academic writing

hey guys,
do u know where i can take a course of academic writing in Hanoi??? (regardless of the price) ... how to improve my writing skill as well...
i think it is one of the most important skills that anyone who are studying English has to require but in fact, not many Vietnamese learners can do this well... so, if someone has any constructive suggestion, pls post it here...
thankx... looking forward to receive your reply...

When you were born, you were crying while everyone 'round u was smiling
Live your life so that when you died, you are the only one who was smiling while everyone 'round u was crying.

You may join the TWE(Test of Written English) courses, buy some books about the course, some books for vocabularies.
And remember, your own practice is the most significant way of learning. Just write it down as much as you can, and your skill will sky rocket.
All the best.
VIỆT NAM MUÔN NĂM
Giải trí một tí ----->   http://vui.topcities.com

Yeah, practice makes perfect, but still I need someone to correct my essays carefully. Well I do know what my weaknesses are but it''d be much better to have a teacher show you what should be changed and in what way. If anyone has any idea, please post it here. I''d be extremely thankful for your kindness.
So close no matter how far... I have you in my heart and nothing else matters...

Hi,
In my opinion, so as *****cceed in academic writing, you must have a good command of grammar as well as vocabuary first. Then, you should read a lot of books, newspapers..etc... to enrich your knowledge and learn how they use words and phrases in academic way . It''s also good for your reading skill, rite ?
I totally agree with Britney that it''d better to have a teacher. She/he will show you what''''ll be the best and help you to find out your mistakes and correct them as well.
Many friends of mine have been attending the writing courses at Mr Nghiem''s house (Kim Ma street, hmm I dont remember his exact adress and phone number). As far as I know, the fee is reasonable and I bet that his knowledge will make you surprise.
Gut luck
p/s : remember not to use so much slangs

Personally, I actually don''t mind ''slangs'', definitely not in essays, let alone academic essays furthermore, but in original creative writing pieces, slangs keep the piece unique, and honest. "Lady Chatterley''s lover" - D.H.Lawrence, a great classic masterpiece uses the "f" word more than you can say "Coca-cola" in your life time, but it is what keeps the piece real and interesting (well not the ''f'' word itself..but you know what I mean).
I definitely aggree that a supervisor/teacher to guide you is the way to go, however, do make sure that they are qualified. And I still think reading excessive amount of books help more than you''ll ever realise.
"Gomen nasai....demo..A****erui Sayuri-san.."

ALWAYS PRACTICE -> the solution for progress in writing and all other fields as well.
I totally agree that having a teacher correct our writings is very necessary, but he (or she) can''''t all the time give us a good willing to do that, it wastes time. That''''s why I think DIY is more practical in long a period of time.
ALWAYS PRACTICE
VIỆT NAM MUÔN NĂM !
Được hazeem sửa chữa / chuyển vào 20:17 ngày 07/12/2003

1st of all, thank u guys for paying attention 2 my topic...
after reading all your posts, i have come to conclusion that none of you guys here have ever really taken any kind of course teaching academic writing, sadly.
i myself did attend mr Nghiem''s class. he taught us writiing but just for TOEFL.
by the way, ive heard of IDP''s course, the tuition is rather high, about 400$/10 weeks but i have no idea about the quality of teaching there... so do u have any better suggestion???
When you were born, you were crying while everyone 'round u was smiling
Live your life so that when you died, you are the only one who was smiling while everyone 'round u was crying.

badper: I was in your position about 10 years ago when I was preparing for my overseas study. At that time, there was a teacher from Dai Hoc Ngoai Ngu HN who was specialized in writing. I forget her name now, but it''''s not important because what I want to tell you is: don''''t attend a writing course! Writing skills are accumulated by practice, not by sitting in a classroom.
I''''m speaking to you as a person who''''s been studying & working overseas for nearly ten years (most of my works involve writing academic papers). I found out that most of what I learned from the teacher from DHNN were not actually useful for my studies. I also found out that the most important skills for writing papers are researching skills!! Because in academic papers, the ideas and their organization matter the most. But it''''s not to say that presentation (grammar, style, punctuation, etc.) does not matter. It''''s just that these can be learnt very quickly with some guidance by an experienced person -- in my case it was my professor.
Now, what I''''m suggesting is that: You should find a research topic (maybe you have some term assignment??), read some literature in that domain, and start writing!!!
When you write don''''t try be perfect the first time. For the first draft, you write as fast as possible focusing on having the basic structure up. There may be hollow paragraphs here and there, some sentences may sound silly, and the flow may not be as fluid as you''''d like. But you don''''t care: You''''re trying to have the first draft -- a glimpse of what you final paper would convey.
Then, you give the draft to an experienced person. Try to get as many comments as possible from him. When you go home, update your 1st draft based on these comments. Once done, present the 2nd draft to the person, then more comments and more updates... Repeat this process as many times as necessary and you''''ll find that you''''d learn *much*, *much* more than you would if you were attending a class.
There''''re also researching skills as well, but I cannot cover everything in this little post; and you cannot expect to learn everything in a short period of time -- well, learning should be a life-long process!!! But I''''d be happy to share my experience with you if you mail me at: pippin_hn@yahoo.com. Maybe, you can send me an essay that you''''re writing (or have already written). I''''ll give as many comments as the time allows.
You sound like a serious student, Badper. But you must remember that writing cannot be learnt in a short time; and certainly, it cannot be learnt by sitting in a class. Patience and Practice are the keywords!!
--Pippin
Được pippin sửa chữa / chuyển vào 02:23 ngày 12/12/2003