections each month. All the above sentences are correct. Two terms apply to the mood of English verbs: indicative and subjunctive. An indicative verb makes a statement that is factual, whereas a verb in the subjunctive mood is used to indicate a situation or condition that is hypothetical, doubtful, or conditional. In the indicative mood, we would never write "Harrison were," "I were," "report were," "trip be," or "he submit," but these verbs are correct in the examples above because each of the sentences is written in the subjunctive mood; that is, in every case, the sentence is describing a situation that is hypothetical or conditional: 1. Harrison is not now the C.E.O., but hypothetically he could be chosen for that position. The conditional nature of the position is suggested by the word if. 2. Again, as the word if makes clear, I am not, in fact, you. So once again the situation is hypothetical and conditional: I would save more only under the condition that I became you. 3. His report is not, in fact, longer, so the sentence speaks of a hypothetical situation. 4. The trip is not currently postponed, so the subjunctive mood is appropriate to suggest a possibility, not an actuality. 5. He is not currently submitting reports monthly, so we use the subjunctive mood to discuss the possibility--not the actuality--of his doing so. For all verbs except to be, the present subjunctive mood is most often made by omitting the characteristic s ending on verbs with third-person singular subjects. Thus, whereas in the indicative mood we would write "man leaves," in the subjunctive mood we would omit the s on the verb leave: "The judge insisted that the man not leave town." For the verb to be, we simply use be for all present tense subjunctive mood verbs and were for all past tense forms, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (New York: MJF Books, 1993) points out that while many subjunctive-mood phrases are commonly used in ordinary speech--"if I were you," "if need be," "far be it from me," and so on--strict use of the subjunctive mood is rare, even in the most formal speaking and writing situations (243). Very few people would write, for example, "If he arrive on time, we will have dinner before the show." However, if a form of the verb to be were used in that sentence, all polished writers would agree that the subjunctive is necessary: "If he were [not was] to arrive on time, we could have dinner before the show." The Harbrace College Handbook (13th edition) lists other common, fixed expressions that are stated in the subjunctive mood: "so be it," "be that as it may," "as it were," and "God bless you" (99-100). TEST YOURSELF Which of the following sentences need verbs in the subjunctive mood? 1. If I was Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones is chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation was longer. 4. It is critical that every potential donor gives blood during this shortage. ANSWERS 1. If I WERE Sam, I would hire an assistant now before the hiring freeze takes effect. 2. The committee suggested that Dr. Jones BE chosen as the next chief of staff. 3. As August approaches, every school child wishes that his or her vacation WERE longer. This is almost the exact sentence identified as correct in your past post. 4. It is critical that every potential donor GIVE blood during this shortage. Copyright 2001 Get It Write More Tips \| Tell a Friend *Special Request:* Please share these tips with friends and colleagues and encourage them to subscribe. (If you post the tips to an internal distribution list of any size, please tell us the nature of the list and the number of subscribers. We would like to know how many people we are reaching with this service. We appreciate your positive feedback and excellent comments!)