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| English
Language Skills - Introduction, continued |
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How does it work? |
| It
works in three ways. You can work through it from beginning
to end if you want to improve your English language skills all
round. You will find this a useful thing to do if your skills
are generally rather poor. |
You can use it
to work on specific points - apostrophes, for example -
by looking up what you want in the Contents or Index and
going straight to that part of the book.
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You can also
use the Practice sections in each chapter. They can be typed,
word processed or hand written, and will give you practice
in writing different documents in a variety of styles.
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The book starts
with some very basic points about writing English - the
length of a sentence, when to use a new paragraph, etc.
The exercises in the first few chapters are fairly easy,
too.
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| As
you work through the book, you will find that the learning goals
get a little more difficult to achieve; this is partly because
the English language rules themselves get more complicated,
and partly because the exercises are longer and more complex.
However, if you work through the chapters in order, this should
not be a problem. Rules and ideas you have studied in earlier
chapters are repeated in later ones, with reminders of certain
basics every now and again. |
| None
of the chapters deals with advanced or very difficult English
language skills, but the exercises towards the end of the book
will test your knowledge and skills quite considerably. |
| At
the end of the book there are Appendices. Appendix 1 is a list
of words which people often cannot remember how to spell. Appendix
2 is a list of words which people get confused about - their
and there, for example; they are called confusibles. You will
come across most of the words in Appendix 2 as you work through
the book, so you will be able to practice using them, as well
as being able to look them up quickly. |
| This
is not a book which will teach you how to lay out letters, how
to do summaries or answer comprehension questions. All these
things are included as exercises, but there are plenty of other
books to help you learn how to tackle them. This book is about
grammar, spelling and punctuation: once you have decided what
to write, it will help you to write it correctly. |
| About
the language |
English
is a living language, and is changing all the time; what was
accepted years ago sounds funny or wrong now. This book tries
to use English which is generally acceptable to most people
in English speaking countries. In doing this, there may be expressions
or words which some people cannot bear to hear or read - 'different
to' instead of 'different from', for example. When these expressions
occur, the book will use what is still considered grammatically
correct ('different from'), but may point out what is becoming
generally accepted ('different to'). The author regrets any
inconvenience caused while work is in progress!
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