WHO SAID ENGLISH IS A SIMPLE LANGUAGE???

Hello everybody!

Unfortunately, today I feel a bit frustated because I realized that I still make a lot of mistakes when writing in English...I know that native speakers make errors, too, and I also know that, when using another language, the most important aspect is often the communicative purpose, that is to communicate clearly. However, I'm attending the very last year of English at the University, and language accuracy is important,too (Soon I'll start writing my thesis!).

Now I would like to point out what I've learnt this morning:

-Subordinators are never preceded by a comma.

-Conjuncts, which are independent words or expressions, are followed by a comma, and preceded by a semicolon or a full stop (but never by a comma because a comma can never link two independent clauses).

Conjuncts in English are:

• First of all, first,firstly,...,finally (intoducing a list)
• In conclusion,to sum up/conclude/summarize (introducing a conclusion)
• Despite this,however,on the other hand,on the contrary,no/nevertheless,otherwise (expressing contrast)
• Moreover,furthermore,indeed (reinforcing or adding)
• For example/instance (giving an example)
• Similarly,likewise (saying two things for similar reasons)
• As a result,consequently,therefore (pointing out a result)

However, try to use them only when it's necessary!They are heavy words. So, if you write a logical and clearly-structured text, you don't need to trace the line of your thought explicitly (also because the reader is not so stupid!).

When I write my posts, I have to check:

• Relative clauses (defining vs. non-defining)
• Paragraph and sentence length
• Punctuation

I really hope that I'll make fewer mistakes in the following posts!

See you soon,

Michela

Summing up...
We started to work on the blogosphere about one month ago...Now, I can:

• Create a blog
• Subscribe to RSS feeds and create playlists (Bloglines)
• Post bookmarks and make a network (Delicious)
• Evaluate online sources

Reflecting on Thursday lessons: we learn English in class, too!
This reflective post is about Thursday lessons because I would like to underline some points. On the one hand, it is true that this English course is primarily based on computer as the principal means for language learning.However, I think that Thursday lessons in class are very important for our learning process, as well.First of all, we can speak a lot - especially the people attending the 8:30 lesson - because we are not so much (and this happens really very few times in English courses!) and know each other very well, so that we are less afraid of others' judgements...Secondly, I think that it's very useful to discuss our most common grammatical mistakes in greater detail.In this way, we can really understand them and, consequently, stop making them.

And now, a bit of grammar!
As far as grammar is concerned, I would like to point out some things I learnt during these Thursday lessons:
1-THE KEY RULE:TRY TO SIMPLIFY LANGUAGE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, so that your posts are much easier to read, and you probably make fewer mistakes;
2-Instead of using these English words:
deepen, also, such, in fact, must, will, distinguish, use the following ones: learn, too, this, indeed, have to, going to, stand out. Instead of don't have to/mustn't use shouldn't, to be not supposed to, can't, or the Imperative.
3-Don't use Present Perfect, use simple Past;
4-Keep in mind that the word order in English is always S+V+O (Subject+Verb+Object);
5-Some rules on punctuation:

• Semicolon:it links two closely related independent clauses (S+V); use it as little as possible!
• Full stop:it is used to end a sentence, a complete thought; use it as much as possible!
• Comma:it is used for a list, or when you're adding something, developing something that is'n a complete though;
• Colon:it is used for a list, or for giving an explanation of what you've said before;
• Lists:you have to use commas when you have words or noun-phrases,you have to use semicolons when the items are short independent clauses
• Words like because, while, since, as, whereas introduce a dependent clause, and are never preceded by a comma.
• Words like however, furthermore, therefore introduce an independent clause, so you can never put a comma before them.

6-Present Perfect:

• Unfinished time (since, yet, ever,...)
• Unfinished actions (I've been talking too much!)
• Present consequence (however, both Present Perfect and Simple Past are potentially correct in this case: e. g. I've lost my wallet/I lost my wallet. It depends on the viewpoint from which you analyse action).

7-Everything means the whole, whereas anything means a part of the whole.

8-For example = e.g. means "one of many"/that is = i.e.: you're giving the explanation, and the explanation is just one. That is is always preceded, and not followed, by a comma.

9-LINKING:

• Coordinate: and, but, or (you can use a comma if you want to)
• Subordinate:since, because, as, although, despite, ... (they're never preceded by a comma!)
• Punctuate: , ; :

10-Subordinators in English:

• TIME: after, before,when,while,as soon as, until.
• REASON: because,so,since,as,due to.
• PURPOSE: to,in order to,so as to.
• CONCESSION: although,even though/even if,despite,though,whereas/while
• CONDITION: if,unless,as long as.

And last but not least: be careful with sentence fragments and run-ons!

