I wish I were a little better at English. The thought crossed my mind when one of my old classmates (jokingly?) asked me when I am going to publish my English novel. I was like, I blog to differ? D: Okay, bad pun. My English has been deteriorating in lightning speed for some time. What with my graduating from college and stepping down as moderator in CT, I don’t really have people with whom I can speak / type English to anymore. I already have problem in writing this blog. If this keeps going on, I’ll be lucky to form a coherent sentence every now and then x___X
Everyone here seems to be very fluent both in speaking and writing. I wonder how do you guys learn and practise? I know some countries are just more exposed to the language in daily basis. But I’m not even that great in Indonesian either, so IDK.
I didn’t learn the normal way, I don’ t think. *long story warning* I started at age 14 by way of heavy reading, and even that was only because I was laughed at in class when I mistakenly wrote ’shit’ instead of ’sheet’. That was embarassing XD Anyway, should I peruse my dictionary often? And by often I mean, more than once? I honestly think the only time I ever consult my dictionary, which I conveniently left in Indonesia, is always to see if the word ‘tomorrow’ goes with 2 m’s or 2 r’s. I can’t seem to remember which, no matter how frequently I googled it. As for the rest of the vocabularies in the English language, I could never be bothered to check and used my lucky guess instead (and here I’m wondering why I am bad at it, lol).
Comments and tips are LOVED, merely reading this will be LOVED and THANKED WITH MISTY EYES. And until I somehow manage to master the skill to write decently, please bear with constant bad English, grammatical errors and lots of movie references.
P.S. I just found a recording of Hugh Laurie (Dr. House), our favorite Vicodin addict, singing a song titled, ‘Steffi is an angel’. The lyrics are dedicated to the tennis prodigy, Steffi Graff (also the origin of my name). I mean, Steffi is officially a song title. How cool am I is that?
Blair icon from <a href=”http://funkyfresh23.livejournal.com”>funkyfresh23</a>. ty!
15 Responses to “no title because rants are just rants”
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April 3rd, 2008 at 3:07 am
You know Steffi, let me give you my honest opinion about the way you write. As a real journalist, would you accept the advice I give you?
In terms of English mastery, the funny thing is, I don’t see a lot of grammatical errors when I read your posts. Believe me, there are more people worse when it comes in speaking English (not that I’m saying you speak bad English.) In my a-s-s-e-s-s-m-e-n-t, you can be qualify as a Native English speaker.
In my opinion, I think what you’re more concerned about is HOW you write and not how you SPEAK English. I’m talking about tones and style, Stef. Each writer has a distinct tone and style that when you read his/her article, you’ll know who wrote it even if you don’t see his name on it.
I consider my writing tone and style as epigrammatic, jocose, and s-a-s-s-y (straight to the point, witty, and aggressive). I’m at my best when I’m writing a satire, when I’m featuring something, when I do straight news stories and when I write scientifically (Not science but instead, this means an in depth style of writing). Knowing your strengths is a good thing because every writer has their own strengths and weaknesses. My weakness is poetry and literature.
I can give you advice on how to write on certain articles. Like if you want to write a straight news story, if you want to feature something, etc. Just let me know. For now, let me give you basic advice.
Titles are important. The title should be able to summarize the entire article. Like for example you’re writing an article about Hello Kitty who recently launched the HKO closed beta, your article should be something like “Hello Kitty’s first ever MMO launched!” There. Even if I don’t read the entire article, I now know that an MMO based on Hello Kitty was launched today. Now if I’m interested in it, I’ll move on to the details. See? Writing titles are important. You have to make sure you know who your audience are to make them read your articles.
As for your writing the body of the article, coherency is important. the second paragraph of your article should support the first, the third should support the second, the fourth should support the third, and so on. For example:
Steffi Ciputra finally gets engaged to Korean boyfriend
(1st paragraph)
Indonesian idol and fashion icon Steffi Ciputra shocks the world today when she told Fox News that she agreed to marry famous Korean actor and ramp model, Sam Young Guy. It seems like the wedding will take place on the 20th of September at the Medal International Hotel.
(2nd)
“He melted my heart the moment he told me he loved me with all his heart.” Steffi said giddily. “He proved his love for 2 years and I think it’s about time I give him my ‘yes’.”
(3rd)
Sam was obviously happy when they got engaged last week. Out of the blue, he was seen hosting parties to his family and friends, giving only a vague reason when asked why he was doing so.
(4th)
“I’ll let you guys know next week, or a certain ’someone’ will tell you why. As of now, all I can say is, it’s something every man desires to hear at least once in his lifetime.”
(5th)
Steffi and Sam started giving out invitations today. Hollywood star Tings Al and Chinese king of action films Art Hu were given invitations to the wedding. On a side note, Steffi’s ex-boyfriend Jack Su-Old gave a ‘no comment’ when he was asked yesterday about the wedding.
Coherency, support, and importance of events are important in writing. See how I placed them in my article? My first paragraph contained the most important information. The second one contained the 2nd most important information and supported the first. And so on.
As I can see with your current writing style, it seems you like making puns. I like the way you write them and I see a bright, glimmer of hope that you will do well in writing a satire. Hahaha. Keep practicing Steffi. Know your preferred tone and style and practice it often. How about I test your skills if you allow me to. Since we both like House, why don’t you write an episode review of it and I’ll review it.
You can do it Stef, I know you can. If you need help, I’m here to give you professional advice. 
Oh btw, did you know that I accidentally spelled “meeting” as “meating?” That happened 2 months ago and my colleagues laughed so hard. That was really e-m-b-a-r-ra-s-s-i-n-g. See? you’re not alone.
