Monday Grammar & Teacher Journal

ANOTHER WAY TO USE A SEMICOLON ;

Last week, we talked about the first use of the semicolon. This week, we’ll talk about a second (and more common) use for a semicolon. A semicolon can create a legal run-on sentence. A run-on sentence is when you have more than one sentence punctuated as if it were one. Sometimes, though, you really do want that run-on, because you want to emphasize that the ideas in each sentence are closely related. In this case, the semicolon can come to your rescue. Here’s an example:

I sold my car last June; now I ride my bike everywhere.
He dropped the class the second week; I can see why.

In each of these instances, you have what could be two full sentences on either side of the semicolon. That’s exactly what you want. There is one catch with using a semicolon this way, though. The ideas in the two sentences that you’re joining must be closely related. If they’re not, you’ve misused the  semicolon.

One great trick about semicolons is that you can use them at the last minute too. If you’ve printed your paper and are just about ready to hand it in but notice a run-on sentence, you can often just create a semicolon with a black pen and fix it right then and there. Very handy.

TEACHER JOURNAL

I spent the weekend working on my own reading and writing. In the classroom, I’m often telling my students to read lots and write regularly. It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t do the same in my own life, would it?

Right now, I’m reading an amazing book about goats. I know. It’s a strange topic. The author, Brad Kessler, talks about his experiences moving from the city to the country to live a quieter life — with goats. Kessler is one of my all-time favorite authors, and his writing (even — or especially — about goats) is beautiful, haunting, and unforgettable. Here’s a link to information about the book, if you’re curious: Goat Song, by Brad Kessler.

I’m reading this book on my iPod, using the Amazon Kindle app. More and more books are available digitally this year — and it’s downright convenient to be able to carry Goat Song in my pocket or my purse. I can read while in line at the grocery store, while waiting for a bus, or while waiting for a meeting to begin.

How do you read? Let me know in the comments!

Perfect Writing

I hear the word “perfect” a lot in my line of work, and every time I hear it, a little rebellion happens inside me. Students want to learn perfect English and perfect grammar. Students want to get perfect grades, perfect scores on tests. Perfect, it seems, is where so many students set the bar for themselves. I think this is a dangerous practice.

A student once told me a story of taking her final secondary school test. She had perfect grades and was the most perfect student in her class. She was so frightened on test day, though, that she buckled, and she failed the test. Her life changed after that. Another student told me about her fear of tests, how students in her country who didn’t score well enough were not even allowed to attend university. She was terrified of not doing perfectly.

Stories like this are common — especially in countries with high stakes examinations before university. I know that, to some extent, this is the way the world works. We’re tested in school, and the goal is a perfect score. Still, the idea of perfect often paralyzes us. There’s no way to achieve perfection — especially when it comes to English and writing.

Striving for perfect writing assumes that there is one right way to write — and that all other ways of writing are somehow wrong. There are times in life when there is a definite right and wrong. There’s a right answer to that algebraic equation or the multiple choice question. Writing isn’t as clear-cut, though. Writing is basically putting our thoughts and ideas on the page — and there are many ways to do this. There are many ways to organize our thoughts, and there are many ways to write. Pretending that there is only one right way limits our choices, limits our critical thinking, and ultimately, limits our thinking.

Instead of thinking of writing a perfect paper, you might try to think about communicating your ideas clearly. Working to get your ideas across will help you avoid thoughts of perfection — and hopefully, make the writing at least a little less stressful.

Monday Grammar & Teacher Journal

ONE WAY TO USE A SEMICOLON ;

One of the most misused forms of punctuation is the semicolon (;). For some reason, students love to use the semicolon. They’re cute, and they seem so sophisticated. I think because so many students see semicolons as cool, they’re often misused. Students use them instead of commas, instead of colons, or at odd places in a sentence. Really, there are only two uses for semicolons. Below, I’ll describe the first. We’ll talk about the second use for a semicolon next week.

The only time that you absolutely must use a semicolon is when you have a list of things AND when the things in your list have commas within them. Usually, when we write a list, we separate items in the list with commas:

I went to the store and bought a flashlight, a bicycle helmet, fancy shoes, and a stick of gum.

What happens, though, when the things in your list have commas in them?

I have been to New York, New York, Chicago, Illinois, Madison, Wisconsin, Atlanta, Georgia, Seoul, Korea, and San Francisco, California.

It gets confusing, doesn’t it? The solution is the semicolon. Here’s how we’d fix that last sentence:

I have been to New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Madison, Wisconsin; Atlanta, Georgia; Seoul, Korea; and San Francisco, California.

Voila! The list is organized.

TEACHER JOURNAL

This week, I’m settling in to do some serious paper-grading. I made the mistake of having major papers due in each of my classes the same week (silly me!), so I have quite a stack of papers to get back to students. It’s no small thing, to comment on a student’s paper: to be fair and challenge each student to grow as a writer, while also being kind, respectful, and considerate of the student as a writer and a human being.

