Tips For Writing a Statement of Purpose by Gabriel Stiller

The idea behind writing a statement of purpose is to persuade the admissions committee to accept your application for admission. Your purpose behind applying for admission should become apparent through your writing. You need to not just state your interest in applying but also that you have the tenacity and the will to succeed in your chosen field.

While writing the statement of purpose, don't lose sight of why you are writing the letter and for whom you are writing it. Your target audience will comprise faculty members, most of whom are experts in their area of study. Through your statement of purpose you need to convince them that you have an opinion that you can express and that you can think on your own.

Your statement of purpose should directly address the questions asked in the guidance statement as completely as possible. If the question has several parts, make sure you write the answer to each part. Pay attention to all the details in the question so you don't miss out on any vital clues or information.

Try and make your statement of purpose as personalized as possible. It should look like your wrote it especially for the admissions committee and for the particular course that you are applying to. Don't follow a format or template provided by your friends blindly. What works for them may not work for you. Steer clear of the typical approach of what you did in your growing up years. Move away from statements that announce what you always wanted to be. Both these approaches are hackneyed and childish. You do not need to disclose personal facts in your statement of purpose. Try and be as objective as possible in your approach. Avoid using technical jargon in the hope of impressing the admissions committee. You would be better off writing in a direct, straightforward style.

Your statement of purpose should talk about your values and experiences and what you have learnt from them and how they impact your future objectives. Mention any career-related concerns that you may have.

Do not go overboard while writing a statement of purpose. Stay within the page limit. Read through your essay thoroughly once you've finished writing it so you can rectify any errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation. Typographical errors make you out to be careless in your work. Avoid using cliched words like 'interesting', 'challenging', 'useful' and 'rewarding'. There is formula for writing a perfect statement of purpose. Use these tips to create your very own statement of purpose.

How to Write For the Web by Gabriel Lozen

Writing for the web is quite different from writing for print. If you are moving from one medium to another, keep in mind that it is not enough to just convert printed documents into web pages. You will actually need to restructure and rewrite the text to a certain extent to make it suitable for the web.

The way people read text on the web is vastly different from the way they read a printed document. Readers on the web tend to scan through text. They do not read each and every lie and just scour the text for information that they find relevant. Therefore, your writing style has to accommodate this kind of reading.

The way you structure your writing on the web also differs. While writing for the web, start by summarizing the key points of the text or article in the first few lines. This way, your readers will straightaway know whether your text contains what they are looking for.

Wherever possible make use of bulleted or numbered lists. Readers find it easier to scan through listed items rather than long-winded paragraphs. Additionally, use your headings and fonts to emphasize what you are saying or to draw attention to a particular item.

If your articles or text are linked to other relevant pages, you need to make sure that each article or text is able to stand on its own. Avoid cross-referencing between one linked page and another. This is because unlike in the print medium, there is no certainty that the readers will read your pages sequentially. In fact, it is safer to assume that they won't.

If you are expecting your readers to want to print the webpage that you are writing, either provide a downloadable PDF version or try not to break up your text into very small chunks. This is because it more convenient to print a single web page instead of printing a series of them.

Avoid excessive use of links as they tend to distract the reader. They also spoil the flow of the document. Links are useful only when used in the right context. Therefore, use them only when they are of critical importance. When you use links correctly, they will help to provide extra detail and background information. They can also be utilized for reinforcing concepts. The failure to use links effectively is one of the most common mistakes made by web writers.

Gabriel enjoys providing articles on various interesting topics. Besides this topic, he also has a keen interest in furniture. Do check out his latest site at http://coffeetablesets.org/ which covers reviews and product information on coffee table sets.

Effective Business Writing - Preplanning Tips by C Bracken Meyers

Effective writing skills are a hallmark of a business professional. Business writing is often the main line of communication inside and outside of any organization, making writing skills important to master. Here are a few things you want to know before starting to write a business letter.

Purpose

Why am I writing this letter?
What do I want the reader to know, to understand, or do when finished reading my letter?

Focus on the message your letter is intended to convey, and then make it your goal to convey that message to reader. Make every word, every sentence, and every paragraph work towards accomplishing that one goal.

Audience

Who am I writing this letter for?

Before you begin to write, ask yourself this question, "Who is this letter for?" Visualize and write for the reader and you will have a better chance of getting your message across.

You might write the same message in many different ways, depending on who will be reading it. Many business letters, memos, and reports are written for the perspective of the writer and not the reader. This can cause the message to be lost or misconstrued. Business correspondence must clearly convey the message to the reader on the first reading. The business world is too busy to study letters looking for obscure or hidden meanings.

Context

What does the reader already know?

Try to eliminate any information that the reader will already know. Think of the questions your reader might ask about your subject, and then let the answers form the basis of the letter. If you can get into your reader's mind and know what they need to know, you can write a letter that conveys the appropriate information in the best form possible.

Tone

Before deciding on your tone, you should answer all the questions stated above.

In most business communication you can use the same level of tone. Overall your tone should be courteous, confident, and sincere. Avoid any discriminatory words, slag terms, or words that might give a negative imagery. Also avoid using large or complex words, as they sometimes give a negative tone.

