Tr?n Van Th

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WRITING SKILL

• Tr?n Van Thái-DH8D

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CONTENTS

• THREE MAIN MISTAKES IN WRITING
• Vietnamese-English translation
• Grammar
• Styles
• II. GUIDELINES

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VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION

• Translating word by word from Vietnamese into
  English (using bilingual dictionary)
• This causes grammar and vocabulary mistakes
• Readers cannot understand

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EXAMPLES OF WORD BY WORD TRANSLATION

• 1. He is difficult.
• Difficult ? unsociable (strict)
• 2. We took a bath in the sea when we went to Ha
  Tien Beach.
• Took a bath ? swam

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COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES

• Wrong verb tenses
• Misuse of confusing structures
• Adjective order
• Position of adverbs
• Run-on sentences
• Fragment sentences
• Subject-verb agreement
• Using articles

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TENSES OF VERB

• EX Before the Second Word War Einstein has
  discovered his famous formula EMC2

Has discovered ? had discovered
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CONFUSING STRUCTURES
Writers misuse grammar structures that have
similar forms but different meanings
EX USE TO / TO BE USE TO - Men are used to
believing in their superiority over women - Men
used to believe in their superiority over women
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ADJECTIVE ORDER
1. OPINION(enjoyable/horrible/boring)An
enjoyable film 2. DIMENSION (SIZE)(large/tiny/hea
vy)A disgusting little insect 3.
AGE(old/young/modern)A beautiful tall young
woman 4. SHAPE(round/square/rectangular)
A large old oval painting 5. COLOR
(green/black/red)A small square black and white
photograph 6. WHERE FROM (French/Russia/Vietnamese
)An ugly modern American car 7. MATERIAL MADE OF
(silver/paper/plastic)A pink Japanese silk blouse
?NOTE do not use more than three adjectives
before a noun
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ADVERB ORDER

• 1. Adv. of PLACE Adv. of TIMZ I go for a walk
  round the park every day2. Adv. of PLACE Adv.
  of MANNER Adv. of TIME I go for a walk round
  the park very slowly every day3.Adv. of PLACE
  Adv. of MANNER Adv. of FREQUENCY Adv. TIMEI
  go for a walk round the park very slowly twice
  every day

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COMMON MISTAKES IN SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION

• FRAGMENTS
• Wrong He was very happy. Because he had passed
  the exam
• Right He was very happy because he
• SPLITTING OF INFINITIVES
• Poor I told him to carefully drive on slippery
  street.
• Better I told him to drive carefully on slippery
  street.
• PLURAL / SINGULAR NOUNS
• Wrong If a pupil studies hard, they will pass
  the exam
• Right If a pupil studies hard, he or she will
  pass the exam
• Or If pupils study hard, they will pass the
  exam

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MISTAKES OF WRITING STYLES

• 1. Formal ? Informal writing style
• 2. Directness

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GUIDELINES
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• Express your ideas clearly
• Write good sentences which show
• Unity
• Coherence
• Emphasis

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VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION

• Use sentence patterns
• Think in english as much as possible
• Reduce the use bilingual dictionary
• Write drafts
• Check correct mistakes

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• Organise your ideas carefully
• Learn and practice grammar structures
• Do not write over three lines each sentence!
• Read a lot
• Writing journal

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GUIDELINES

• 1. VARY SENTENCE LENGTH AND PATTERNS
• EX I have a little brother. His name is Tom.
  Hes now in the eighth form. His fovourite
  subject at school is English.
• ? I have a little brother whose name is Tom. He
  is now in the eighth form and his favourite
  subject is English.

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GUIDELINES

• 2. USE COORDINATION, COMPOUNDING, SUBORDINATION,
  REDUCTION
• EX Poor He is not a good pupil. He passed the
  examination successfully.
• Better He is not a good pupil, but he passed
  the examination successfully.
• Weak He got good marks in the exam. His parents
  rewarded him.
• Clear His parent rewarded him when he got good
  mark in the exam.