As I’m commenting on papers, I know that writing is a very personal thing. When you write for a class, you’re putting your ideas on the page and waiting for your teacher to grade what you come up with. That’s a risky endeavor, and many students have been discouraged enough by an English teacher’s critical comments to give up writing altogether. At the same time, it’s important to be challenged to grow as a writer (I never want to stop growing myself). It’s a weighty job, this commenting on papers. No matter how many times I do it, I feel a tremendous responsibility.  Here I go, diving into the stack…

The Fright of Test-Taking

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt (thank you!)

This Saturday is Halloween, when we dress in costume, eat more candy than we dare at any other time of the year, and dare to be frightened. If you’re new to Halloween, check out The basics of Halloween. In California, many people also celebrate  el Dia de los Muertos, as a way of remembering those who have died.

In this season of fright, my mind wanders to one of the most frightening parts of the school year for students: test time. As a teacher, I’m not a big fan of tests. Depending on how it’s written, a test may or may not be a good measure of how much you learn, and if you get particularly nervous when you take tests, a test could be downright unreliable in showing how much you’ve taken in from the class. Still, tests are part of student life, and having a strategy for studying and for taking tests is important to life as a student.

As a student, I had a system to study for tests. I gathered all my notes (concentrating on what the teacher  emphasized most in class) and took them with me on a walk around the neighborhood. As I walked, I looked at my notes, reading them over and over. During the test, I kept my pace slow and steady, to help keep calm. I never loved tests, but when I used my little system, I didn’t mind them so much.

As you get ready for midterm season, you’ll want to get your own system for studying and test-taking. Here are a few ideas:

“6 Ways to Ace Your Next Test,” by David Pierce of Hack College – This article includes some practical test prep and test taking tips, from getting enough sleep the night before the exam to studying by reading your notes out loud to yourself.

“How to Ace Essay Questions Using the Three Minute Rule,” by Study Hacks – This post is from the archives of Study Hacks, but I think it’s worth looking at even almost a year later. It focuses on essay exams, and, as someone who has read a lot of student essay exams, I love the advice Study Hacks gives on how to calm down, focus, and get the writing done in a stressful situation.

“How to Prepare for the TOEFL,” by University Language Services – The advice here is practical and may not be anything you haven’t heard already, but I think it’s still useful and worth repeating.

Monday Grammar & Teacher Journal

SPELLING

Spanish is my second language. I grew up in the middle of the country, and there weren’t many native speakers of Spanish, so as I learned Spanish, I learned from my American (English-speaking) teacher and from textbooks. I read in Spanish. I wrote in Spanish. I struggled in Spanish! Although we spoke and listened to Spanish in class, I never really heard Spanish. I learned mostly through reading and writing. The result is that while my grasp of Spanish grammar was okay, my ability to speak and listen to Spanish never really developed. If you learned English in similar circumstances, you might struggle with the courage to speak and understand spoken English.

Sometimes, though, language learners learn first by speaking and listening to English. Students who learn this way often speak and listen clearly and have a strong instinctive sense of grammar, like a native speaker would. If the speaking and listening isn’t combined with exposure to written, English, though, there can be challenges with spelling. Often, students who learn English only through speech will sound words out. This makes a lot of sense. The problem is that much of written English and spelling doesn’t make sense.

If spelling is a big challenge for you, the solution is to listen and read along as someone reads out loud. This way, you’ll be able to put together the sounds of the words with the spelling. Thankfully, there are tools that can help with this. You can get audiobooks (either downloaded from a website like Audible.com or through your local library, for free). Get an unabridged version of the audiobook — and also get a written copy. When you read, listen to the book at the same time. This will help train your eyes and ears to work together.

TEACHER JOURNAL

This week, I taught a little workshop at my school on study skills. I talked with students about keeping a calendar, staying organized, beating procrastination, and using strategies when reading tough material. Study skills are one of my favorite topics to talk about with students, because it deals with the phyical realities of everyday life. I love learning about where and how students study (with friends? in a library?), and I love hearing about how students keep information close at hand for classes. These details, I think, can have a pretty big effect on the workload you’re able to tackle, your stress levels, and the quality of your work.

 

The Research Paper: How to Spot a Good Source

If you land on a website or article while doing research, how do you know it’s a good source? In the ’90s, we might have been able to judge a website by how professional it looked (cool photos and nice fonts), but today, anyone can set up a website that looks at least decent. It also might seem that, if the writing on a site sounds official — or if it seems to have what you need, the information must be good, but this isn’t necessarily a good measure either. There are a few things you can look at, however, to know whether the source you’re using is reliable:

Step 1: Look at the author — Look for a person or organization taking responsibility for the article. If there is nobody taking responsibility for the information, be wary of it!

Step 2: Look to see what expertise the author has.  Look for degrees, titles, other past experience. If you’re on a website, you can click the “about us” link (if there is one). You can also Google the person’s name and see what pops up. A degree doesn’t automatically make a person a reliable source, but it can be an indicator.

Step 3: See if you can make a good guess about what motivations the author might have for writing the article. If the author is a politician up for re-election, his motives might be to get votes. If he’s selling vitamins, he might have written the article to get you to buy medicine. If he’s writing as an educator or in a journal, he might just be trying to educate. Think a little about the author’s possible motivations. If someone wants to sell something or get votes, this motivation could influence the information.