Surprise, surprise!...Bookmarking is so delicious...
Hello everybody!I'm sorry...I haven't written anything since last Friday...as you know, I was very busy because I had to work on my PPT presentation on my job application letter for the English course with Professor Taylor...Finally, I have time to write something about how my language learning process is going on...
Last week I learnt how you can save bookmarks on the web, so that you can click on your favourite sites even when using other computers. I think that this computer resource is really useful not only because you can visit the sites that interest you much quicker, and can see them listed one after the other, but also because, exploring tags, you are provided with a lot of interesting information, which has already been filtered by other people having probably the same interests as you. In my opinion, what is even more important is the fact that when you save bookmarks you can write notes, usually a few short sentences, where you explain the significance of the information you saved, so that people reading them can decide immediately wheter the site is relevant to him/her or not. So, these sentences are supposed to convey the main topic of the web page as well as its value, the reason why s/he chose to save it.
As far as the task of this week is concerned, I found it useful, too because, once again, we put in practice what we learnt in theory. In my opinion, this is indeed the only way to really become familiar with some discovery. All of us was asked to explore tags on Delicious as well as Google sites and blogs to find information regarding language learning, which is the real purpose of our blogging activity. Then, we were asked to create a network, so that we're able to share the information found on the web with the other members of our group. My group found very interesting sites and blogs about idiomatic expressions, everyday conversational language, punctuation, listening activities, C.V. and cover letter writing, newspapers, pronunciation. In particular, I think that English Punctuation by How to Learn English, BBC Learning English/Pronunciation Tips, and APA Formatting and Style Guide are the best choices. Obviously, what I've just said depends on my personal knowledge needs, and it's not a kind of absolute truth!

The first site I chose about puctuation interests me because I have a lot of doubts when using punctuation in English:it is really very different from Italian!So, sometimes there is interference from my own language. However, I'm trying to follow some simple rules (following too many rules is sometimes even worse!), such as the fact that semi-colon is used not so much in English as in Italian, or the fact that a complete thought has to be signalled with a full stop, and never with a comma.However, this site can really help me learn more about how punctuation is used in English.

The second site is a BBC site about problems with pronunciation, another troublesome issue when considering the English language.This site provides you not only with theory about the sounds of English, but also with quizzes, videos. podcasts, so that you can practice what you learnt.

As far as the last site I chose is concerned, I already visited it during the first semester when I had to write my wikipage about architecture.It is indeed a site with information about the ways to write references in accordance with the different types of sources (Academic writings, Internet sites, books, articles,...).I find it very useful because this year I'm writing a lot of academic texts, which have to contain the list of the sources my work depends on, as well.And these references have to be cited properly.Moreover, this site will be very useful when I'll have to write my thesis.How to cite references is always an important issue.

For now, that's all guys!

See you tomorrow,

Michela

I HAVE A DREAM!

Hi everybody!

In a world where there is never enough time...Have you got time to dream yet?I hope so...Without dreams life would be very boring!

I really love Russia...My dream is to fly there as soon as possible!And yours?

Photo source

Feeds: everything you want to know...you'll find in one page!
Hi everybody!
What to say about feeds?they're a really useful resource!So thank you Sarah (my English teacher)!You're showing me a lot of interesting things I didn't know about the Internet!And as far as feeds are concerned, they're also very very easy to use!Even for me...Finally, I can use the Web in a much more time-effective way, thus becoming more efficient when working.I often waste long time on visiting all the sites I'm interested in.Now I can create not only single feeds, but also playlists, through which you can create groups of web sites presenting some common characteristics, and have their latest updates available for you in the same page. I think feeds will be useful for our blog experience, too because I can visit my peers' blogs more quickly, or see if they were updated without opening their links.
That's all,
See you soon,
Michela

Blogs and my language learning
Here is my first reflective blogging post about language learning! I'm convinced that it's really important to reflect upon your language learning process because you become aware of the possible ways to achieve your goals. As far as blogging is concerned, I think it can be very useful for me to reach my own language targets. In the language passport, I wrote that by the end of the course I should improve both oral and writing skills. I would like to be more accurate, concise, and logically coherent when writing, and would like to be much more fluent, spontaneous, especially when interacting. So far on the blogosphere I've found a lot of new words (technical words, formal and informal words, words that are used in colloquial language), which I think can help me in becoming more spontaneous, fluent in spoken production and interaction, given that I often stop speaking because I don't know the word I want to use. On the blog I also can learn real language, language that is used in everyday life and dosn't belong to standard language. As regards writing skills I think blogging can really help me to become more and more concise! Because of language interference I often write far too much! Italians always write a lot! So I hope that in the end of this experience my style will be more 'English'!
As far as promises in my learning target sheet are concerned, I must say that in the past week I did a lot! So far I've always attended lessons, trying to participate as much as possible, especially in conversation lessons. Moreover, I'm writing a lot of different things: academic papers, blog posts, … and I'm reading a lot, too. Not only do I read academic articles and essays, but also messages on the blog – since when blogging reading essential. So I'm doing very different things, and working with different sources and means (the Internet, academic works, monolingual dictionaries, …).
Tha't all guys!
Michela