English Writing Skills

[Old Croc]

Hands up how many people thought I really didn't know how to spell loser.

And no, GungaDin, not a single glass of red had passed my lips at the time of writing.

[Geekfreaklover]

We are having fun tonight, aren't we?

I take all the teasing in good spirits. Maybe I should take it WITH spirits and then I wouldn't know what to reply. If a guy don't ad a few misteaks now and then u'll never haf sumthing to complain about.

Me think same same.

[ThaiEye]

As a professional writer, I can't hold it against someone who can't write properly, but who might be a very good mechanic,(get rid of this one) or some other trade. I'm sure no mechanic, and they could laugh at what I don't know.

There are a few suggestions I could make that might help others, though. On a computer screen, it is much easier to read if there are no more than two or three sentences in a paragraph. Although it's quite easy to read a book of text, for some reason it's hard to read a whole bunch of sentences strung together without any separation on a computer screen... even if it IS a proper paragraph.

One of the most common mistakes I see are the words "loose" and "lose". Although the two words have entirely different meanings, they are often used in place of each other and in the wrong context. It doesn't really matter, though, because we know what the writer means in any case.

And, I often throw in commas where they aren't really needed if it helps the reader.

Sorry, but I can't resist. LOL

As a professional writer, you should look a little closer at your use of commas. When sentences begin with a prepositional phrase (i.e. As a professional writer) or a subordinating conjuction, a comma is required. They are also needed in compund sentences but not needed for compound verbs or compliments.

I've taken the liberty of adding bolded commas in your post where they belong.

I doubt that you'll appreciate my critique of your post, but as I said in the beginning, I just couldn't resist.

A comma is NOT required in any of the situations, it is only advised. The use of the comma is very flexible and can be used at the writer's discretion, a professional writer would know that. There are no actual fixed rules.

Not beginning a sentence with 'And' is only a basic rule that they teach at school. It is all right, however, to start a sentence with And. And again, a professional writer would know that.

See:

http://www.kirkmahoney.com/blog/2008/10/be...ith-and-or-but/

Edited October 29, 2009 by ThaiEye

[bkkjames]

With so many professional writers on here makes me want to call myself a professional golfer.

And why not? And to think about it even more, would be a great waste of time. And that is how the cookies crumble.

[mrtoad]

With so many professional writers on here makes me want to call myself a professional golfer.

And why not? And to think about it even more, would be a great waste of time. And that is how the cookies crumble.

Thai Visa seems to attract professional writers like LA attracts actors and actresses .

[bkkjames]

With so many professional writers on here makes me want to call myself a professional golfer.

And why not? And to think about it even more, would be a great waste of time. And that is how the cookies crumble.

Thai Visa seems to attract professional writers like LA attracts actors and actresses .

By the way Toady, it's a race to 7k, you better put down your beer and get posting. Is that one or two commas?

[mrtoad]

With so many professional writers on here makes me want to call myself a professional golfer.

And why not? And to think about it even more, would be a great waste of time. And that is how the cookies crumble.

Thai Visa seems to attract professional writers like LA attracts actors and actresses .

By the way Toady, it's a race to 7k, you better put down your beer and get posting. Is that one or two commas?

I have no bloody idea James about the commas, maybe ask one of our experts.

[IanForbes]

With so many professional writers on here makes me want to call myself a professional golfer.

And why not? And to think about it even more, would be a great waste of time. And that is how the cookies crumble.

Thai Visa seems to attract professional writers like LA attracts actors and actresses .

I think it's Thailand that attracts writers, not thaivisa. Thaivis is only a way to interact with people while working creatively. The only problem is it's too easy to get distracted for more hours than intended. It's hard to beat a life style where pretty ladies come by for a visit and you don't have to leave the room. You can sit around naked with a cold drink beside you and bang away on the keyboard; and only put on a towel when the gal knocks at the door.

[bkkjames]

With so many professional writers on here makes me want to call myself a professional golfer.

And why not? And to think about it even more, would be a great waste of time. And that is how the cookies crumble.

Thai Visa seems to attract professional writers like LA attracts actors and actresses .

