Common Writing Mistakes

A handy quick reference guide from About ESL with links to help resources:

 

The use of articles - the, a, an and nothing - When mentioning something for the first time, use 'a or an', When speaking about something in general, use nothing with the plural form of the noun. Check your understanding with this guide to article usage.

The use of countable and uncountable nouns. - The expressions of quantity you use change based on whether a noun is countable or uncountable. Check here for more help with countable and uncountable nouns.

Use of Linking Language - Sentences need to be connected by linking language which include words such as 'although, despite, however, etc.' Here's a guide to commonly used linking language.

Punctuation - Correct punctuation is difficult for everyone, even native English speakers. This punctuation guide will help you learn when to use periods, commas, semi-colons and more.

Common mistakes - There are a number of common mistakes such as the difference between 'it's' and 'its'. Here's a guide to the most common mistakes made in English. 

These are the most common, but we each have our own particular pattern of mistakes that probably include these and possibly others. What are yours? Make a list and use it to check your writing. There are many editing and writing checklists online, but every writing should have his or her own that includes both personal and common mistakes as well as bad writing habits to avoid. 

Here is a list of seven for native speaker writers (yes, we make mistakes too!) and another. What mistakes are common to all of these lists? What ones are more likely to be made by non-native speakers? There are also writing mistakes or error patterns common to native speakers of a particular language. 

ESOL Nexus – meeting ESOL learners’ needs online

This post is about ESOL Nexus, which is a portal for ESOL teachers and learners in the UK from the British Council – you can access it here:
http://esol.britishcouncil.org/


What is it: 
ESOL Nexus has come out of a European Integration Fund-backed project to support third country nationals (ie. Non UK & Non EU nationals) learning English – there’s more information on their site here: http://esol.britishcouncil.org/about-esol-nexus.

The site does this by providing self-access materials for learners alongside resources to help ESOL teachers.

Read the rest at ESOL Nexus – meeting ESOL learners’ needs online ~ Classroom201X

MIT launches student-produced educational video initiative

Another good source for English language videos. These will help you develop a your English vocabularies in science, technology, engineering and math.

Original short videos, in collaboration with Khan Academy, aim to fuel K-12 students’ interest in engineering and science.



CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — MIT has launched an initiative encouraging its students to produce short videos teaching basic concepts in science and engineering. The videos — aimed at younger students, in grades from kindergarten through high school — will be accessible through a dedicated MIT website and YouTube channel. A subset of the videos will also be available on Khan Academy, a popular not-for-profit educational site founded by an MIT alumnus.

MIT launches student-produced educational video initiative - MIT Media Relations

Lets Face It: English Is A Crazy Language

There is no egg in the eggplant,
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.


English muffins were not invented in England,
French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted, 
but if we examine its paradoxes we find that:

World Book Night

World Book Night is about promoting reading. Follow on Facebook and Twitter (@wbnamerica).In the US, tens of thousands of people go out into their communities and give out free World Book Night paperbacks. There is also English language WBN in Ireland and the UK, with website, activities and links. So what do you do if you can't do that? We'll use the internet, that's what. 

Although print books, handed out in person, are the focus, reading is what matters most. Have a Project Gutenberg book on me. Have as many as you want. Share them with all your friends. Free rounds of books for everyone!

PS: April 23 is UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen due to the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death. 

Writing: the Hamburger Essay

What? That makes me hungry! It's not really something you can eat. The hamburger essay refers to a style of writing that is common on essays written in English. Use this guide on how to write a hamburger essay to improve both your paragraphs and essays.



The guide will also help you understand how to create a map of your essay which will help make writing easier, and much more organized. This writing workshop takes the hamburger essay to another level focusing on four different exercises that can be used in class to help students improve their essay writing skills.

Presenting the Hamburger Essay

English writing practice

English Leap is a commercial lesson site but also has many free learning resources. This one is for writing. Others address grammar, vocabulary, common mistakes, career resources and more.

Here are some tips to help you with English composition:

• In the words of George Orwell, ‘Never use a long word when a short one will do.’
• Keep your sentences short and well-punctuated, not long and convoluted.
• Omit unnecessary words. There are a number of phrases in the English language that can be replaced with simple words to convey the same meaning; this should be done whenever possible. For example, the clause This is a matter which... can just as easily be written as This matter.
• Try to stick to the active voice, rather than the passive.

The above points can be condensed into one golden rule of writing: keep it simple.Good writing is not about complexity; it is about conveying your message to the reader. Which leads us to the next rule:

• Keep the readership in mind while writing.
• Avoid being overly formal. It is impersonal.
• Avoid multiple negatives. They often invert the intended meaning, and are difficult to untangle.
• Make the verb agree with the subject, not with a word in between the two. 

For example, The bus, with all its passengers, were about to overturn is wrong, because here the subject is the singular ‘cart’, not the plural ‘passengers’. Hence, it should be The bus, with all its passengers, was about to overturn.

• Use commas to bracket those parts of the sentence that would otherwise obstruct its flow, but do not use commas to join independent clauses. The proper punctuation mark to use in this case is the semicolon.

1. English writing practice:Tips on English writing and free practice lessons