Learning Express Library

COURSE 1: GRAMMAR SKILLS FOR WRITING 2: FINE-TUNING PUNCTUATION

1. INTEREST LEVEL: I found this course interesting; even though it was nothing completely new to me, it helped refresh my memory. I think that it can be relevent for anybody because punctuation is a very important skill to master.

2. DIFFICULTY: This course wasn't very difficult; it was more of a revision on how to properly punctuate my sentences for me. The questions and exercices weren't to challenging but were still relevent and practical.

3. WHAT I LEARNED:

1. I learned all the different ways semicolons can be used: to separate independent clauses, to replace a comma in a list which already contains commas (I went to Paris, France; London, England; and Montreal, Canada.), etc.
2. I learned when to use and when not to use apostrophes to show possession.
3. I learned that dashes, when used appropriately, can be a very useful punctuation mark; you can use them to mark a sudden break in thought, emphasize explanatory material and connect a beginning phrase to the rest of the sentence.

4. MY SCORE: The course did not give me a score but overall I made three errors.

5. COURSE RATING: 8/10 Like previously stated, most of the content of this course was basic punctuation knowledge which, even though it is useful, was probably a bit too easy for me. Nonetheless, the section on how to uses dashes was something that I appreciated since this a competence I lacked information on.

COURSE 2: GRAMMAR SKILLS FOR WRITING 3: PRACTICE WITH SUBJECTS, VERBS, AND PRONOUNS

1. INTEREST LEVEL: I found this course interesting. The subject matter wasn't necessarily new to me but it was presented in a that made me aware of many ways to make my writing more interesting and easy to follow.

2. DIFFICULTY: I didn't find this course very difficult; the questions seemed basic to me. Nonetheless, many elements of the content presented were more advanced and an excellent complement to anybody's pre-existing knowledge.

3. WHAT I LEARNED:

1. One of the topics in the course was the differences between all the present tense, past tense and future tense forms and when to correctly use them.
2. The course also explained how the use of the passive voice can often be "life-draining" for a text. Another"life-draining" verb construction is state-of being verbs.
3. I learned which pronouns are plural and which ones are singular. This is something I had trouble with before the course so it was very informative.

4. MY SCORE: The course did not give me a score but overall I made three or four errors.

5. COURSE RATING: 8.5/10 This course was interesting; it made me conscious of several writing flaws, such as adding unnecessary auxiliary verbs and starting sentences with "it" and "there" too much. The lesson on plural and singular pronouns was the part I found the most useful.

COURSE 3: VOCABULARY AND SPELLING COURSE 3

1. INTEREST LEVEL: This course was interesting; it helped me more clearly understand the meaning of some words of the English language which are not used as much. Futhermore, it helped me find the meaning of these word through their context, which is a very useful skill when you don't have a dictionary at hand. Nonetheless, each section had about 4 exercices which all revolved around the same words and thus seemed to be redundant.

2. DIFFICULTY: I started this course thinking it would be easy but was pleasantly surprised; many of the vocabulary words presented in the course were advanced and challenging. Therefore, I think that this course can be useful to everybody, although it might be hard for people who don't speak or read alot in English.

3. WHAT I LEARNED:

1. I learned that there are four types of context clues (context clues meaning context helping you understand a word): context clues by definition, by constrast, by example and by restatement.
2. Another course topic was words from the work world, meaning words which are more precisely related to certain work fields and which can be confusing to people who aren't familiar with them. Once again, the meaning of these words can be understood by the context in which they are used.
3. I also learned that the English language is constantly evolving; new words and expressions are always coming into the language. It is thus important to keep up with these new terminologies.

4. MY SCORE: The course did not offer me a final score but I made certain errors, especially in the section about words from the work world, since there were many technical and financial terms I wasn't familiar with.

5. COURSE RATING: I would give this course an 7/10 rating. Even though it was very useful and gave me many new vocabulary words to use, the exercices in each section were somewhat redundant.

COURSE 4: VOCABULARY AND SPELLING COURSE 4

1. INTEREST LEVEL: Spelling is an extremely important aspect of the English language and can sometimes be confusing due to phonetical / spelling differences. Nonetheless, this course was really more of an overview of basic spelling rules and might have been more interesting to someone less advanced.

2. DIFFICULTY: This course was not difficult. Although it was a good reminder about certain spelling rules, most of the exercices were extremely basic (example: how to spell chocolate and captain).

3. WHAT I LEARNED:

1. One of the aspects of this course was the fact that the English language is phonetically inconsistent, visually confusing and that pronunciation also differs regionally. Therefore, it is important to look at and listen to words before spelling them.
2. Also, the course presented two spelling rules; the IE rule and the EI rule. The IE rule goes as follows: i before e except after c. The EI rule goes like this: e comes before i when it sounds like ay, as in neighbor and weigh.
3. Finally I learned that usually "when two vowels are together, the first one is usually long and the second one is silent", as is true in the words caffeine and reach. Some exceptions to this rule are the words porcelain, beauty and healthy.

4. MY SCORE: Yet again, this course did not feature a final score but I made between 2 and 4 errors.

5. COURSE RATING: Overall, I would give this course an 8.5/10 rating; the course itself was well designed and clear. Pertaining to my personal interest and difficulty levels, I would have to give it a 5/10 rating as it was not very challenging.