I think it's Thailand that attracts writers, not thaivisa. Thaivis is only a way to interact with people while working creatively. The only problem is it's too easy to get distracted for more hours than intended. It's hard to beat a life style where pretty ladies come by for a visit and you don't have to leave the room. You can sit around naked with a cold drink beside you and bang away on the keyboard; and only put on a towel when the gal knocks at the door.

Your maid is obviously better looking than mine. Or my eyesight is better than yours.

[mrtoad]

You can sit around naked with a cold drink beside you and bang away on the keyboard; and only put on a towel when the gal knocks at the door.

So what you are saying is that Thailand also attracts a lot of tossers?

[IanForbes]

You can sit around naked with a cold drink beside you and bang away on the keyboard; and only put on a towel when the gal knocks at the door.

So what you are saying is that Thailand also attracts a lot of tossers?

Sure does. It attracts everyone from the erudite to the illiterate.

[mrtoad]

You can sit around naked with a cold drink beside you and bang away on the keyboard; and only put on a towel when the gal knocks at the door.

So what you are saying is that Thailand also attracts a lot of tossers?

Sure does. It attracts everyone from the erudite to the illiterate.

Is the keyboard splash proof??

[IanForbes]

You can sit around naked with a cold drink beside you and bang away on the keyboard; and only put on a towel when the gal knocks at the door.

So what you are saying is that Thailand also attracts a lot of tossers?

Sure does. It attracts everyone from the erudite to the illiterate.

Is the keyboard splash proof??

I have two kinds of laptop. One is NOT splash proof. I keep all drinks well away from it. The other is about 160 cm tall and most definitely IS splash proof. In fact the splashing part is some of the best fun.

Like I said, writing can be fun.

Edited October 29, 2009 by IanForbes

[A_Traveller]

On the Firefox spoil chicken point:- Firefox British English Dictionary add-in

Regards

PS Oddly I've just tried to install it here on the Vista+FF 3.5.4 set-up and it appears to be incompatible.

PPS Looks like some issue with Vista but there's also a version with an updated rdf file here which works on 3.5.4 on XP.

Edited October 29, 2009 by A_Traveller

[nidge]

On the Firefox spoil chicken point:- Firefox British English Dictionary add-in

Regards

PS Oddly I've just tried to install it here on the Vista+FF 3.5.4 set-up and it appears to be incompatible.

Thanks for that link. Works with FF 3.5.4 and OSX 10.5.8

Edited October 29, 2009 by nidge

[ozzieovaseas]

Another point to be considered is that certain words/phrases are spelt and worded differently in countries other than our own. Even those from the U.S often spell things differently than would a Brit or Aussie.

Can't think of any examples offhand but there are many..in a lot of cases vowels in certain words are dropped ect.

Moral is: Consider where the poster originates from before assuming his/her grammar is wrong because it's different than yours

[A_Traveller]

^ I think most people would be understanding of the colour vs color issue. Indeed on my honour I'd recognise such a poster as hailing from the former colonies and they might well baulk at a linguistic programme even if it was available in the aeroplane.

Regards

Edited October 29, 2009 by A_Traveller

[Moonrakers]

Another point to be considered is that certain words/phrases are spelt and worded differently in countries other than our own. Even those from the U.S often spell things differently than would a Brit or Aussie.

Can't think of any examples offhand but there are many..in a lot of cases vowels in certain words are dropped ect.

Moral is: Consider where the poster originates from before assuming his/her grammar is wrong because it's different than yours

Colour Color

Specialise Specialize

Sometimes I find that the red line under a word from the spell check tells me that I am spelling it correctly.

[mrtoad]

I have two kinds of laptop. One is NOT splash proof. I keep all drinks well away from it. The other is about 160 cm tall and most definitely IS splash proof. In fact the splashing part is some of the best fun.

Like I said, writing can be fun.

As long as you have a hard drive and not a floppy disk.

[mrtoad]

Another point to be considered is that certain words/phrases are spelt and worded differently in countries other than our own. Even those from the U.S often spell things differently than would a Brit or Aussie.

Can't think of any examples offhand but there are many..in a lot of cases vowels in certain words are dropped ect.

Moral is: Consider where the poster originates from before assuming his/her grammar is wrong because it's different than yours

Colour Color

Specialise Specialize

Sometimes I find that the red line under a word from the spell check tells me that I am spelling it correctly.

