10 Tips to proofread your own work

Writing is one of the most comprehensive features of modern civilization and its marvels are inexplicable. There are many who look at writing as a science and others who think writing is an art. Even then, what many people don’t realize that, to make writing into what it is requires fine tuning, otherwise known as proofreading.

Work that is not proofread has many mistakes which make it hard to get the intended message out. Errors like grammar, bad punctuations, and spellings are bad for all written works. Typos on the other hand remove voice or distort it completely, making it even more unpalatable and less interesting. To keep the essence of the writing process, you need to understand how to effectively proofread. Here are some of the most effective proofreading tips you can find.

1. As much as possible try to proofread when all writing and editing is done. This is because, when you are still creating, it’s hard to detect the mistakes that could be costly to your works. It’s better to save proofreading for last.
2. Keep off all distractions when you are proofreading work. Email, social media, cell phones, TV, radio and other forms of distractions are bad when you are in the proofreading mode. If possible, print out your document to keep off the computer.
3. You need to forget the story and instead, focus on the facets of the article that are error prone-sentence level scrutiny. If possible, read and work backwards and say them loudly. You will find where the problems are because this way, you can concentrate.
4. Create a system that determines different errors in your works and stick to it. For example, you could start with spelling mistakes on the first pass and do typos in the second, etc. The essence is to catch every common prone mistake you could have made in the paper.
5. Take notes if you come across something in the paper than needs attention. Don’t touch it as you do the proofing.
6. When you make changes to sections of a sentence, read the whole sentence or paragraph in its entirety to make sure it does make sense. This is because errors do happen when adjacent words are changed and end up changing entire pieces and message.
7. Look out and double check on definite facts like dates, quotes and so forth contained in the work you are proofreading. If you can do this check separately, you are more likely to end up with accurate work.
8. Monitor yourself to detect each time you drift away. If it happens, go over the section again and look out for repeats.
9. Create a familiarity with your common mistakes. Even the best writers make mistakes they can’t live without in their writing. They have to make deliberate efforts to correct them, because they always make them.
10. Always check your format last. This is because, after all is said and done and the package is done, the format is what attracts the readers to it. You need to do these using acceptable formatting techniques as demanded by the type of writing.

This is a guest post written by Tracy Lugo. Tracy provides dissertation editing services at uk dissertations writing.

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3 Free Online Spelling Education Resources for English Language Learners

Most English language learners will tell you that learning to speak English is difficult, but it's nowhere near as difficult as learning how to spell English words. This is mostly because there are so many spelling variations for the few sounds in the English language. One might not assume that cry, high, pie, and alibi would all share the long i sound and rhyme, but they do. This is just one example of how tricky the English language can be in terms of spelling and the sounds our letters and letter combinations make.

Unless you're an extremely talented visual learner who can instantly memorize the spelling of each word you read, you may be struggling to learn how to spell English words well. If this is the case, here are a few online spelling education resources you should check out.


BBC Skillswise Spelling

BBC Skillwise is a collection of online educational materials that includes an extensive collection of English spelling resources. When you navigate to the spelling section of BBC Skillwise, you'll find videos, games, and quizzes to help you learn more about plurals, root words, commonly used letter patterns, and words that are particularly difficult to read and spell.

If you're looking for a spelling education resource geared toward adults, you'll love what BBC Skillswise has to offer.


Art of Spelling

The Art of Spelling helps you learn how to spell over 20,000 English words in its easy-to-follow and fun lessons. In each of this free website's lessons, you're given a handful of words to spell. These words are pronounced for you, and the Art of Spelling system lets you know whether or not you've spelled them correctly.

If you want a lot of exposure to the correct spelling of English words, Art of Spelling won't disappoint you.


SpellingCity

If you find learning to spell English words from a textbook or dictionary to be dull, you'll adore the free games and fun online activities SpellingCity has to offer. Many of SpellingCity's games are meant for kids, but that doesn't mean they won't entertain adults too. Try out the Speedy Speller game to challenge yourself to spell quickly, and make sure you take some of the spelling tests offered by SpellingCity to test your spelling knowledge.

Go on and visit SpellingCity to learn with its funny games and online activities.

Try out the websites listed above, and you'll be spelling words like "onomatopoeia" and "bougainvillea" as well as becoming a spelling champion in no time!