Step 4: Where is the article published? If you found the article on a friend’s MySpace page, you’ll probably look at it differently than if you found it on your library’s database.

Looking at these four things can help you weed out a surprising number of articles that are biased or may not be reliable sources of information. Try it, and see how it goes?

Monday Grammar & Teacher Journal

PROOFREADING

As I’m writing this, my desk is covered in eraser dust. A thick dictionary sits in front of the computer, and two red pens are somewhere  in here, probably under a stack of papers. I’ve been proofreading.

I worked a freelance proofreading job this weekend, helping to prepare a magazine for print. As a proofreader, I had to bust out the red pen (something I never use when commenting on student papers), read oh-so-carefully, and look for anything I could that was out of place. I had to be picky. I had to be tough with grammar. I had to catch all mistakes. Here’s how I handled the project:

• I worked in a quiet room, a place without any interruptions
• I worked at my own pace and gave myself plenty of time for breaks. When my eyes went a little buggy, when I got tired, or when I saw myself losing my concentration, I would take a rest for at least 15 minutes. Proofreading does not work well when you’re sleepy or unfocused.
• When I had a doubt about spelling, rules of formatting, or punctuation, I stopped and researched to find the answer. I kept a dictionary, a formatting guide, and the internet handy to look up anything I needed (no Facebook breaks were allowed!).
• I proofed each page 2-3 times. It’s amazing how your mind can focus on different things with each reading.

At the end of a weekend of careful reading, I have to say that it can be satisfying to check all the commas and to catch all the misplaced modifiers. It’s the same kind of feeling I get when I clean a closet, organize bookshelves, or tidy stacks of papers. Still, I know that proofreading is often one of the most frustrating parts of writing for students.

Here are a few ideas to help:

• Try reading your paper out loud. Reading out loud forces you to slow down, and you’ll often notice mistakes that you might otherwise miss.
• Have a friend read your paper out loud with you. If your friend stumbles on a sentence, there might be something that you want to edit.
• Look at each sentence separately.

The Research Paper: Avoiding Google

Once, when I assigned a research paper in class, one student said that he wanted to do his research paper on research papers. “I want to know if it’s possible to still have a social life while writing a research paper,” he said. It is possible, of course, but I think the trick is to be savvy about the way you approach your research. Last week, we talked about generating a keyword list. This week, I want to talk about where to find (or, more importantly, where not to find) your research.

When I suggest doing research, most students gravitate toward Google. We all know about Google. It’s familiar. It’s friendly. It has a cute logo that changes with the holidays — and it seems like the easiest way to get fast search results. When it comes to an academic research paper, though, Google is not necessarily your best ally.

When you type a keyword into Google, you’ll get any website that has that word mentioned. If you type in “international student,” for example, you’ll get sites with scholarship info, with cultural advice, travel information, medical insurance quotes, and people trying to sell student loans to international students. You’ll get information for American students who are studying around the globe and for students who are studying in the United States. You’ll get all sorts of stuff — because Google doesn’t discriminate. Google’s search engine searches for any website that has the keywords you type into the search box, and it searches all types of websites:

.com, .net, .biz - .com stands for commercial websites. Websites that end with .com, .net, or .biz are businesses. These sites often (but not always) exist to make money.

.edu – .edu stands for education websites. These are usually colleges or universities.

.gov – .gov stands for government websites. These are websites created by the US government.

.org – .org stands for organization websites. These are often non-profit organizations.

Monday Grammar & Teacher Journal

GRAMMAR: SYNTAX

Syntax is English-teacher lingo for sentence structure — how you put your sentences together. Each language has its own rules for syntax. In English, for example, we put the adjective before the noun. I might talk about a green bicycle. In Spanish, the adjective comes after the noun: bicicleta verde (bicycle green). Sometimes, differences that you’ll notice in syntax from your native language to English are relatively small (like the adjective-noun order above). Other times, using your native structure with English could prevent your listener from understanding what you’re trying to say. Sentence structure is important. You could argue that it structures the way we think, so sentences that follow an unfamiliar structure can be difficult to decode. If your native language has a syntax that’s very different from English, you’ll want to look carefully at the ways that English sentences are constructed.

As with any grammar challenge, I want to encourage you not to focus on memorizing the rules of English sentence structure — but to build these rules as habits. When it comes to sentence structure, this means reading and listening to English as much as possible. Our goal is not to get you to be able to recite the definition of a subordinate clause or participial phrase — but to use them naturally, without having to think too much about it. The way to do this is through lots of reading and listening.

If you’d like to understand the basic structure of English language first — or if you’re a particularly visual learner, you might take a look at how people diagram sentences. Basically, sentence diagramming is something English teachers used to teach in every American classroom thirty years ago (American kids don’t learn it in school anymore). When you want to see how a sentence is put together in English, looking at a diagram can help. You can find some very basic sentence diagrams here – and if you’re interested, you can see how people have diagrammed President Obama’s (much more complicated) sentences here.