Tractor Tracter Tracker

[Harcourt]

The pedants are discouraged in the Teaching Forum. We had a general rule against it before the entire forum did. English teachers should know that forum posts are informal.

Do you know and/or understand and/or endorse the rationale for that approach? These are public postings. When you contribute, you advertise yourself to the world. There is no "formal"/"informal" dichotomy.

Of course one recognizes that contributions manually and sometimes hurriedly typed may contain errors arising from hitting a key adjacent to that intended, omission of the occasional letter, accidental double letters and so forth. They represent little more than evidence that there has been inadequate proof-reading.

On the other hand, the plethora of greengrocers' apostrophes and abominations such as "I should of been" instead of "I should have been" are a disgrace in a teaching forum and where such an error is perpetrated by a supposed teacher of the English language it is, I am afraid, an indication of incompetence.

I recall a particular post which appeared in the Teaching in Thailand Forum, apparently put up by an English language teacher which contained the following gem: "I think that even the spelling nazi's can appreciate this." Having read it many times I am still uncertain whether to salute a brilliant use of irony or alternatively to breathe a sigh of despair mixed with sympathy for the poster's students.

Hear, hear.

[Moonrakers]

Tractor Tracter Tracker

Or Le Tractoooorr, as our French friends would say.

[IanForbes]

I have two kinds of laptop. One is NOT splash proof. I keep all drinks well away from it. The other is about 160 cm tall and most definitely IS splash proof. In fact the splashing part is some of the best fun.

Like I said, writing can be fun.

As long as you have a hard drive and not a floppy disk.

This is beginning to sound like the ferret topic.

Thanks for the banter fun. It's 2:33 AM where I am and I gotta go to bed. See yah later today... or will that be tomorrow for you.

[farangUSA]

Why is it that most posts on Thaivisa seem to end up with members ripping into other posters about the poor standard writing and grammar?

Do the ones who do the ripping have nothing better to do?

My English isn't perfect, I know that and do not need to be told.

There are many non native English speakers here so maybe we should cut them some slack.

Feeling persecuted for poor English skills?Thats nothing.Remember the early Christians were burned at the steak.

[nidge]

Why is it that most posts on Thaivisa seem to end up with members ripping into other posters about the poor standard writing and grammar?

Do the ones who do the ripping have nothing better to do?

My English isn't perfect, I know that and do not need to be told.

There are many non native English speakers here so maybe we should cut them some slack.

Feeling persecuted for poor English skills?Thats nothing.Remember the early Christians were burned at the steak.

T-bone or Sirloin?

Sorry, couldn't resist

[sangfroid]

I had a job interview today, and as part of the interview process I had a grammar test. I sat down and wrote it out and then handed the boss my paper. He told me 'this is not gramley correct.'

I said: 'Gramley is not a word. Perhaps the phrase you are struggling for is " it is grammatically incorrect?'

Needless to say that went down like a pork chop in a syangogue. And I keep job hunting.

Ian, I am proffesional writer too. Google me.

Err!! I think you will find that should be 'professional', and you are obviously not Jewish.

Edited November 1, 2009 by sangfroid

[hhgz]

"I am proffesional writer"

Hardly. Your sentence should read "I am a professional writer".

[neverdie]

"I am proffesional writer"

Hardly. Your sentence should read "I am a professional writer".

Or, "I am a professional <deleted>"

[sprq]

I'm sure she is not the only non native English speaker who gets upset when her post is crucified.

Shouldn't it be 'non-native'?

Correct! Hyphens are fabu-tastic aren't they? They can be used to make up heaps of words!

Seriously, though, the hyphen is an endangered species. The way things are going, English will soon be hyphen-free, e.g. "hyphen free", and a little message that assists understanding will be gone because few students, presumably, are now taught when and how to use them, and fewer and fewer readers come across the proper use of the hyphen.

[klikster]

But in this day and age, with programs like Word for Windows and Open Office, which almost write the dam_n post for you, I am becoming less and less tolerant.

I had planned a long and informative post about a simply stunning beach I happened across. It has cheap lodging, beautiful women strolling about, and ice cold beer at Bt 20/bottle.

So I opened Word for Windows and sat watching my screen for almost an hour. Then I thought Open Office might work better and gave it a try. Alas, another hour wasted. Neither of those darned programs wrote a single word.