Topic Sentences

Topic sentences can be difficult to create when you're writing in a foreign language. Fortunately, there's a simple way to tell if you've written a good one. A topic sentence should have only one topic and say only one thing about that topic. So, to check your topic sentence, ask yourself two questions: What is the topic of this sentence? What does the sentence say about the topic? If you can clearly say what the topic is and what the "one thing" it says about the topic, then you probably have a good topic sentence. That simple, two-step check can make writing good topic sentences easier.

Here's something that might help you remember that your topic sentence needs one topic and one idea about that topic. Just think, "ớt ơi."

One topic, one idea.

Blogs & Wikis for Class?

In December I will be teaching an intensive 3-week writing course and I've been searching for a way that students can post their homework to a blog or wiki, revise it as the course proceeds, and view and comment on their classmates' work.

wikispaces.com may be a solution but I'm a bit concerned that it involves too much tech and tech English. It won't be that helpful if we have to spend a week on  how to navigate a site just to be able to turn in  homework. Of course, emailing assignments is one solution and we've used it successfully in the past, but I like the idea of students being able to see their progress, work together with their classmates and show off their work to others by sending them a link.

DAV students -- Do you think online assignments would work or is it too complicated? Would you like to post your assignments online?

Writing Classes in Hanoi

How's your writing? Would you like to work on improving it? Beginning in mid-April I will be teaching two private writing classes. There will be a fee, but the class size will be limited to 5 students in each class so they can receive focused attention.

• First Steps in Academic Writing is a high-beginner level class which will focus on basics such as writing good sentences, paragraph structure, and different kinds of paragraphs. This two-hour class will meet twice a week for six weeks (Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:30 pm and Saturday, 9 - 11 am). Writing assignments will be given as homework. If you are interested, send me a message on Facebook, or text your email address to 01227350749 and I will send you the details.
• Improving Your Writing is for high-intermediate and advanced students. This two-hour class will meet once a week for six weeks (Saturday, 1 - 3 pm) and will focus mainly on academic writing tasks similar to some of the IELTS tasks. Writing assignments will be given as homework and students will spend a lot of time editing and correcting assignments in order to recognize and avoid mistakes. If you are interested, send me a message on Facebook, or text your email address to 01227350749 and I will send you the details.

 Classes will begin on 19 April and 23 April and run till 28 May.

Shorten Your Summary

Sometimes you may be required to summarize a text in a certain number of words. How can you make sure you have the most important information in your summary?

One way to practice is to start with a text and start deleting the parts that you think are unimportant. When you re-read the text, the overall meaning should still be clear if you've kept the important information.

Example:

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's navy fired warning shots to chase away a North Korean fishing boat that crossed their disputed sea border early Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said, in the latest flareup of tension on the divided peninsula just days before the Group of 20 summit in Seoul. The North Korean boat intruded on South Korean territory for about two hours before returning to North Korean waters early Wednesday, the ministry said. The fertile maritime border, the scene of three deadly skirmishes between the Koreas, is a key flashpoint because the North does not recognize the line drawn by the U.N. at the close of the 1950-53 Korean War.
          The firing comes just days after North Korea shot two rounds at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone, prompting return fire from South Korean troops, according to Seoul military officials.South Korea is bracing for any possible North Korean moves to sabotage next week's Group of 20 summit of world leaders. North Korea has a track record of provocations when world attention is focused on the rival South.

 When you read what's left, the meaning should still be clear. In this example, you could remove a few more words and it would still make sense.

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's navy fired warning shots at a North Korean fishing boat that crossed their disputed sea border just days before the Group of 20 summit. The North Korean boat intruded on South Korean territory for about two hours before returning to North Korean waters. The border is a flashpoint because the North does not recognize the line drawn by the U.N. at the close of the Korean War.
          The firing comes just days after North Korea shot at a South Korean guard post, prompting return fire from South Korean troops. South Korea is bracing for any possible North Korean moves to sabotage next week's Group of 20 summit. North Korea has a record of provocations when world attention is focused on the South.

That reduces it from about 180 words to about 125. The meaning is still there and it makes sense. Now you just need to put it into your own words, which will simplify it and probably cut the word count even further.

          South Korea fired warning shots at a North Korean fishing boat that crossed their disputed sea border just days before the G20 summit. The North Korean boat was in South Korean territory for about two hours. The border is a trouble spot because the North does not recognize the border the U.N. drew at the end of the Korean War.
          A few days ago, North Korea shot at a South Korean guard post and South Korean troops shot back. South Korea is preparing for possible trouble from North Korea before next week's summit. In the past, North Korea has caused trouble when world attention is focused on the South.

 Here are two ways to practice it yourself.

• Find an online that's easy for you to understand. Copy and paste it into a new document. Then delete the unnecessary parts and read it again to see if the important information is still there and it makes sense. Re-write it in your own words.
• Photocopy an article from your textbook that you need to summarize. Cross out the unnecessary parts and read what's left. It should still make sense and contain all the important information that was in the original. Then re-write it in your own words.

On an exam, you could do the same thing a little differently.

1. Mark the parts that you think contain the main points.
2. Read only those parts and see if the main message of the article is there and it makes sense.
3. Write a topic sentence and then add the main points that you marked. Be sure to put the main points into your own words!

Collocations 01

This afternoon we talked about collocations in class. Here is some more information. The slides advance after 5 seconds but, if they go too fast, just pause them. Slide 8 has a few exercises. The answers are on slide 10.

9 Things You Should Never Do On an Exam

Here are some problems I've noticed as I've marked quizzes and exams in the last few weeks. If you've made any of these mistakes, take note! Your future grades will be better if you avoid these nine mistakes.

Don't:

1. Use reductions like “gonna.”
2. Write like you’re sending an SMS. “u” and “ur” are not words in English.
3. Use “and so on.” If you answer, “Which countries are in Asean?” with, “Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, and so on” what kind of mark do you think you will get?
4. Use “in my opinion” when you are asked for facts.
5. Use “on the other hand” when you are not introducing a contrast.
6. Use “almost of” when you mean “most of.” Almost of Most of the Sudanese don't want another war. (Didn’t we talk about that in class?)
7. Use “everything” when you mean “anything.” They can do everything anything they want. (Check a good grammar book for the difference.)
8. Answer 5 questions when it says, “Answer 3.” Your last 2 answers will be ignored. Follow the instructions.
9. Write sloppily. After the first 40-50 exams, teachers get tired of trying to decipher messy handwriting and they become a lot less sympathetic. When they have hundreds of exams to grade, the odds are against yours being in the first 50. Write neatly!

Grammar Practice Website

If you have trouble writing grammatically correct sentences, here is a web site of online exercises that can help you practice. http://cc.ysu.edu/~tacopela/Writing/Grammar.htm. It's from Youngstown State University (USA).

The site begins with some basic grammar. For example, if you sometimes use the wrong form of a verb, this exercise may be useful to you: Forming Verbs: Choosing the Right Form.

If your writing is already pretty good, look further down the page and you'll find exercises to improve it even more. This is especially important if you're considering studying in the West because you'll have a lot of writing assignments. The exercises can also help with grammar for speaking.

Suggestion: If you want to use those exercises, practice every few days (or every day). It won't help you much if you only do it once.