TEACHER JOURNAL

Our fall quarter began this week, and the halls at my school were full of new students. I love the start of a new quarter. For teachers, this new beginning means preparing a syllabus and learning the names of new students.

The Research Paper: Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

Last week, we talked about using your school’s library — not just to get a quick snooze in between classes but to help get a jump start on your research papers. This week, I’d like to talk about one of the first steps in doing the research. Once you have a topic and are ready to begin, you’ll want to find some research.

Before you start using the library database or hopping online to find articles, it’s worth your time to start a keyword list. Keywords are the words you’ll use when searching for information, whether you’re searching with your library’s database or online. Often, I’ll see students start a search by typing in the first words that come to mind. This makes sense, right? The problem comes when no results appear, and we assume that there’s no information on the topic. “I think I have to change my topic,” a student will say. “There’s just nothing written about my topic.” Some students will change their topics three or even four times because of problems like this. There’s a much easier way!

When doing database research, it’s all about getting the right keywords. Library databases use keywords and subject terms to locate the articles. If you happen to use words that the database doesn’t use very often, your search will come up with limited information or even without any information — even if there are tons of articles on your topic.

The trick is to generate a list (a real list that you write down, not a list that you keep in your head!) of keywords before you sit down to the computer. When your first keyword doesn’t work, try other words on your list. Also, as you’re searching in the database, you’ll keep building and adding to your keyword list. You do this by noticing which subject terms the computer uses for articles that you generate in your searches. Most databases will have a list of subject terms. If you see one that’s not on your keyword list, add it. Sometimes, you’ll be surprised at the strange words the database uses for your topic. Keep a list, and you’ll be able to find quality research faster and with a lot less work!

Also, I think it’s worth repeating that you can always ask a librarian for help with your keyword list. Librarians work with databases every day, and they might have ideas about what words will find the best results.

Monday Grammar & Teacher Journal

GRAMMAR: VERB TENSES

Last week, we talked about the importance of subject/verb agreement, when it comes to grammar. Another aspect of verbs that you’ll want to notice is the verb tense. Tenses are one way to show the passage of time in English. Some languages (like French) have lots of tenses, while others don’t. From what I hear from my students, English has lots of tenses!

• simple past
• progressive past
• past perfect
• simple present
• progressive present
• present perfect
• simple future
• progressive future
• future perfect

There’s a tense for talking about the past (I ate lunch), a tense for talking about the past of the past (I had eaten lunch) and a one for talking about the process in the past (I was eating lunch). There’s even a tense that describes an event that, at some point in the future, will have already happened and will then be past (will have eaten lunch). Complicated, isn’t it? The people who helped develop the English language must have really cared about time.

If you think too much about tenses, you’re bound to drive yourself crazy. “Am I in the past of the past?” you might ask yourself. “Maybe this is really the continuing past or just plain old, regular past.” The more you ponder the nature of time, the further you’re likely to get from knowing the best tense to use. As long as you’re speaking English relatively comfortably, it’s best to just go with your gut.

Once you’ve settled on the past or present in your writing, keep your verbs in that time frame as long as possible. If he ATE an apple, then he probable WENT to work afterward and SAW a parade going down the street. We stay in past tense as long as possible.

TEACHER JOURNAL

This week is the first week of the fall quarter for me, so I’m back to school, with a fresh stack of syllabi, new pencils, and that fall excitement about the start of a new school year. I work with The Bridge Program at Antioch, and this week is the first for a new group of Bridge students as well. I’m gathering new student orientation materials, maps of the school, and school supplies for everyone.

First Step Toward a Great Research Paper: The Library

It’s easy to forget that the university library is a useful tool. After all, 15 seconds of Googling can get you more information than you’ll ever want or need on any subject — unless, of course, you’re working on a research paper or in need of quality information by academic experts. This is when your school’s library is going to come in handy. There are three great things you can find at most school libraries. They can save you money and lots of time.

1) Library Databases can save you lots of time
The heart of library research today is the database. Your school has probably paid to have access to dozens of databases that have the most up-to-date articles on every subject from career advice to engineering to literature. You can find solid research in a tenth of the time it’d take you to find good research using Google. If you’re assigned a research paper — or if you just want solid, reliable information, the database is your friend!

2) Textbooks
In many school libraries, there’s a section where you can look at textbooks for your classes. Textbooks aren’t usually available for every class on campus, but you might be able to get through the first couple of weeks of the semester while you wait for your used copy to arrive in the mail or while you wait for the beginning-of-semester bookstore lines to shrink.

Monday Grammar/ Teacher Journal

GRAMMAR: VERB AGREEMENT

Often, the first grammatical issue for international students is the issue of verbs. Not all grammatical problems are created equal. Usually, the first grammar issue on the list of most English teachers is subject/verb agreement. If your verbs don’t agree with your subjects, your teachers will notice. The first step is to learn about the verb forms and subject agreement. Usually, when students come to my classes, that’s already done, but if you’re still unsure of how to decide, crack those grammar books and do a bit of a review.

