a Critic
So you genuinely want to improve your English in writing and speaking. I am going to show you that it goes beyond writing and speaking. You should learn to use English when you think and organize your ideas.
You aren't sure how good or bad your English is. The lecturer is not so demanding on your English. There's no penalty for poor English in writing. Your coursemates don't mind at all about English.
What about business English? Surely you can find a dummy guide with tons of samples, or you get a nice template from software, or you follow some corporate style guide to produce a business letter. What about technical English? I am not sure what that means. Yes there are technical terms and phrases. But if technical English means the sort of English you see in most technical reports, then that's depressing. Or do you mean writing user-friendly error messages for software application? That would count as technical English i agree. Java, COBOL and C++ would count as technical English in a way i guess. What about perfect English? Have you ever read an auditor's report or a PC user guide? They are in perfect English, and they bore readers to impotence if not death.
I think there's only good English vs bad English.
If you want to learn to play tennis, you have to play it. You don't simply work on the specific parts of the game. Would someone work on serve, return, volley and stamina without ever playing a single match? Ok i admit they return balls served by machine. That seems to describe how students learn English nowadays. They work on vocabulary, grammar, listening, pronunciation and even writing. (Let me correct: it's copying sample essays not writing) But they never really use it. The sole reason they work on English is to pass exam, or to write a job application letter.
I believe what you really need is to learn to write properly. At the heart of writing are some key elements: clarity in thought, organization in composition, passion in communication, attention to details and so on. Good writing has the clarity of a theorem and the beauty of a poem (i stretch i bit here). You need to work on higher levels than that of grammar and structure.
What you need at tertiary level is not a grammar guide, a spell-checker, or a proofreader. You need a critic. Someone who cares to read and understand your work. Someone who can criticize your work in terms of language, clarity, contents, and organization.
I am here to offer this service. I'll not impose a planned lesson on you. I'll find out your specific weaknesses in your writing and help you accordingly. Your assignments and dissertations (or whatever you care to write about) are the vehicle with which you work on your language and elements beyond language. I call it consultation. This is not tuition whereby you are spoonfed. Neither is it for fixing a work to be submitted urgently.
(Here comes the marketing) My aim? No, this is about you. Your aim is to become your own critic. There is a stage whereby one can read and criticize his/her own work objectively. Then you would become a born-again English user. My goal is to help you to achieve your goal. (How's that for salesman English?)
I have yet to settle on a scale to charge fee. So we have to negotiate it. It depends on what level of work is required by me to help you.
Currently please email me [benjsct AT gmail.com] Describe your problem or situation in sufficient details. I shall be able to tell a bit about your English. Then i will reply as to how we might go about this consultation. Kuching & Kota Samarahan areas only.
Contact me if
- You want a tutor to guide you in using English properly. (extensive work)
- You know you need help with some parts of your work. (logic? grammar?)
- You need translation to English.
- You are writing your magnum opus ok, but you want some opinion.
