【Question】Let's Talk about Writing!

[Balie 10]

We all know English is essential to everyone because that's what we depend on to keep abreast of the fast-changing world. I enjoy learning English, but am confronted with some difficulties in writing. In addition, I don't think I am the only one to have such problems, so I hope everyone who gains access to this page can share your precious opinions with me. It is even better if we can have some discussions.

OK! I will just start my topic today.^^

The main topic today is how to compose a good passage for examinations like SAT.(I mean the College Entrance Examination in Taiwan.) My teacher thinks my composition is good, but she once told me I could do more polishing jobs and pay attention to the plot arrangement (especially for narration). Therefore, I have started to search for some short but attractive essays, but in vain.(It is not convenient for me to do so because I am not familiar with this realm.) Eventually, I thought I could take advantage of this forum to find out more different opinions. You can talk about your experiences or anything that you have heard about. Every message you are going to leave will be appreciated. I just show my appreciation for your precious answers in advance.

Oh! What have been mentioned above is the problem that I am confronted with now, and I will give you some details about the kinds of composition.

(i)Narration

The paper will give you 3-4 pictures, and you have to tell a story. I am finding a way to make my narration works fun and active. Is there any good works for me to look up?

(ii)Description

The paper will give you a topic, and you need to share your thought about that. There are some sample topics: My Family, My Favorite Retreat... etc.

(iii)Exposition

It is similar to the description, but you should provide clear, detailed explanations to explain the topics so that readers can acquire some knowledge or understand some concepts. Sample Topics: Why Should I Learn English?, Music Is An Important Part of Our Life... etc.

(iv)Argumentation

You are asked to argue a position and defend it with a series of solid reasons. Sample Topics: Is It Wise to Learn a Second Foreign Language in High School?, Should High School Students Have a Part-time Job?

Ah! That's the topic I want to tell about.

At last, I offer a link to a page written by an excellent teacher in HSNU.

http://140.122.126.2/yhliu

I hope all of us can learn more by this opportunity.^^

[MikiRei 10]

(i)

Mark-wise, keep it simple. Overly creative provides a larger chance of making more mistakes, allowing the marker to dock you marks (not that I really know how the marking system works in Taiwan).

However, creativity-wise, well....generally, I'll just use anything random that I can think of. General solution - read. The more exposure you have to other people's creative work, the more likely chance of becoming more creative yourself. Afterall, creativity is a manefastation of your experiences. (in my opinion anyways)

(ii) Tell it as it is really. That's my opinion. Again, read.

Say for "My Family" I could do something like:

"There's nothing really interesting about my family. No, really. Nothing at all. A married couple with a daughter and a son. Nothing interesting really, just a standard family. It's also a very typical, Asian family. My parents are strict, they have high expectations and everytime they open their mouth, it's either for shouting or telling you to go do your homework. Oh, and instrumental lessons. It's a common scene within Asian families whereby they get their daughter to learn piano and their son, violin. Hence, it is not altogether surprising that my mother had my brother learn violin and me to learn piano."

And I'm stopping here - whatever. Haven't written anything in ages. The above was basically describing my family but with a more "personal edge", as oppose to the standard "factual" edge. ie. My family has 4 people. There's my mother, father, brother and I. My father works as a lawayer etc.etc. I'm not sure if that's acceptable for the exam standards in Taiwan though.

I repeat - read. Grab as many books as possible and just read.

(iii) .........Read other people's composition

(iv) Argumentation? Or just essays? Looks more like essays to me. Again, read other people's essays.

General opinion: READ and practice writing lots I guess.

[kennylineage 10]

Just by reading this artical then I can realize your English ability is really good.

I don't think I can offer you any useful opinions.

On the contray, I wish if you can provide me your opinions in English writing.

[Balie 10]

I wish you could provide me your opinions in English writing.

I think your English is good, but you can pay more attention to grammar. For instance, there is an obvious mistake in the sentence you have written.(I correct it in this post.) However, that's just a slight mistake, so I still think you do well in your study. Just keep how you learn, and pay attention to some details. As for writing, you can turn to the post MikiRei posted above. If you want to have further information, just discuss with every visitor here.(It is one of my intention of posting this.) Besides, you can point out your problems so that I can respond to what you are really confronted with.

General opinion: READ and practice writing lots I guess.