The second step is to get your ear to hear the right verbs. This is the most important step. Even if you understand how to choose the right verb, it’s easy to accidentally slip in your writing and pick the wrong one. The goal is not to have to think about the complexities of subject/verb agreement but to be able to pick what sounds best. You can train your brain to do this. It’s just a matter of getting yourself to hear the right verbs.

One of my mentors, who also teaches English, taught me a trick that can help you with this. As you’re reading textbooks, articles, and other things for class, go through and underline the verbs in a paragraph or two. Then, try reading those paragraphs out loud to yourself — but read every underlined verb louder than the rest of what you read. Here’s how it might look:

Verbs *ARE* important parts of speech in writing, and *USING* the correct verb in you speech and writing *WILL HELP* quite a bit in your classes. Teachers *PAY* special attention to verbs in sentences, so you *WILL WANT* to use the correct verbs.

It won’t happen overnight, but if you practice this type of reading regularly, your ear will begin to hear the correct verb in your sentences. That’s what we want! Once your ear hears the right verb, you won’t have to think about verb forms so much. You’ll just know what sounds right. Then, you can tackle another grammatical problem.

Autumn Organization: Use Organizational Tools You Already Have

Okay. I admit it. I have an office supply problem. If you get me in a Staples store, you’ll probably find me looking longingly at the different styles of Post-It notes, gazing through the binder supplies, or eying a label maker in the third aisle. I love pens. I love bulletin boards and dry erase markers. I love pouches designed to keep paper clips and other things organized. I love hooks. There’s this website online, See Jane Work, that has the coolest assortment of fancy file folders and file carriers. It’s a real problem for me.

The truth about organization, though, is that we don’t need new stuff to be organized. We don’t need color-coordinated post-its and tabs. We don’t need fancy computer programs. Usually, all we need is the stuff we already have: a place to write stuff down so we don’t forget it, a calendar, and a place to keep syllabi and other class materials.

A place to write stuff down: a notebook, index cards, a little reporter’s notebook, those cute little half-index cards, a binder. If you can’t seem to remember to carry these things with you, you could use your cell phone to leave messages to yourself, use a service like jott.com to send emails from your cell phone, send a text message to your email address, or (one I learned from a particularly creative student my first year of teaching) use your phone to take a photo of whatever it is you need to remember.

A calendar: you could get a paper calendar, or you could use your cell phone’s calendar, yahoo calendar, google calendar. You could also print out a free calendar from D*I*Y Planner.

A place to keep class materials: A folder, notebook, binder, a plastic sheet cover; anything that can corral your papers into one place.

What Makes Academic Writing Academic?

Often, students think that writing becomes academic when you use lots of big words, or when a paper is really long. While it’s true that a large vocabulary can be useful in academic writing — and that it’s good to meet your teacher’s minimum page requirement, a long paper with big words doesn’t necessarily become an academic paper.

Then what is an academic paper?

When you write a business letter, you’re writing to get something accomplished (to take action or build business relationships). When you write a poem or a short story, you’re writing to create an experience for the reader and evoke emotions. When you write an academic paper (including all those research papers you have to write), you’re writing to help your reader understand an issue from multiple perspectives — to think differently about your topic. As teachers say when we get together, academic writing is all about critical thinking.

Let’s say our paper topic is public transportation. If we were to write an academic paper, our goal would be to understand the issue of public transportation fully, looking at the topic from as many different angles as we can and evaluating each of the different ideas we find to see if we think it’s any good. What do experts on public transportation talk about, when they talk about it? What do they argue about? How does public transportation affect different groups of people, like bus riders, bus drivers, children, tax payers, or the people who manufacture benches for the bus stops? Researching the topic and writing an academic paper about it might explore each of these issues.

Autumn Organization: Give Your Brain a Break

I don’t trust my memory. My brain, it seems, was not meant to store the database of upcoming events, assignments, phone calls, errands, and projects — and even if it was, I’m not very good at remembering stuff. When I try, I end up awake late at night, thinking about something I might have promised to email a student or whether I need to buy milk or whether I should schedule bicycle repairs.  Whenever this happens to me, I know that I’ve been trying to remember too much. I grab a sheet of paper, and I write all that stuff down. My insomnia usually disappears immediately.

In 2007, Michael Condouris coined the term WSD as a new organizational system designed around a simple idea: Write Sh*t Down.  The idea, so simply stated, is to write something down to remember it later. Easy, right? It turns out that it’s a useful way to get organized — better than running out to buy a binder-organizer or super fancy software to keep all your class notes in order.

Try it. Write down your dentist appointment, the date your visa needs updating, the flight information you need to check on for your visit home. Write down what your teacher says about the test next week. Write down if you need to buy toothpaste next time you’re at the store. Write everything down. Put these notes in the same spot every day, and look at them every so often. Then forget about it, and keep your memory free for stuff that you really should try to remember: what will be on the midterm or new vocabulary. If you do this, I’m guessing you’ll be a lot more organized than you were before, no matter how messy your folders or notebooks look.

