AskOxford.com (Part 1)

You may have heard of the Oxford dictionary. Their website has an area about better writing and has a great section that we'll focus on today about abbreviations and acronyms, especially those that you may see when doing text messaging.

*** Before going on, it's important to note that these abbreviations and acronyms are not appropriate for most writing that you'll do! This blog post is more of a "for your information" type so that you can be aware of what these items mean! ***

Visit this site (http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriting/emoticons/?view=uk) and look over the first part about abbreviations. Then, come back to this blog & tell me what new abbreviations did you learn (and don't forget to include what they mean too!).

Tell me a story - November's edition

This blog hasn't had any fun, creative writing topics in a while, so let's change that now! We'll return to the "tell me a story" theme where I give you a few items that you must somehow weave into your story. Have fun with it and remember to focus on all of those points of good writing: correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Your story can take any direction that you want. It can be serious, funny, mysterious, or even based on real-life events!

Here are your items to use: turkey, 4 pencils, a digital camera, and a fishing pole.

Writing: "We Need This Yesterday"

How many times has someone asked you for something and they needed (or wanted) it done immediately? This could happen at work or at home. How do you deal with it? Check out this blog post from the Bad Language site. Then, come back here & let me know if you found it to be interesting & helpful.

http://www.badlanguage.net/we-need-this-yesterday-how-do-you-react

Happy Thanksgiving!

With Thanksgiving approaching, I wanted to take a minute & say "thank you" to all of the blog participants! Without you, there would be no blog! I appreciate you participating, trying new things, and working hard (even when you may be so tired that you don't want to do anything else other than close your eyes).

Please feel free to respond to this and tell everyone what you're thankful for. Remember to write your sentences correctly and pay attention to your spelling, capitalization, and punctuation!

Improve Your Writing By Learning Another Language!

Would you believe me if I told you that you can improve your writing by learning another language? It seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? Well, check out this list of 10 reasons why this is true.

http://www.badlanguage.net/ten-reasons-why-learning-another-language-will-improve-your-writing

Which of the 10 tips did you find most interesting?

The Best Time to Write

Have you ever wondered when is the best time to write? Check out these 6 suggestions from the "Bad Language" site by clicking here. After you've had a chance to read that, come back here & tell me what you found most appealing!

Customer Service

As we approach a busy holiday season we become more aware of customer service skills offered by employees in all organizations (department stores, supermarkets, restaurants and businesses). It seems as most people tend to "stress out" during the season, which tends to bring about bad customer service experiences.

Last month (October 20th) we shared "10 important customer service words" that we should consider using. Today, we would like to share a two and a half minute movie that covers customer service.

Please watch the movie and share your thoughts (post your commment) on it. Did you like the movie? Can you think of ways to possibly provide better customer service in the future? Can you imagine being a better customer when you have to wait in a long line? Even if you do not deal with customers in your workplace, do you provide good (internal) customer service to your fellow co-workers? supervisor?

http://www.stservicemovie.com/index.html

Writing - Clichés

Have you heard of the term "cliché" before? Wikipedia defines it as "a saying, expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel."

BBC Magazine had a list of 50 office-speak phrases (clichés) that you love to hate. Check out the list by clicking here. In each of the examples, you will see the cliché shown in bold text. Which ones, if any, do you use? Which ones, if any, were new to you? Try to identify 2 items for each of those questions.

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(Please note that British words may have slightly different spellings than their American counterparts. For example, on that BBC magazine page for item #32, you will see the word "realised" used. In America, we would write that as "realized.")

Better Business Writing

In my search to bring you some good information about business writing, I came across a website called Bad Language (http://www.badlanguage.net/). In case you're wondering, it doesn't mean "bad language" as in curse words.

What drew my attention to that site was that there is a free e-book that you can either read online or print. It's called "30 Days to Better Business Writing." I'd like for you to visit that site and go to page 2 of the book, which is the table of contents. Look at the topics presented for each of the 30 days. Pick one that jumps out at you and go read that section. Then, report back on what section you picked (including what day number to which it corresponds). Tell us what you learned or found interesting.

I'll start!

Day 7: Analyze Bad Writing
I liked how it gave seven characteristics of bad writing. These are things that I'm going to try to stay away from doing when I write!

Writing & Social Networking (Part 2)

Let's talk more about social networking & social media sites. Check out the image below & review those important points.


Look at the third point listed! It says "You are what you publish on the web (so be cautious of your image!)." Remember that your writing reflects you! Good writing skills, including correct capitalization, spelling, and punctuation, are so important and should never be overlooked!

Do you agree? If you were an employer and saw a potential employee who had massive amounts of misspellings and other grammatical problems on a social networking site, what would you think?

Writing & Social Networking (Part 1)

Have you heard of the term "social networking" before? Do you use any social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or MySpace? Believe it or not, employers and schools might be looking at this information that you have online. Even your writing on there is important and is a chance to look professional!

Want to know more about social networking, what it is, and how it works? Check out this short Common Craft video for a great explanation!

http://www.commoncraft.com/video-social-networking

After you've viewed the video, come back here & post your thoughts on it!

Spelling & Resumes (Part 2)

Yesterday's blog post talked about how bad a misspelling on a resume can be.  Have you wondered what are the most common misspelled words on resumes?  If so, check out these links!

http://www.pongoresume.com/blogPosts/111/top-100-misspelled-words-in-resumes.cfm

http://www.oet.ky.gov/des/vws/resume/commonly_misspelled_words.asp

After visiting the second link shown above, which 5 words jumped out at you?  (HINT: A great way to learn the spelling of commonly misspelled words is to use a flashcard & to study it a few times a day.  Read the word out loud & then spell it, letter-by-letter.  If you do that 3-4 times a day, for 5-7 days, you will start to know that word by memory & be less likely to misspell it in the future!)

Spelling & Resumes (Part 1)

Do you know where the worst place (or one of the worst places) for a spelling mistake is? In my opinion, I'd say on a resume! Think about it: you're trying to put your best foot forward and to show a potential employer why they should hire you (and not someone else). A spelling mistake can jump out at a hiring manager and make him or her wonder if you didn't know how to spell the word or, possibly worse, if you didn't care enough to proofread your resume!

Check out this link with resume tips.

http://www.resumesandcoverletters.com/tips_blog/2008/07/typos-and-misspellings-a-top-p.html

Of the 6 tips listed at the bottom, which one (or ones) did you find to be the most important?