I was born and brought up in a Mandarin-speaking environment
and thus, conversing in proper English has always been a problem for me. That
being said, I feel a lot more confident writing in English partly because I
love reading.
In my three years as a polytechnic student, my English
writing skills was considered my source of pride because I frequently helped to
edit group business proposals and reports.
Although I fulfilled my goal of entering a local University
with a diploma, I am deeply aware of certain inadequacies I may face as a
Geography major since I am required to have strong writing
skills. After all, I did not go through formal English lessons and General
Paper unlike my peers who studied in Junior Colleges. Receiving a Band 2 for
the QET further contributed to my uncertainty and self-doubt.
Nevertheless, through reading academic journals, I picked up
key words, ideas and different writing styles. With experiences accumulated over
the semesters and feedback from the professors, I have learnt to question the dominant
narrative, develop critical thinking and write relatively good essays.
Due to timetable clashes, I am only taking ES1102 in my last
semester. Despite this, I hope to improve my writing and
communication skills because English is an important component in everyday life
and the workplace.
(221 words)
Edited - 3rd Feb
Hi! This blog post is quite well written but I think there are several points to take note of.
ReplyDelete"I am deeply aware of certain inadequacies I may have as a Geography major as I will require a good grasp of English and strong writing skills. "
The word "as" is used twice within a span of 5 words. Readers are usually able to pick up on repetitive words easily. This can be a minor form of distraction when reading.
Second, the sentence seem to hold too many subjects at once. Perhaps it would be better to split it into more sentences so you can further clarify on the points. E.g Entering university, inadequacies, Geography major, grasp of English and writing skills.
Noted! Thanks for that.
DeleteHi Shu Kai,
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, I feel that you write quite well. I also have the problem of conversing the ideas in proper English! but compare to my writing, I feel that your writing really much better than mine. In term of content, I think maybe you can add in some of the action plans for future. Overall is also a good job! :)
-Keng Hwa
Thanks, Shu Kai, for the post and all its honesty. It's informative, openly self-critical and quite fluent. I have to admit that what surprised me most was the fact that you stated that you are now in your last semester. In short, you have achieved success in the university without EAP. Good for you!
ReplyDeleteHowever, you astutely note that you could stand to improve further your writing skills (as is true for most of us). I applaud your willingness to approach the course with a positive attitude.
Hi Shu Kai, I'm surprised to know that you are in your final semester; I thought you were a fellow year 1 when I first saw you =p Anyway, I think the conclusion would be even more complete if you could elaborate more on the "future action" component of the Gibbs model :)
ReplyDeleteHi Shu Kai,
ReplyDeleteJust a minor grammatical error I have spotted, perhaps you could have been more consistent with the usage of past tense in one of your sentences. "With experiences accumulated over the semesters and feedback from the professors, I learnt to question the dominant narrative, (developed) critical thinking and (wrote) relatively good essays.
Also, I have noticed that you used a lot of past tenses in your writing. Personally, I would have inserted some present perfect tenses to emphasize that the event still has an effect on the present moment. For example, "… I (have) picked up key words, ideas and different writing styles.”
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Wan Xian