Autumn Organization: An Introduction

As a writing teacher, I’ve seen all types of working styles for students. Often, the first day of the semester, students come to class with carefully coordinated notebooks and folders, with matching post-its and an indexed system for papers. By mid-semester, things have changed. Students lose the syllabus or forget deadlines. All those beautiful organizational systems have turned into one pile, and I can see the exhaustion and stress on students’ faces.

Once, while helping a student with her research paper, I suggested that we look at a particular article she quoted.”Oh, I know exactly where that article is,” she said, and she began shuffling the stack of papers in front of her. It was an impressive stack of articles, and she flipped through each one, checking and double checking. After 15 minutes, she said. “Oh, I know where that article is. It’s in my car. Is it okay if I go out to my car to look?” 20 minutes later, she had extracted the article from the floor of the front seat of her car. It was crumpled, with a footprint on it. We settled down to take a look. “Oh, I don’t think this is the right article after all,” she said.

Using a Syllabus Wisely

I remember my first day of college. I had a literature class at 11am, and the first thing the teacher did was hand out a thick packet of sheets, single spaced, in tiny font. This was the syllabus, and over the course of the first week, our professor kept talking about it. I didn’t know what a syllabus was. We didn’t have them in my high school, but it seemed like it was important, at least to my teacher.

I quickly learned that a syllabus is a class plan for the semester. The plan includes all the papers, tests, and projects you’ll be doing over the semester, along with the due dates. In the following years, whenever I got a syllabus for a new class, I would read it and promptly panic. I’d imagine reading the five novels we’d have to read in the next 16 weeks. I’d imagine all those tests, all those papers to write. I learned after a while, though, that it was never as bad as I’d imagined. I didn’t have to read all those books in a day, and I didn’t have to know all that information immediately. I learned to look at the big picture but also to think of the class just one or two weeks at a time.

What I never knew as a student was that teachers think of the syllabus as their contract with the student. This is the real reason that my teacher kept talking about the syllabus on my first day of college. This was her agreement with us, and she wanted to be clear in making that agreement. This is where we could find our teacher’s policies on everything from attendance to late assignments to what happens when you use your cell phone during lectures. The syllabus serves as a record that students received the information.

What do you do with all that information, then, when you get your syllabus? I’m glad you asked!

• Take a look at your teacher’s policies for things like absences and late assignments.

Summer Reading: Part Four

This will be my final post in the summer reading series. We’ve talked about why reading is the best thing to help you expand your English vocabulary, and so far, I’ve shared a dozen novels that you might enjoy. I have my last six books here for you to check out. As the summer winds to a close, I’ll slow down my posting on novels, but I’ll let you know what I’ve been reading—especially if I come across a book that I think some of you might enjoy.

Here are the last six books in our summer reading series:

1) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon
This is a story about a pair of comic book creators during World War II. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2001. It’s an exciting and fun read.

2) Birds in Fall, by Brad Kessler
One of my all-time favorite novels, Birds in Fall tells the story of families that gather together after a fatal plane crash. Kessler’s description of grief and community in the aftermath of the crash is both heartbreaking and beautiful.

3) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Huck Finn and his friend, Jim, are famous characters in American history. This story, written in the 1800s, depicts slavery in the American South. Because of the time of its writing, the book uses some language that’s tough for modern ears. It’s a classic story, though, raising issues that have shaped American history.

4) Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
Gruen’s book tells the story of Jacob, a veterinary student who becomes a doctor for circus animals during The Great Depression. This story has it all: adventure, love, class struggles, regret, and tigers.

Choosing Your Class Schedule

At most colleges and universities, international students must take at least 12 units to have full-time student status and to keep a current student visa. Often, I see international students going far beyond these required 12 units — taking 17 or even 20 units at a time. Sometimes, it’s less expensive to take more units at once — or it might seem like a good way to transfer more quickly or finish school in record time. Whenever I see students with such heavy course loads, I worry.

When I started graduate school, I’ll never forget how the program director introduced us to the school. We were at orientation, and we were all gathered around this huge conference table. I was excited to be there. I had so much to learn about writing, and I was ready to fling my whole self into the program, the work, and my writing ambitions. It was December, and on the other side of the window, the sky was already dark.

“I have one very important piece of advice for you,” our leader said. “I don’t want you to do too much. Pace yourself. Take care of yourself. It’s cold and flu season.”

I’d heard lots of advice from teachers, but I had never heard a teacher say this before. I was so touched that my new teacher would care about my stress levels — that she would worry about my health. I also remembered what she said about pacing yourself, and I remember it each time I see a student taking 17 units. Just as my teacher once worried about me, I now worry about you.

New Tool in Development for International Students

I’m working on a new tool for international students — a guide about how to get an A on an academic paper, designed specifically for international students at the college or university level. I’ll be including information on how to write well, along with ideas on how to understand what your teacher is looking for in each paper.

I’d love to include ideas on what you’d like to learn, though. If there are specific things you’d like me to include in the guide, could you let me know in the comments section of this post? Here are some questions to get you going:

• What is your biggest struggle, when it comes to academic writing?
• What is your biggest fear, when working on a paper for a new teacher?
• What is your writing process usually like?
• What do you want advice on most, when it comes to writing in English?