I know the importance of reading, and I just borrowed a collection book of English essays from my school library. However, the majority of the essays it selects are giving some lessons of life. I want to have something different to read. Would you please recommend some books? Like some short stories or fables, for I am trying to write some short stories.

Just like what I mentioned above, students in Taiwan are often given some pictures and asked to write a story of them. Therefore, I think it is OK if you recommend some books designed for children. Some fairy tales are very interesting and creative, and I think that's what I need to read.(Of course I still need to read some other books besides some picture books.)

No matter what, thank you for your opinion.:D

[kennylineage 10]

.......

I think there are so many problems that I even can't figure them out individually.

Briefly speaking, the biggest problem is that I don't really know how to use English naturally.

I feel so disappointed about this.

Because I've tried so many ways to improve my English yet I can't make any obvious progress.

[Balie 10]

Briefly speaking, the biggest problem is that I don't really know how to use English naturally.

I think your problem is common and universal. In other words, everyone may be confronted with this sooner or later. My opinion is just giving it a try! Your post fully demonstrates your good command of English, and what you need to do should be trying it more often.

In the pursuit of naturally using a language, you are sure to have a lot of difficulties. However, why not enjoy the process?Besides the resource that our schools offer us, we can have more ways to gain access to English. For instance, listening to English songs you like, talking to yourself in English(It sounds a little weird, but it really works.), writing down your feeling, and reading the news...etc.

If you are confused, you can even think about how we used to learn Chinese as a daily part. When every day is gone, more experiences are acquired because we are confronted with more different conversations or different practice opportunities. However, we are always not conscious of the fact. It is the point you and I should think about.

It is a lifelong mission for us to learn English. We have long ways to go, but I think we should not forget the joys of learning English.

[MikiRei 10]

Hmmmmm....in regards to essays, newspapers usually have some, especially in the opinion sections (at least that's how it is in Australian newspaper but I don't think it'll be any different in other countries)

I would think essays are easily accessible, especially in book shops. My university sometimes publish people's essays and distribute them around for free. If I have time, I might upload some of them.

For picture books, check this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_book

Plenty of good classics listed there.

Isn't there a bookshop in Taiwan that sells a lot of English books? I saw it last summer when I went back to Taiwan (not that the price was cheaper. Probably around the same price as Australia)

[liltwnboiz 10]

There's not a lot of English books in Taiwan bookshops, mostly

I suggest reading TIME

The professional word usage and sentence simplicity are known for TIME

[MikiRei 10]

Really? My brother said there was one particular bookshop that sells ONLY books in their original language. ie. lots of English books. Maybe that book store doesn't have enough chains throughout the country. Otherwise, yes, I do realise normal bookstores in Taiwan don't have much of a collection at all.

In that case, go to www.scribd.com :p

[Balie 10]

I suggest reading TIME.The professional word usage and sentence simplicity are known for TIME

+1 I am also a reader of Time! I like the style very much!

For picture books, check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_book

Isn't there a bookshop in Taiwan that sells a lot of English books? I saw it last summer when I went back to Taiwan (not that the price was cheaper. Probably around the same price as Australia)

You often offer me some useful information link to WiKiPedia.

Is there any other website you recommend to use?

As for the bookshop selling English books, I think I have heard some, but I am not familiar with them though. Maybe I can go and search for something that I am finding next time.

[damoko 10]

As for the bookshop selling English books, I think I have heard some, but I am not familiar with them though. Maybe I can go and search for something that I am finding next time.

I recommend Page one.

http://www.pageonegroup.com/

Taipei 101

Page One Bookshop Private Limited Taiwan Branch

Office and Retail, Taipei, Taiwan

4F-1, No. 45 Shi-Fu Road 110 Taipei Taiwan. Taipei 101

Business Hours

Mon-Sun & Eve of Public Holidays: 11.00am - 10.00pm

Hope it helps :p

[MikiRei 10]

Is there any other website you recommend to use?

Google :p

[liltwnboiz 10]

Google is the closest thing you can find on the web to an ultimate answering machine

[Balie 10]

First of all, I just want to say "Thank you!" to all visitors here.

I am gradually catching on the tip for a better writing performance.

However, I am not sure about how to polish my writing works.

When you finished your works, what do you do to make them better?

I think it is much better if both native speakers and ESL students could share your opinions.

[MikiRei 10]

When you finished your works, what do you do to make them better?

Read it over and check for mistakes. Let your friends read it and see what they think. Let your teachers read it and see what they think. Rewrite if necessary

[Balie 10]

I have found out some useful information in WiKi.

