Hello, welcome this course is called how to write
correct English and in it I'm going to show you how
to write correct English.
How to write English that you know is correct?
This is a course for intermediate level students of
English. It's a course for students who are at about B1
level of the common European framework, and he want to right
at level B2 and above.
There's a big difference between writing at level B1 and writing
at level B2.
Basically, and I'm not simplifying much. At level
B1, you are allowed to make some mistakes.
But a level B2.
If you have time to plan and the time to check what you write.
You hard to make any mistakes.
I'd never be to the common European framework talks of good
grammatical control. And suggests that errors are rare.
What does that mean? Well, it means that at level B2 you
should try to make sure that there are no mistakes in your
writing. It means, for example, that if you write January with a
small J instead of January with a capital J.
Or if you write he walk in the park everyday instead of he
walks in the park everyday.
Then you are in trouble.
Anne at Level C1 and C2 standards are even
higher, of course.
If your student preparing for an exam, this course will help
you eliminate mistakes.
If you have a job in which you need to write incorrect English,
this course will help you.
The good news is that this course may help you a lot.
The bad news is that you will have to work very hard.
I can't learn English for you.
If you are hungry and I eat.
Then you are still hungry.
I can't eat for you.
And I can't learn English for you.
Take a moment. And ask yourself.
How many of your essays have been thoroughly
corrected by a teacher?
How many essays have you written and given to a teacher?
And the teacher spent 15 minutes carefully detecting and
correcting all your mistakes.
Teachers work long hours.
If they have 30 students in a class and it takes 15 minutes to
read an essay, find all the mistakes. Make all the
corrections. They're not is 7 1/2 hours of extra
work for the teacher.
So not surprisingly, there is a tendency for teachers not to ask
their students to write essays.
That's a pity. Because writing and then seeing all the mistakes
you make and how to correct
them. Is a very very, very good way of learning English.
Mistakes are learning opportunities.
You probably should be writing two essays a week and learning
from all the mistakes.
In this course you will take advantage of those learning
opportunities.
You won't depend on the teacher.
You will depend on yourself.
So you can write as much as you like.
And I hope to show you that the
best correction. Is self correction.
I will help you. Your course companions will help you.
For you will have to do the work.
And you will probably have to work in new ways.
This course is not more of the
same. It is very different.
And it has an unusual methodology.
I will be showing you some exciting tools, an innovative
methods that I hope will help you a lot.
In fact, I'm going to make a number of suggestions and give
you a number of ideas.
You're probably find some more
attractive than others. You may like some and not others, that's
fine. If there's just one useful idea that really helps you.
The course has been useful.
If there's nothing for you.
Then I'm sorry. Is the best I have.
As you can see, I'm going to
speak in English. The transcripts of all these
mini lectures are available all in one document.
And don't be pessimistic.
Maybe you don't feel you can write English with no mistakes.
But I feel you can.
So why do mistakes matter?
Years ago when I started
teaching English. I saw some graffiti on the classroom war.
It said. Little Miss Stack is not mistake.
Well, I understand the feeling, but The thing is,
mistakes are mistakes.
Imagine if you right.
I saw Mary in several occasions.
Can you see the mistake?
It should be.
I saw Mary on several occasions.
On several occasions.
Now it seems only a little mistake, doesn't it? 1 little
word. One little letter.
And the meaning is clear.
And after all, language is about communication. So if
the meaning is clear, then what's the problem?
Well, the problem is that mistakes draw attention to
themselves.
Mistakes distract the reader from your message.
If I'm reading your essay and I come to the sentence I saw Mary
in several occasions. Then I start thinking about your
message. The information about seeing marry that
you want to communicate.
And I start thinking about your use of prepositions, I think.
Hey, wait a minute, that's
wrong. It's not in several occasions. It's on several
occasions. Yes, it's on not in.
I wonder why we say on not in there.
And as you can see, I've stopped thinking about your message.
And I've started thinking about your mistake.
I'm not thinking about using
marry. I'm thinking about prepositions.
So communication suffers.
OK. At lower levels, little mistakes
are permissible.
But it up intermediate level.
And advanced levels and levels. B2C1 and C2, no.
No.
And examiners love it when you make mistakes. They love it.
Haha. Got you?
Why do examiners love it when you make mistakes?
Well, it makes their lives much
easier. They have dozens, scores, hundreds of exams to
mark. They want to decide quickly what Mark to give.
And mistakes make the job easy.
Mistakes are easy to find. They draw attention to themselves and
they are objective.
A mistake is a mistake is a
mistake. If you make mistakes and the examiner fails you.
And you complain.
You don't really have a leg to stand on.
So why do mistakes matter?
Because they interrupt communication because they cause
you to fail exams.
I never other reasons for avoiding mistakes. Good reasons.
A lot of people simply like to
do things properly. After all.
If a job's worth doing.
It's worth doing well.