Thank you in advance for your help. It means the world to me!

*     *     *

NEWS YOU MIGHT FIND INTERESTING

College Rankings have been released for this year, and the ULS Blog has reported on the findings. Take a look to see if your school is among the best-ranked in the United States…

Summer Reading Part Three: Easier Reading

This is the third of four parts in my little series on summer reading. Last month, we talked about the reasons that reading can increase your English vocabulary faster than any other type of English practice, and I shared a few novels that I think you might like. This week, I’d like to give you some tips on making reading easier.

It’s easy for me to say that you should read a novel in English, isn’t it? English is my native language. It’s faster for me, right? It’s true. Reading is a lot tougher when you’re reading in another language. I remember taking a literature class with my roommate (who was an international student). I would sit back in a fluffy chair to read the novels we had for class. I had a pen to underline fun stuff, but for the most part, the reading was a treat for me. My roommate, on the other hand, sat with several dictionaries, a stack of post-its, and a worried expression on her face. It’s tough to read in a language that’s not your native language. I can’t deny that. There are a few things you do can do to make the experience easier and more fun, though:

1) Don’t stop to look up every unfamiliar word in the dictionary. I know it feels like this is the right thing to do, but avoid using the dictionary as much as possible. If a word is unfamiliar, guess its meaning from the context and keep reading. Use the dictionary only if you’re completely lost in the story.

Showing that You’re Well-Rounded: Extra-Curricular Activities

Extra-curricular activities are known for helping boost your reputation, whether you want to transfer to a university, apply to graduate school, or get a job. The more competitive things get in the job market and in school, the more employers and schools may consider extra-curricular activities. Extra-curricular activities aren’t just good for your resume, though. They can also help you meet friends (both Americans and other international students), give you time away from studying, and help you discover more about your own values and talents.

When I was in college, I was required to participate in extra-curricular activities in order to keep a scholarship. Here are some of the things I ended up doing during my four years of school:

• Community service to mental health hospital
• Tutoring kids who were learning to read
• Being part of the school’s bell choir
• Starting the school’s “literary society” — a club on campus for writers
• Working on the school’s literary journal
• Writing for the student newspaper
• Performing in plays

Proofreading Tip: Read Your Writing Out Loud

It’s tough to catch every single grammatical mistake that might sneak into your writing, especially when English is your second or even your third language. Still, grammar will be part of your grade in almost every class that requires writing, so proofreading is a must. It’s a great idea to use your school’s tutoring lab or even your own tutor to help with grammar, but it’s also important to learn how to proofread your work on your own.

One thing that makes proofreading easier is reading the paper out loud to yourself. There are a couple of reasons this helps with proofreading:

1. Reading the paper out loud slows you down, making it easier to catch mistakes.
2. It also forces your ear to hear what you’ve written. Sometimes, a sentence that seemed perfectly okay will sound strange when you hear it read out loud. This is a clue that you might want to change the way the sentence is structured, or maybe there’s a verb in the wrong format.

As you’re building your proofreading skills, you can also ask a native speaker of English to try reading your paper out loud. The native speaker doesn’t have to be an English major or even have good grammar skills, because he’s not going to give you grammar advice.

The Fourth of July

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but this week marks the most American of American holidays: Independence Day, the anniversary of the birth of The United States. On July 4, 1776, Americans posted the “Declaration of Independence,” a revolutionary document severing ties with Great Britain. Most of the document is made of a long list of grievances the colonists had with the King of England, but there is also this famous statement of human rights: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This passage has has been used to promote human rights ever since, from the abolitionist movement to end slavery to the suffrage movement for women’s rights to the struggle for civil rights in modern history. The Declaration of Independence also embodies a fierce value of individualism—an idea that is so much a part of American culture.

If you’ve been in the US for more than a year, you’ve already seen the celebrations for the Fourth of July. It is the height of summer, with barbecues, picnics, parades, and other outdoor events. Then, at dusk, no matter where you are in the US, you’ll probably be able to hear and see fireworks. Even in the tiny town where I grew up (with less than 5,000 people), everyone gathered on July 4th for a sizable show of fireworks.

Summer Reading Part Two: What to Read?

If I’ve convinced you that summer reading is a good idea, you might now wonder what to read. To get the benefits of reading that we talked about last week, you don’t have to read famous literature like Shakespeare. In fact, unless you love Shakespeare and want to read it every day for fun, I wouldn’t recommend it. What’s more important is to find something to read that you enjoy. If you’re interested in the environment, read about the environment. If you really love cooking, read about food. If you are fascinated by history, read history.