Composition:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_%28language%29

However, I have not finished reading them, so I will post my opinion later.^^

[訪客]

If your goal is to get a high score in university entrance exam, my suggestion would be showing off by using difficult(but not too awkward) vocabularies and complex and diverse sentence structures. You don't need to pay much attention on fluency so long as it's still comprehensible. I once heard of an extreme case which a 學長 just wrote down fragments of lyrics and got a pretty high score.

However, if you want to improve your skill in standard academic writing, you should focus on how to properly write topic sentence, thesis, beginning, ending, and support your idea. Note that English writing has a different format and style than Chinese writing, and some Chinese English teachers aren't aware of it. Generally, the key is to be straight forward.

[Balie 10]

If your goal is to get a high score in university entrance exam' date=' my suggestion would be showing off by using difficult(but not too awkward) vocabularies and complex and diverse sentence structures.[/quote']

I know what you mean, but I hope my writing work can become more interesting.(You know all students are given three or four pictures to tell their own stories.)

However' date=' if you want to improve your skill in standard academic writing, you should focus on how to properly write topic sentence, thesis, beginning, ending, and support your idea.[/quote']

I also hope I can make steady progress in this aspect.

In fact, I like to write some thoughts toward daily life once in a while, and I will polish ans correct them. It is a way for me to get away with everything annoying.:)

[MikiRei 10]

In fact, I like to write some thoughts toward daily life once in a while, and I will polish ans correct them. It is a way for me to get away with everything annoying

Keep a diary or an online blog. Either way.

[Balie 10]

Keep a diary or an online blog. Either way.

Yes, I do. I like to keep a blog as a record of my life.

I do enjoy learning English. Trying to polish my English literacy is what I am coveted for. Simultaneously, I wouldn't neglect listening and speaking either. I believe learning English(or a language) is a tough but interesting journey. In the pursuit of good command, we are definitely to be confronted with different obstacles. For example, why I started this discussion is that I want to make my writing better and better. In so doing, I can improve my speaking ability at the same time(about the articulation). Therefore, I think learning a language is an all-around process. You are unlikely to neglect any part; otherwise, you may not be able to work it out.

Just keep trying, I think, and I am still expecting more discussions.:E

[MikiRei 10]

I have one more comment for you Balie. Your command for the English language is fine enough - probably even better than many native speakers (sadly enough) - at least for your written skills and your range of vocabulary. There is, but one flaw (in my opinion anyways) - it lacks natural feeling. Most of the time, you can feel a person's feeling or personality through their post on a forum. However, for all of your posts, they're all incredibly polished and correct (asides for a few odd expressions here and there) - which is fine. You're trying to learn the language and you've done a very good job of it too. However, I prefer to see a little more "personality" in your posts. Don't get me wrong. Your written skills are fine (because all your post sounds like a passage from a correctly written essay) just that it lacks your own, personal touch to it. This is probably due to your limited contact with native speakers and the English-speaking culture. A way to deal with this is possibly talk to native speakers a lot more and use English at a more personal level so that your personality starts to merge with the language (since right now, I feel like there's you, and then there's this nicely polished, English layer of you and the only exposure I have is your English layer, not the actual you - hope you get it. I'm sort of going round and round in circles here).

That's all from me now. Again, don't get me wrong. I've said numerous time that your English is incredibly good for a person learning it as a second language OUTSIDE the English-speaking environment. Keep up the good work!

[Balie 10]

A way to deal with this is possibly talk to native speakers a lot more and use English at a more personal level so that your personality starts to merge with the language.

I can understand what you want to say.;-)

However, I don't have a lot of opportunities to get touch with native speakers. I think I will start by reading more first(something like novels). When I become a college freshman(hope I can reach my goal ^^), I may try "languages exchange." Maybe it will be better! How do you think about this?

[MikiRei 10]

"languages changing."

Do you mean language exchange? *shrug* Whatever suits you best really.

[Balie 10]

However, I prefer to see a little more "personality" in your posts.

I can understand what you want to say, but I have no idea how to demonstrate our personalities by means of words.

Could you explain with some examples? ???

[spacedunce-5 10]

More use of personal expressions, like, you know, saying umm, I guess, etc.

Also, you can use some emoticons ^^ :) <_< or mimed movements (*shrug*, *laugh*, etc.).