Thank you for your letters of introduction. I enjoyed reading them and learning many interesting things about you.
I am going to make a few suggestions here to help improve our writing. My suggestions will focus on conventions in writing which includes things like spelling, usage, grammar, capitalization and punctuation. These are things we usually fix when we proofread our writing.
Capitalization – capitalize all names of people, places, months, days, countries, cities and many others; the word “I”; the beginning of a sentence; the beginning of a quote
Examples: Tuesday, Burnaby, France, French, Grade 7, Parker Street, Aubrey Elementary School
Spacing when word-processing – put a space (space bar) after a comma or period and between words.
Incorrect: In my immediate family there arefive people.There is my dad,my mom,my older brother and my younger sister.
Correct: In my immediate family there are five people. There is my dad, my mom, my older brother and my younger sister.
Use of numbers – Use numerals (1,2,3…35…) only if part of a name, otherwise use the word (one, two, three… thirty-five…)
Incorrect: I have 6 cousins. 3 live in Burnaby and 3 live in Italy.
Correct: I have six cousins. Three live in Burnaby and three live in Italy.
Sentence structure – either write separate sentences or join your ideas properly.
Incorrect: In my immediate family there are five people, there is my dad, my mom, my older brother and my younger sister.
Okay: In my immediate family there are five people: my dad, my mom, my older brother and my younger sister.
Okay: In my immediate family there are five people. There is my dad, my mom, my older brother and my younger sister.
Okay: In my immediate family there are five people including my dad, my mom, my older brother and my younger sister.
Correct Word – correct tense; correct number, correct word form (Spellcheck does not always help)
Incorrect: There going to watch a movie with there friends.
Correct: They’re going to watch a movie with their friends.
Incorrect: There is four people in my family.
Correct: There are four people in my family.
Incorrect: I seen that movie.
Correct: I saw that movie.
Many of you can fix these things yourselves. You need to do this when proofreading. It takes a little bit of time and careful reading but it makes a big difference. Even though you may have many good ideas in your writing, these kinds of mistakes can be really distracting to the reader and can sometimes affect the meaning in your writing.