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On-line resources for writers

• http// owl. trc. purdue. edu/ by-topic.html
• http//www.coe.uncc.edu/brmattin/adds.html
• http//webserver.maclab.comp.uvic.ca/
  writersguide/Essay/ EssaysTOC. html
• http// sti.larc. nasa. gov/ html/Chapt3/Chapt3-TO
  C.html
• http//www. hut. fi. / rvilmi / LangHelp/
  Writing/

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BE PATIENT!
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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!
www.themegallery.com
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TECHNIQUES FOR SPELLING IMPROVEMENT

• STUDY THE CORRECT SPELLING OF A NEW WORD
  CAREFULLY
• LOOK AT IT ATTENTIVELY
• PRONOUNCE IT ALOUD
• SYLLABLE BY SYLLABLE
• TRY TO SEE THE PRINTED WORD IN YOUR MIND
• ALLOW YOURSELF TO CHECK THE SPEELING THAT YOU ARE
  UNSURE.

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TECHNIQUES FOR SPELLING IMPROVEMENT

• MASTER A LIST OF MISSPELLED WORDS

INCORRECT SPELLING CORRECT SPEELING POINTS TO REMEMBER
alwrite all right right (wrong)
comparision comparison son (father)
adress address two ds


Practice writing these troublesome words several
times.
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TECHNIQUES FOR SPELLING IMPROVEMENT

• MASTER THE RULES OF SPELLING. IN SPITE OF
  EXEPTIONS, THOSE RULES ARE TRUE MOST OF THE TIME
• THE FINAL Y RULE
• THE FINAL E RULE
• RULE FOR DOUBLING A FINAL CONSONANT
• RULES FOR FORMING PLURALS
• THE IE-EI RULE

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1   The final "y" rule ending in consonant "y" change "y"à"i"suffix study ous studious
1   Note suffix -ing keep "y"suffix study ing studying
2   The final "e" rule   suffix begins with a vowel drop "e"suffix write ing writing
2   The final "e" rule   suffix begins with a consonant keep "e"suffix use less useless
3       Doubling a final consonant       only one syllable   dropingdropping
3       Doubling a final consonant       stressed on the last syllable double the final bigestbiggest
3       Doubling a final consonant       ending in "vowelconsonant" consonantsuffix admitingadmitting
3       Doubling a final consonant       suffix starts with a vowel   referedreferred
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4                     Rule for Forming Plurals           in general  add -s roadàroads
4                     Rule for Forming Plurals           ending in -s, -ss, -z, -sh, -ch add -es dishàdished
4                     Rule for Forming Plurals           ending in consonant"y" change "y"à"i""-es" skyàskies
4                     Rule for Forming Plurals           ending in vowel"y" keep "y""-s" monkeyàmonkeys
4                     Rule for Forming Plurals           ending in "f" change "f"à"v""-es" leafàleaves
4                     Rule for Forming Plurals           ending in "o" add "-es" tomatoàtomatoes
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            Note   musical terms (solo, piano, alto) add "-s" soloàsolospiano?pianos
            Note   ending in vowel"o" add "-s" radioàradios
              combined words or hyphenated compounds add "-s" mother-in-law àmothers-in-law
                  special plurals           manàmen toothàteeth sheepàsheep
 5 The ie-ei rule    i and e (same syllable) pronounced /i/ write ie  niecechief
  The ie-ei rule    i and e (same syllable) not pronounce /i/   write ei  eightheight
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DISCRIBING PEOPLE
AGE HEIGHT BUILD EYES COMPLEXI-ON (skin)
Old Young In his/her 30s Middle aged 1,70m Average height Tall Shortish Medium height Fat Thin Slim Plump Stout Chubby Blue Brown Dark Black Hazel Black Brown White Ruddy Olive-skinned
HAIRCOLOR, HAIRSTYLE, FACE, DISTINGUISHING
FEATURES, PERSONALITY, DRESS, ACCESSORIES,
MOOD/FEEL, HOBBIES, FAMILY BACKGROUND
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fashionable
neat
shy
calm
talkative
PERSONALITY
amusing
refined
aggressive
optimistic
mousey
pessimistic
reliable
spunky
elegant