This is a guest post written by Alvina Lopez. Alvina is a freelance writer and blogging extraordinaire for seven years, she now mainly contributes her expertise about online colleges to accreditedonlinecolleges.com. Her ultimate goal is to help future students discover their potential by enrolling in the right program for them. She also writes about trends in education, personal finance, and sustainable living. She loves getting feedback from her readers at alvina.lopez@gmail.com.

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Are you looking for a pen friend? Find one on PenPal Palace

As with many things in life, the best way to improve your level of English is by using it. The idea is simple, but putting it into practice can be difficult. If you live in a non-English speaking country, it’s difficult to find people with whom you can practise your English.

Fortunately, the Internet offers many opportunities to find online language partners. Pen pal or pen friend is a person with whom one becomes acquainted through a friendly, regular correspondence (like email or letter). You can even speak in English with this person using programs like Skype or Google Talk.



A great website to find a language-learning partner is PenPal Palace. It’s free, quick and easy. With PenPal Palace you’ll not only be practising your English, but you’ll also have the chance to get to know new people and their cultures, as well as exchanging ideas with others.

Visit PenPalPalace.com

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A brief introduction to compound and complex sentence construction in English

You can dramatically improve your English writing skills by revising paragraphs written in short, simple sentences so that they reflect a deeper understanding of your subject. You can do this by combining and connecting previously written simple sentences into longer complex sentences which communicate more information and display a firm grasp on written English. A few compound and complex sentences express a more nuanced thought than a whole paragraph of shorter sentences with limited meaning. I’ll give brief examples of how you can incorporate compound and complex sentences into your everyday writing.

Compound sentences

The easier of these two structural styles to grasp is the compound sentence. Compound sentences essentially link together two independent simple sentences, often by adding a coordinating conjunction such as “but,” “and,” “so,” “yet,” or “for”. Though grammatically correct, it looks strange when two short sentences that address the same idea follow each other in a paragraph. Compound sentences work to unite short sentences into a coherent long thought that addresses several aspects of the same main idea. Below are a few examples of simple sentences transformed into compound sentences. I’ve underlined the coordinating conjunction in each compound sentence.

Simple sentence: I won tickets by calling the radio station. The DJ told me to invite along all my friends to the show!

Compound sentence: I won tickets by calling the radio station, and the DJ told me to invite along all my friends to the show!

Simple sentence: Mary said she could come to the show. She got sick the day before.

Compound sentence: Mary said she could come to the show, but she got sick the day before.

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences link together an independent clause with one or more dependent clauses and contain multiple verbs, thus explaining much more information in one sentence than a string of related simple sentences. The independent clause and dependent clause are typically linked by a relative pronoun (that, which, who, whose, etc.) or a subordinate conjunction (when, because, since, although, so, etc.).

The best way to think about the difference between independent and dependent clauses is that independent clauses make grammatical sense on their own, independent of anything else in the sentence. Dependent clauses, on the other hand, depend on the independent clause to make grammatical sense -they can’t stand by themselves. The following are examples of complex sentences with the conjunction underlined and the dependent clause in bold.

Complex sentence: We sold our quota faster than the team that walked because we biked.

Complex sentence: I ate the cookies that you left out.

Complex sentence: Jeff said he thought he compiled more data than I did.

Complex-Compound Sentence

A little more difficult than the previous two sentence types, the complex-compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses, usually linked by a dependent clause. These sentences can communicate several big ideas about the same subject without breaking the thought for a new sentence. Below are a few examples of complex-compound sentences with the linking dependent clause underlined.

Complex-Compound sentence: Although Frank enjoyed cooking, he always forgot to buy groceries ahead of time, so he usually went out to eat for dinner.

Complex-Compound sentence: I started eating an apple every day at lunch, but George, who loves his junk food, continues to eat chips.

Complex-Compound sentence: Jessie didn’t care about the weather before, but since the storm, he’s made a point to bring his umbrella everywhere.

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.

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Don't Get Desperate! Native Speakers Have Problems with English Too

Non-native English speakers often think of native-like English as the end goal of their studies, when all aspects of their English from pronunciation to punctuation will be perfect. However, there are common grammatical problems even native speakers face, and that ESL students taking classes online or in any formal program should be aware of as well. Here, several common problems of native English speakers are discussed, and suggestions offered for how ESL learners can avoid these pitfalls.

