Ever since my schooling days from Primary school to
Secondary school, my command of English had not been the best. I always hated
writing compositions because it was such a long process. The planning of ideas,
the choice of words and finally writing them down in an interesting manner
takes up so much time. The main goal that was always in my mind when writing
compositions was to hit the word limit so I avoided writing lesser than i was
requested in examinations.
Following that i went to Polytechnic in a design-related
course called Landscape Architecture. It was not a writing intensive course but we
were still required to write essays on theories of Landscape Design. I was
happy as i left the academic field of study to a design field of study. However
in the second year of my course, we had to take this module called "Report
Writing and Presentation" to train us in our skills of writing reports. I remembered clearly that it was one of the modules that i dreaded the most. We
were introduced to many things such as report layouts, citations and writing a
CV. I must say that throughout the entire module, I was just going through
motion and submitted everything that was required without learning much from
the lecturer. Not long after, I regretted not giving much attention to the
materials taught because I had to complete a report which was part of my design
work. As a result, the report was not done in a correct manner and layout which
resulted in me receiving a low grade for it.
Coming on to University, I was taken aback by the
amount of academic work that was required of us even though I was still in a
design-related degree. During the first semester, I had a total of three essays
and a report from all of my modules. I realised that I was not equipped with
the skills some of my course-mates possessed like the skills of approaching and
writing an academic essay. It was an uphill task for me but nevertheless with
the help of some of my course-mates and my friends that I was able to pull
through. I believe that it was not the best of effort and I could have definitely
done better. Now that I am enrolled in ES1102, I hope to learn as much skills
that are required to prepare me for the remaining years of study in NUS.
Hi daniel, i like the way you write your post as it is very clear. The flow from your introduction to the body and then to the conclusion is good as it is linked well. Also, you gave a lot of explanations in the body which provided depth to the post. Hope we can both improve our English after being in ES1102!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, I agree. This is a very well-structured and informative piece of writing.
DeleteHello ! The structure was good. Past, present, future can be identified clearly. Your elaboration was very detailed which allowed the reader to understand your point of view. I believe that your english will improve drastically after completing this module.
ReplyDeleteSeow Ting Liew, I agree with you and Stephanie. This is a very good piece of writing.
DeleteDaniel,
ReplyDeleteOrganisation and content: Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts about learning English with us. I hope you will give ES1102 a chance as I am sure you will benefit a lot from the course if you are willing to learn and put in the effort. You are absolutely right. It is important to communicate clearly in writing because you have to show your professors your work through your writing, make it stand out above the rest. Work hard, and I am sure your writing will improve.
Overall, your reflection is well-structured, and the ideas flow very logically. You also successfully linked from past, present and future plans, and described your learning experience well. The sentences are also clearly written--great job. Pay attention to the follow:
1. Think about the use of these tenses:
-Ever since my schooling days from Primary school to Secondary school, my command of English 'had not' been the best.
-Coming on to University, I was taken aback by the amount of academic work that 'was' required of us even though I was still in a design-related degree.
2. Use of parallelism:
The planning of ideas, the choice of words and finally writing them down in an interesting manner takes up so much time.
3. Singular/plural noun:
'Motion' is a singular noun, so you need an article before that.
was just going through motion
4. Be careful with the linkage of ideas using 'that' in a sentence.
It was an uphill task for me but nevertheless with the help of some of my course-mates and my friends that I was able to pull through.
Tenses (edit)
ReplyDeleteDuring my Primary and Secondary school, my command of English was not the best.
Coming on to University, I am taken aback by the amount of academic work that is required of us even though i am still in a design-related degree.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDaniel, good corrections on the tenses.
DeleteNote: primary and secondary are not proper nouns, so they should be in lower case.
Use of parallelism
ReplyDeleteThe planning of ideas, choosing of words and finally writing them down in an interesting way takes up so much time.
Daniel: Very good corrections.
DeleteBe careful with the linkage of ideas using 'that' in a sentence.
ReplyDeleteIt was an uphill task for me but with the help of some of my course-mates and friends, I was able to pull through.
Daniel: Correct--you don't need the word 'that' in this sentence. Do you know why?
ReplyDelete