correcting think students' your you in errors you having problems writing their are So,?

I pride myself of being an expert of the field that I am in. Not just try to be an expert, but I must be an expert in the field that I am in. It is a given that an English teacher has to be in the business of the language. I must know about the ins and outs of the language (and according to a humble editor [hehehe] even the ins and outs), the dos and the don'ts, and the ambiguity in between. If I don't, then I cannot claim myself to be a professional. At least, if it is not in my immediate disposal, I'm equipped to immediately rectify the problem that is about teaching English.

So, I stumble across these things everyday.

My parents, me, and agog Give me tHe best time in tHe moment we go as the Holiday intuitively.

Beside that thing, give he for become a good timing for me tomorrow form hugely momentous event.

Secondly, is for the most beatiful girl's I have the small intuition ifs to me is the adventeres.

From that time is wen her walk to my hous for message to exemplify me the time sir Andrian is giving.

So, how does one begin correcting each sentence?

It is the most important to first recognise the semantics. What is the message (if at all it's comprehensible) that is trying to be conveyed? Is it something that only requires minor adjustments or additional words (most of the time, missed articles and prepositions)? If the answers are all of the aforementioned, then we are in for some serious error analysis.

The best way to go at it is to change as little as possible from the original sentence. I try my best to use back the original sentence as much as possible to keep the original formation of syntax by the student. Even if I feel that a shorter sentence can be used, it is not the fault of a student to try to write it in a longer manner as long as it is correct and sound. Add or minus out a few words just to make it grammatically correct.

If an entire phrase is wrong, some suggested phrases are necessary. It is important to keep it as simple as possible because a complex suggestions isn't going to help. For example, for the phrase: Secondly, is for the most beautiful girl's you shouldn't try to add words that are too complicated i.e.

Secondly, in accordance to the most beautiful girl...

cause the introduction of the word 'accordance' could lead to some split ends in their grammatical prowess. Keep it to a minimal and do:

Secondly, about the most beautiful girl...

and continue on correcting the following phrase:

Secondly, about the most beautiful girl, I am feeling a little scared.

Of course, the sentence is grammatically sound now and that is all we're aiming for in this stage of error correction. I always try to rewrite certain phrases in big bolded words at the side if I see the same error repeated over and over. When I see it being repeated, I just circle it or underline it to indicate that it is a repeated error.

Moving on to a more difficult correction, is the first sentence:


My parents, me, and agog Give me tHe best time in tHe moment we go as the Holiday intuitively.

Not only does the sentence have some punctuation problems, there are multiple errors i.e. using the word me instead of I which is also missing and in between. On top of that, the meaning being conveyed is vague. I wouldn't know the message if I were to just read the sentence alone. I have to look back at the previous context or the following context to make any sense of the sentence. I always fall back to 2 choices:

1. Rewrite an assumption of what I think he is trying to say.
2. Just focus on correcting a few repetitive errors while neglecting other errors.

To justify the first option is to say that I'm trying my best to comprehend him. I want to guess to help him with a suggested answer but he will have to eventually use the form of my suggested syntax to fit in his own meaning in between. This cannot be done if you suggest something similarly long to his original sentence. Always suggest something short because these students have obvious problems in comprehending long sentences.

The second option is justified by focusing only on certain errors you wish for him to improve in. You can't change him into Ricky Gervais overnight. Be happy if he takes note of your corrected sentence and utilises the suggested selective corrections. He'll still make the previous errors that are left uncorrected but might change the ones you suggested.

correcting think students' your you in errors you having problems writing their are So,?

So, you think you are having problems correcting your students' errors in their writing?


Take a deep breath, hold your trusty red pen, and start colouring the books.