One problem is that of speech errors such as eggcorns, mondegreens, spoonerisms, and malapropisms.* These errors occur often in natural speech, even for native speakers. Word choice errors such as malapropisms and eggcorns are particularly common, and occur in both speaking and writing. When unsure of word choice, use a dictionary or other reference to select the most appropriate term. Asking for clarification and written examples can also help make sure that new vocabulary items and phrases have been heard accurately, and used appropriately later.

Many aspects of written English are particularly problematic for native English speakers, and may be for English language learners as well. One such problem is misuse of common homophones. Confusion of “to,” “two,” and “too;” “there,” “they're,” and “their;” “your” and “you’re;” and “its” and “it’s” are seen in all kinds of writing, even at the college level. To avoid these errors, become familiar with common homophones, and make sure to use the correct one when writing.

Another common writing error that native speakers often encounter is that of sentence fragments, incomplete parts of sentences that are punctuated like whole sentences. Typically, fragments fail to include all the components required in a complete sentence. To avoid sentence fragments, check each sentence carefully to make sure that it expresses a complete thought, and to make sure that each one includes a clear subject and verb.

Run-on sentences represent the opposite problem. Run-ons are created when at least two different sentences are joined together without a proper connector. One of the most common types of run-on sentence is a comma splice, where two independent sentences are joined with just a comma. Repairing this problem requires either adding a conjunction or separating the two clauses into two different sentences. To avoid problems with run-on sentences, English language learners should become familiar with proper use of commas and conjunctions. Practicing this knowledge through proofreading can greatly reduce sentential errors such as run-ons and fragments.

Native speakers of English also struggle with other nuanced grammar rules. Most college essays written by native English speakers include some misplaced modifiers, dangling participles, and stranded prepositions. As a matter of fact, many native English speakers are unaware of what these terms mean. This is because native speakers tend to rely more on intuitive knowledge of English than on rules they learned in grammar classes. For non-native speakers, paying close attention to grammar rules and thinking consciously about the grammar being used in writing assignments will help minimize these kinds of errors.

The errors outlined above are common occurrences for both native and non-native English speakers, but can be avoided by focusing on a few key techniques. First, be aware of these types of problems, and consciously focus on avoiding them when writing. Second, try to keep a dictionary and a good grammar reference handy in order to clarify any problematic areas. Finally, always proofread written work carefully, and repair errors as needed. English language learners should remember that native speakers' English isn't always the best English.

* Speech error glossary:

Eggcorn: consistently incorrect use of a similar-sounding word, like saying “elk” instead of “ilk.”

Mondegreen: mishearing the sounds of a word or phrase so they form something else, as in “also into cats” instead of “oh so intricate.” This commonly occurs with song lyrics.

Spoonerism: mixing up the sounds within a word or phrase, as in the famous example of saying “queer old dean” instead of “dear old queen.”

Malapropism: the accidental substitution of a similar-sounding word.

This is a guest post by Marina Salsbury. Marina planned on becoming a teacher since high school, but found her way instead into online writing after college. She writes around the Web about everything from education to exercise.

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Free e-book - How to Stop Struggling with English Writing

Do you know which the two key pillars are when studying English (and any language in general)? Speaking and writing. And today we’d like to present you this free e-book that will reveal all the secrets and tips for a successful English writing.

The main goal of this e-book is to give you a clear view and procedure to improve you English writing skills. It is divided in five sections that will show you some very handy techniques and tips that you can put into practice to start writing properly in English once for all!

This e-book is absolutely free and you can download it from any of the following links:

“How To Stop Struggling With English Writing”:



Download this e-book from Scribd.com
Download this e-book from Box.net

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Want To Write in English Fast? Write a Draft First!

Another technique I find very effective when writing in English is doing it fast, and without much consideration of correctness and style! While being a perfectionist generally isn’t a bad thing, there are times when you have to suppress the desire within you to be perfect.

In other words, you need to write a quick draft which is going to form the main body of your letter, memo, e-mail or essay. Don’t take me wrong though; writing a draft doesn’t automatically mean twice as much time spent in the process than if you were to write it all spotlessly from scratch. Why?

