Experience makes perfect
‘Practice makes perfect’ is an axiom to encourage people to do their best. However I believe that proverb is a thing of the past. In today’s society, the new proverb ‘Experience makes perfect’ stands. Effective practice is only possible when you have sincere and valuable experience. This idea naturally influenced my writing style. Although my writing skill is far from excellent, I guess my strength is the solid content based on sincere and true experience. So what are my strengths and weaknesses?
As I have already mentioned, I believe my biggest strength is solid content. This is partially owing to my parents’ avid efforts to encourage reading books. Gradually, I came to understand how interesting it was to read books, magazines, and newspapers which contain invaluable background information and knowledge. I tried to read at least one book even when tests were coming up. I think this effort to acquire knowledge allowed me to write essays with good content.
What about my weaknesses? I believe the weakest part of my writing is the lack of ability to use refined language. I often heard from some teachers that my sentences sometimes seem banal. I guess it’s partially because I used to read more non-literary books than literary books. I tried to overcome this flaw in my writing by reading famous literary pieces posted in Collegeboard such as the “Grapes of Wrath”. I also started to write down memorable quotations and phrases from books in order to use them in my writing. I am getting better but still I have a long way to go.
Are there any other weaknesses? Of course there are! Grammar, organization, and coherency are all serious issues. Since I was young, I had great difficulty understanding grammatical principles. I can recall that I even fell into tears when I was studying subjunctive mood because I wasn’t able to understand why we are talking about something that didn’t really happen in the real world. (smile). Nevertheless, my grammar improved considerably and now I don’t have much problem with grammar compared to my childhood. Organization and coherency were relatively easy to improve. The main problems I found out were long sentences and a messy writing. Transition words allow reader to grasp the idea much easily because they serve as a guide. Also, long sentences harm the overall coherency and understanding of the reader. That’s why I did my best to use appropriate transition words in every paragraph, abridge sentences and re-read.
I’m just proud of myself because I improved a lot throughout the years. But one thing that is clear is that I am far from being a fabulous writer. I have numerous challenges lying ahead of me. However, I believe sincere passion for writing will allow me to become one of the superb writers in the world.
Suggestions for this class
Hi, Mr. Garrioch! I am really pleased to spend the 2nd semester with you!
I got the first impression that you really care for the students. I’m really looking forward to how future classes will go on.
First about Word Smart which I believe will be one of the most important areas of contention. I believe most of the people have already agreed that having wide and various vocabularies definitely helps you to improve your English ability as a whole. The problem is about “how” we are going to evaluate. In my opinion, the solution to this contention is to follow Mrs. Choi’s test method but reflect the word smart quiz scores as little as possible in the final score.
Next, I hope we have a chance to write many essays. I believe writing essays and getting revisions are the best way to improve your writing. As you have already posted on the blog, I see you are trying to do exactly that. I am very excited about writing various essays!
Moreover, I also thought about extending the class material from literary works to other non-literary works. It would be great if we can choose one English newspaper article and write about the pros and cons.
Lastly, I hope you can revise my essay as much as possible. I acknowledge that you are really busy considering the number of students you are teaching. As far as I remember it was almost two hundred? But in my opinion the best way to fix a problem in writing is to get decent feedbacks from a native speaker J My essay can be very messy from time to time but bear with me.
I hope we can enjoy the 2nd semester together! Thank you.
-16th waver, Seung Jun Juny Kim, 10b1-
Excellent work, Juny. I can see that many of things you call your weaknesses are actually some of your strengths (which might mean that by knowing what you need to improve that you've had some success).
답글삭제So I see this as 767 words in the right direction. I really like your intro and indeed "practice" does seem a bit old fashioned when you compare it to experience. I never thought of it that way. I like that you know how important reading is, as well. It's funny how reading can shape your writing. If you read too much Twilight you'll end up writing like Twilight, so variety is important.
As for revising your essays, I won't be able to look at all of them but for sure I'll look at some. If a student brings me a printed out version that's double spaced, I'll definitely take a look as it shows you're interested.
See you in class, and good stuff.
Thanks Mr. Garrioch!
답글삭제Of course I try to read diverse books to free myself from prejudice or narrow thinking. But life in KMLA is sort of tough...
There is not much respite for me to read many books as before. That's indeed sad lol
That's why I thought you guys might enjoy Stephen King. You might even find yourself wanting to read instead of feeling forced to. It's not War and Peace but it is what it is - the airport novel at its best.
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