*high five*
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:35 am
Hiya steffi!^_^ Are you kidding me? Your English is fine, especially since you pretty much taught yourself to do it.^_^ For me, I’ve always loved reading and writing. My sisters taught me how to read even before I got to school, and I’ve been addicted to it ever since. About writing, it’s something I’ve always loved. I consider it my artwork: painters use canvas and paint, my tools are my computer and words. I write just about anything and everything: features, stories, poetry, etc. but I always thought of it as a love-hate relationship. Sometimes, I don’t really like what I produce, and I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my work.o_O
Your love for reading’s going to feed you, steffi. I know it does for me.^_^
What kind of writing do you want to be, anyway? I don’t think I’d go for a blow-by-blow thing that WHJ did (heehee! Meating. Sorry, it got stuck in my head.XD), so maybe you could tell what you want to do and we could help each other out?:)
Btw, movie/TV references always rock.^_^
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 am
LOL see? I made a mistake here even if I’m already a managing editor:
1.) “In my a-s-s-e-s-s-m-e-n-t, you can be qualify as a Native English speaker.”
errata: delete “be”
2.) Steffi’s ex-boyfriend Jack Su-Old gave a ‘no comment’ when he was asked yesterday about the wedding.
errata: add “to give a comment” before “about the wedding”
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:19 am
*nightmares of English professors whacking my hand for not doing my homework*
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:38 am
Steff, I’m not big on writing myself (you’ve read my blog entries!) and I don’t know if any sort of comment from me will help, but I think your English is very good. WAY better than mine.
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
WHJ, I really think I have huge problem in coherency and that I’m not articulate about the story that I want to tell. Do you think reviews/ feature articles could help? I’m not used to concise writing, which is why I end up with lengthy paragraphs that probably do not make much sense at all, but also don’t make sense when shortened o_o
And to be honest, I run out of conjunctive sentence (?) pretty fast.. Alternatively I use ‘and’ and ’so’ a lot. Before long, I would already lose interest in writing it out and find more fun in, err, watching movies and the like
Ooh thanks for the tips! I didn’t even know such technique exists! Now that you mention it, now I can see how I missed that essence in my writing.
“epigrammatic, jocose, and s-a-s-s-y”, while I don’t know what epigrammatic means and I’d just guess it, I completely agree. I really like that professional/witty vibe in your writing. Sometimes you are silly and funny WHJ, other times you are the Journalist
Eeek… you like House too? *hugs* I finally got a hold of season 3, I can’t wait to watch it!
Btw, guys, I don’t think my singing skill even qualifies for the Indonesian Bathroom Idol hehe!
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Badtz, I did take English courses, but they didn’t help much. I probably owe Sidney Sheldon for whatever word in the English language that I understand lol.
Hey,,, You are so great in writing lits you know. In theory, reading should help me in writing, but since I’ve always skipped details and on with the important scenes, I don’t really know the process of building a story, fiction or non-fiction :X The last time I ever wrote fiction/poetry was with my best friend in high school. That was like a century ago. I’m feeling very rusty haha.
Denise, noo. I really enjoy your blog, esp the fashion bits. I sometimes think I need a fashion lesson. I have the most boring wardrobe ever
April 4th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Hey Stef!
Yup! Writing features and reviews will help you very, very much. Especially if you’re inspired in writing a certain one, like House. Try practicing writing your sentences like this: “House is an arrogant doctor” instead of “House is the kind of doctor who thinks highly of himself and thinks he never makes a mistake” The former is shorter and better because you picked out a word that would best describe what you wanted to say, instead of completely defining it. Do that and your sentences will shorten in no time.
With the case of “and” and “so,” you remind me of yourself when I was like 10 years old. I use “And then” a lot and it’s really maddening! Hehehe. Actually, it’s quite simple to remove that. Just remove “and” and “so” and change it with a subject that would connect it with your previous sentence. Try writing the review if you have time and I’ll see where you need improvement, if you’ll allow me.
And thanks stef! Though I don’t consider myself proficient, I always do the best I can. Am I really that silly? hehehehe.
And YES! I’m addicted to the tv series House like vicodin! Bwahahaha! I really miss his crew in the third season.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Aaww, thanks steffi!^_^ What helps me out when I write is my very, very active imagination - some of my friends have said that I have way too much of it, but hey, it’s where my stuff comes from, right?:P
I agree with WHJ with what he said: brevity is the key to good writing. The writer might sound smart (to himself/herself, anyway) by using big words, but it just annoys readers most of the time. Remember to KISS: Keep it Short and Simple.;) (Ah, my features writing teacher would be so proud of me.:P)
April 4th, 2008 at 3:17 am
if you want to improve your writing, read more. read read read and keep on reading. no teacher can substitute for a viable literary backbone.
April 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I will be checking back to this often so I can read your tips, speedy3223, iheartbadtz, and WHJ!
Steffi, ooooh if you show me photos of your stuff, ill help you figure out how to work some craziness into it. hehe!
April 9th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
steffiiiiiiii i always love ur story, makes ppl want to read more and more
^_^
April 12th, 2008 at 6:34 am
No. of words on Steffi’s post = 396
No. of words on WHJ’s first comment = 787
Coolx!!!!
April 18th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
tingal79: ROFLMAO
April 19th, 2008 at 6:47 am
WHJ, I hate season 4 of House. Less cameron-chase is disaster. I particularly dislike THIRTEEN T____T
Thanks so much for the tips guys!!!!!! I’ll keep them in mind~ I’d try to reduce my ’so’ and ‘and’ quotas in my writing~
Denise, I actually have some of my stuffs posted in poupee~girls:
http://pupe.jp/closet/V5ZXK5oa8_Md
They are pretty boring though XD