First of all, don’t forget how much time you just wasted just sitting and staring at the monitor unable to produce any text whatsoever! Even if you do spend additional time correcting your own mistakes after the draft has been written, you should see merit of this technique in that it allows you to write a concrete piece of text. Regardless of its quality, it’s a tangible result and it can be improved upon.

Secondly, correcting a piece of text that’s been spewed out without much thinking is much easier and quicker that you may think! I’ve always found that my mind works best when it’s not limited by conscious considerations regarding English grammar and style. Remember – it’s less time consuming to fix those five spots in five paragraphs that don’t sound right than spending five minutes on each of them trying to make it all perfect from the beginning!

What’s surprising about writing drafts is that sometimes you’ll find there’s very little to correct when you go back to finalize the piece of English text. Personally I do quite a lot of writing in English and I have days when it’s harder to gather thoughts and speak, so the writing process is also slightly hindered. When I proofread an article, however, I often find it sounds very well and there’s nothing to add or take away! So it may happen to you if you let creativity take over and just write fast and without much thinking!

After you’ve produced the draft, read the piece of text aloud. Don’t just scan it as mistakes will escape your attention. You have to read it aloud and surprisingly enough you’ll spot most of awkwardly sounding bits that you didn’t notice when writing the draft!

When you write the draft fast and without much thinking, you are the creator of the content. Yet when you go back and check what’s written you’re not involved anymore in the process of creation. You adopt an observer’s role and now you can spot any grammar or style mistake much easier than during the process of writing.

So here are the three steps of the draft writing technique:

1. Just get it all out on a piece of paper or text processing software
2. Proofread and correct the text you just produced.
3. Use spellchecker to ensure you haven’t missed any grammar mistakes.

And of course, don’t forget making up the bullet-point list and speaking with yourself as you write!.

Guest post from English learning enthusiast Robby Kukurs. Robby writes about improving spoken English on his blog EnglishHarmony.com. He also regularly posts videos about improving English fluency on his YouTube channel.

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Planning as a Cornerstone of Successful English Writing

Speaking to yourself and putting it down on paper isn’t enough if you want to be able to compose fast and efficient letters, reports or do some creative writing. You still may find yourself in a limbo of dead ends when your thoughts seem to be constantly shifting and you can’t maintain a consistent writing style.

This is when planning comes into action, and believe me – it does wonders to your writing speed and clarity of thoughts!

What I’m talking about is a short, about five bullet-point long list of things you want to tell about in your piece of writing. You may have a very clear general idea about what you have to say, but when it comes to the actual writing, having a more detailed action plan is crucial in order to produce a logical and well-structured story. You will also avoid jumping from subject to subject and returning to things you’ve already discussed if you have a nice blueprint of all the main points in a logical sequence!

Planning also helps you to add substance to your story. Not having enough to say was probably one of the reasons you dreaded writing essays and reports at school, am I not right in saying that? You can write all you have to say on half a page and your flow of thoughts is exhausted!

Of course, not all types of writing need to be long and comprehensive. Sometimes your goal might be quite the opposite – to put all information into a short and concise piece of text. A typical example of such writing would be an e-mail including instructions for a project partner. You don’t need to write it as long as an essay as it would only inhibit the recipient’s perception and your instructions might become dubious.

Still, a clear idea of what exactly you want to say in your e-mail in a form of a short list is going to make a big difference in your writing time and clearness of thoughts while you write.

Let’s have a look at a bullet-list I drew up before I started to write this article:

• Speaking as you write is not enough!
• Planning as a crucial element of the writing process;
• Planning helps adding substance;
• Planning example;
• Planning aids perception.

It took me less than five minutes to come up with this short list yet it easily saves about ten minutes – if not even more! – in writing time. Had I started writing this very article with only the main idea in mind - “planning the writing process” – I would be struggling with conveying the message as fluently and easily as I do now. Moreover, by failing to do so, I’d be actually conflicting with the very topic I’m writing about!

Bear in mind as well that planning adds not only substance to what you write, it also helps structuring the text which aids the perception of the reader. You can’t forget that on most occasions you don’t write only for yourself. There’s almost always a person who the written message is created for so you have to keep in mind that you have to make your writing a pleasant and easy reading as well!

Guest post from English learning enthusiast Robby Kukurs. Robby writes about improving spoken English on his blog EnglishHarmony.com. He also regularly posts videos about improving English fluency on his YouTube channel.

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