Bonus Opportunity for WRIT2 Students--March 26th

I feel at loose ends today, and so I thought I could pick up my spirits by getting some free points into your grade. If you'd like a bonus, please write a paragraph about what you usually do when you need to do homework, but find it hard to concentrate. How do you get your mind focused, and get the work done on time? Or, if you prefer, how do you manage to take a break and make yourself feel fresher when you have too much homework to do? Do you have any suggestions for me? I am bogged down by my dissertation and two textbooks, both due on April 16th. Help me, and help yourself!
Please do check your grammar, spelling, and punctuation; however, you do not need to write formally. Be as casual and relaxed in your writing as you wish. Post your responses to this question as a comment to THIS POST--not email or a paper response!--by noon on Monday, March 26th for credit.

Thanks! I'll be talking about your "corporal punishment" essays and working with you on your textbooks. See you soon.

Chris O'Brien

Common errors in your early posts

Hi class.
The most common problems I'm seeing in the blogs of groups 1-3 so far are:
Paragraphs having too few sentences, generally only one! There must be at least 3 sentences in a proper paragraph. That means that you shouldn't hit "return" after typing only one sentence.
Also, there is plenty of sloppy grammar, such as:

• Subject/verb agreement
• Tenses mixed together
• missing articles (OMG!)

PLUS, problems with punctuation and with spelling. Really--for English majors, you have a lot of catching up to do--that means lots of extra reading that you need to take responsibility for. Without enough input, you cannot have good output. So--READ! Especially, please read your own writing before you post it. Many of these errors are, I sincerely hope, careless mistakes that you could really have fixed by yourselves. If not. . . well, let me just say that this is not the level of writing that I should be seeing in pre-professional English users. You have got to improve your ability with DAILY practice. . .and I mean quality practice.

Please don't forget your writing homework, posted at my Yuntech page. Give it to me printed or written on paper at the beginning of class, or you will not be graded. Don't fail through carelessness.
Some people, such as student 001, have written NOTHING yet, as far as I can find. Remember that the assignment is to write at LEAST three times every week. That means EVERY week, folks.
See you all tomorrow. Take care and get a good sleep.
By the way, I finished the full draft of my dissertation on Saturday!
Chris

In case of incorrect Google Group Nicknames. . .

If you have not used the right kind of nickname, please read this:

It turns out that it is NOT NECESSARY for you to re-sign-up for the Groups. Your nickname can be changed very easily from inside the Group. I feel surprised that after searching for quite a while, I still failed to discover this; my NEWS student, Albert, showed me how last night.

To change your nickname, log in to the Google group, and then from the homepage, on the right side of the screen, click on 編輯我的會員資格 (edit my membership).

From there, you can see your current nickname and can change it to the right sort of name. Please do so this week. Thank you!!

Chris

Nickname Troubles Can be Resolved Easily!

Hi, Students!
So far only six (I think, and one did it incorrectly) students have submitted their blogs to me. Please do so by commenting on the original post, at the bottom of the page, before noon on Monday. Thanks!

I'm sorry that it is currently impossible to change the language of the Google Group on your computer; if your system is a Chinese one, it seems, you're stuck with a Chinese Google Group, which is too bad!

Because. . .

You should really avoid using Chinese for your daily routines unless you have to communicate with some uneducated person who cannot use this international language. It's by far the best thing to use English for all your daily needs. . .at least until you are no longer English majors. At least, for this class, don't use Chinese for your blogs and for the Group. So far, all six students have used Chinese-only blog sites. I can't read anything there, and I shouldn't have to need to, 'cause this is English class. Your class, not mine.

If you already have blogs at "yam.com" or whatever, well. . .okay, but can you tell me how to view them in English? I know that "wretch" can be set up to be viewed in English, so please could you do so?
And don't forget that you need to use a label for your English homework journal entries so I can find them. And--please check your spelling and grammar, would you? What else is Bill Gates good for?

Sorry for my grumpiness . . . it's been a trying time recently and I feel irritated anyhow.

Chris