One way to find new books that you might enjoy is to use websites like GoodReads to connect with other readers who are reading the same book and learn about their thoughts. GoodReads is a social networking site for readers to share discussions about books. You can get suggestions about what to read, talk with other readers, and write about the books you’ve read. If you’re curious, check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/kapope

Here are five novels from my list that I think international students might enjoy. Over the summer months, I’ll share more of my favorite summer reads with you …

Summer Reading Part One: Building Your Vocabulary

Reading is the single best thing you can do to improve your vocabulary. Even if you love literature and enjoy reading in your native language, I know it’s difficult to spend your summer reading in English. It’s frustrating to sit with your dictionary in hand, deciphering each sentence and word as you slowly, slowly move through the book. It’s well worth the effort, though

If you can avoid looking up every word in the dictionary, there’s nothing like sitting on the beach or in the shade somewhere during the summer, reading a good novel. The pace of life slows down when you read, and you can sink into the story in a way that’s impossible even with movies. Also, reading is good for your brain, excellent for your vocabulary, and classic escape from daily life.

A few facts reasons to read:

• Reading increases your vocabulary more effectively (and faster) than speaking and listening do. This is because, in conversation, we tend to use the same set of words over and over again. In writing, this repetition doesn’t happen nearly so often, so you’re more likely to run into new words. The more you encounter new words, the bigger your vocabulary will get.

Acing Your English Class: A Free Download

I’m introducing a new tool in the Tools section of the website today. It’s a free guide with 5 pieces of advice for international students. The tips are designed to help you with English classes, but many can help with your other classes as well. In creating this little list, I drew on worries that I’ve heard from international students and my experiences as an English instructor to look for solutions that might help you do better on your papers, beat procrastination, and prevent mis-communication with instructors about what is expected in class. I hope it’s useful for you!

There are two ways to download the guide:

1) Just click here for the free download.

2) You can also access the guide in the Tools section of the site. Just click on TOOLS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS. The guide is the second free tool “created by Kathryn.” Click the link, and the pdf file will download. You can also explore other free resources for international students on this page — and learn about more tools that are in the works.

Enjoy!

Overwhelmed during finals week?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed toward the end of the semester, as you’re studying for three tests, preparing your final English paper, or completing that last final project. Sometimes, even starting to tackle a project like this seems too overwhelming. One solution is to start by breaking the project into smaller chunks. Here’s an idea of how you might break down a research paper:

1. Read the teacher’s handout of the assignment
2. Make a list of resources (people, libraries, etc.) available for help
3. Brainstorm a list of possible topics
4. Choose your favorite topic
5. Create a research question (a thesis statement in the form of a question)
6. Learn how to use the library database
7. Locate 3 articles from the database
8. Look critically at the first article to decide if it’s a good source . . .

Notice that these are small steps. You don’t want to tell yourself to “Research” or to “Write the paper.” Instead, look for tasks that are small enough to make you think “I can do that!” Choosing a topic might be overwhelming, but brainstorming a list of ideas might not sound so bad. Researching sounds like no fun, but just finding three articles? Not so hard.

Summer Internships, Travel, or Classes?

Summer is almost here, and you’re probably starting to make decisions (if you haven’t already) about how to spend the warmest months of the year. There are three major things you might do with your time: do an internship, travel, or take classes.

Summer Internships:

Internships allow you to work in the world (usually for free) and gain work experience while learning about an industry or job. They can be amazing opportunities to learn about a field, meet new people, and get a feel for the world of work in the US. When I was in college, I worked as an intern at a local magazine. Now, I often work with student interns. The trick to getting a good internship is finding an opportunity that connects with what you’d like to do with your career — and actively seeking out opportunities. Many interns keep journals during the internship to reflect on experiences. If you’d like to try an internship this summer, you might talk with teachers at your school about how you can get involved in an internship program. You can also set up internships yourself by approaching businesses or organizations and asking if they’re able to work with student interns.

Preparing for Final Exams

It’s the time in the season for final exams. As each of your classes winds to a close for the summer, you’ll have papers due, projects to present, and tests to take. At my school, students are walking around with wrinkled brows and large cans of Monster energy drinks. Everyone looks so tired! It’s important right now to study strategically, to get the best results without running yourself ragged.

Here are a few basic reminders that might help you make it through the next couple of weeks:

• Find a comfortable place to study. Not everyone studies best in the library or at home. You might work well at a coffee shop or outside in a park. When I was an undergraduate (and taking lots of tests), I used to make note cards and carry them with me on walks. I’d study as I walked. Find a comfortable place where you can concentrate without distractions.
• Don’t study for 12 hours straight. Marathon study sessions aren’t always the best.

Student in the States has Returned

I began the blog a little over a year ago, as I was planning a social networking site for international students. Unfortunately, problems with the web design and the US economy slowed our progress—and for a while, I thought I might have to abandon the project altogether. We’re back, though, with a simpler design and hopefully lots of useful information for international students. Here’s a brief tour:

WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON THE SITE

The Blog
The blog (here) will have one post each week. Posts will include tips for international students getting through school, advice for writing in English, and ideas for student life (including how to live inexpensively in the US).

The Social Networking Site Designed for International Students
It’s like Facebook, only it’s just for international students. The design of the site is far less ambitious (and snazzy-looking) than I’d originally hoped, but it’s functional and ready for use. I hope this can become a place for you to meet other international students and support each other as you adjust to life in the US.   (more…)