Copyright 2009 © C Bracken Meyers

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Grammar Girl Launches iPhone App

Wizzard Media (NYSE Amex: WZE), announced today that the Quick and Dirty Tips Network (QDT), featuring anchor show Grammar Girl and other podcasts, has launched its first iPhone App. QDT is using Wizzard Media’s proprietary, integrated publishing solution to produce iPhone Apps for the QDT network of podcast shows starting today with the launch of the Grammar Girl App now available for purchase in the iTunes App Store.

The Grammar Girl Podcast is produced and hosted by Mignon Fogarty. In addition to be being a New York Times best-selling author, Mignon Fogarty has also been a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and has won numerous awards for her podcast series. The Grammar Girl Podcast is one of the most popular podcasts of all time and for over three years has consistently been a top 100 podcast in iTunes, currently ranked 1st in Education and #56 of all podcasts in iTunes.

The Grammar Girl App provides the convenience of direct streaming access to the Grammar Girl podcast, exclusive bonus content available only through the App as well as related social networks such as Twitter. There is the additional ability for users to flag favorites and download specific episodes directly to the App for offline consumption.

"Wizzard Media is very excited to be working with the Quick and Dirty Tips Network to help provide their massive audience with a new and exciting way to interact with the shows on the network," said Rob Walch, VP Podcaster Relations with Wizzard Media.

The Grammar Girl Podcast App is available in the Education category of the iTunes App Store for a one-time price of $1.99. The Grammar Girl Podcast App was developed in partnership with Wizzard Media and Quick and Dirty Tips. In addition to the Grammar Girl Podcast App, Wizzard Media and QDT will be working together to develop iPhone apps for the other shows in the QDT Network.

Plain English = Plain Sailing

Plain English is a writing style that readers can understand in one reading. It combines clear expression, effective structure and good document design. Sounds simple but why is it so hard to achieve, even for native speakers of the English language?

Our lives are littered with examples of bad writing, jargon and meaningless words in official documents, forms, emails, websites, contracts and instructions. Yet, we should be able to understand them at first reading-without a dictionary or a lawyer. When people understand information, they gain a sense of control and ability to make informed choices, and it is easier for them to communicate with you.

To stand out from the crowd, you should write to your readers as if you were talking to them, not at them. Try it! For the next thing you write, try putting things down the way you would actually say them. For example, do you use words like commence, instead of begin, prior instead of before, or assist instead of help when you speak?

When writing, ask yourself:

1. How much does the reader know about the subject?
2. What information do I actually need to give them?
3. What tone and style should I use?

Here are some basic principles of plain English writing:

1. Write the way you speak: keep your writing simple and use the first person instead of passive voice.
2. Use friendly, engaging and sincere language.
3. Respect your readers, adapting your style to their needs.
4. Use simple language when explaining technical terms.
5. Avoid jargon, cliches, trendy phrases and redundant words.
6. Keep your average sentence length to 15-20 words, with one idea per sentence.
7. Check your text carefully for errors, including spelling, grammar and punctuation.
8. Pay attention to fonts, design and layout of your text as much as to the language.

Remember, professionals use ordinary words. Amateurs use impressive words.

Avoid Use
Additional more, extra
Assistance help
Commence begin, start
Endeavour try
Forward send
Obtain get
Prior to before

And just to summarise: Think before you write - Write with the reader in mind. - Check before you send.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hussain

With over 15 years experience in the language sector, Eva is a sought-after linguist, researcher, consultant and trainer. In addition to her native Polish, Eva speaks French, Russian, Turkish and Hindi. She's the owner of Polaron Language Services, http://www.polaron.com.au/

An Effective Newspaper Article Format

Writing interesting and attention-grabbing newspaper articles will get easier if you just follow this format:

1. Headlines. Just like with other articles, you need to make your titles catchy and powerful as much as possible. Well, the idea behind this is you want to grab your readers by the throat and get them to pay attention to your content. Your headlines must be relatively short - they must not contain more than 10 words and they must tell your readers right away what your story is all about.

2. Lead paragraph. This is the most important part of your article as this is usually the only one that's read by your target audience. Make it interesting by loading it up with all the most important information that your readers are looking for. In here, you must answer all the questions that your readers might have in their mind. These people must be able to understand your story even if they don't have the time to read your articles until the end.

3. Article body. This is where you put on all the supporting details and quotes from the people who are involved in the story that you're covering. It's important that you keep it tight and very short. Learn how you can tell your readers what you want to tell them using as few words as possible.

4. Additional data. This one is optional. You can only give your readers additional data if you've already written about the same story before and you're just giving them up some follow-up reports. Doing this can help in promoting better understanding.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article writing success, "Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide." Download it free here: Article Writing.

New Film Shows Importance of Learning English in International Workplace

Conversations in Spain, the 4th film in a free, 7-part documentary series for and about English learners worldwide, has been released on EnglishClub.com. This film shows 3 conversations with a language school director, an English learner and an English teacher.

The first segment features Jonathan Baum, a school director whose British father opened the first English language school in Granada in 1954. In this candid interview, Baum shares some of the earliest history of the school and explains why the first students were predominantly women. As the viewer learns, and in what is becoming a dominant theme throughout the series, English has become a virtual requirement in Spain. Jonathan Baum says, "In general, I think, in Spain, young people have realized that without English really they're going nowhere."

The second conversation is with Giulio Gola, an Italian architect visiting Madrid on business. This advanced English learner shares his English learning journey, which includes being one of the first group of primary students to have had access to English in Italy in the 1980s. Giulio Gola offers tips to other learners who suffer from a lack of confidence, insisting that "nobody's there to judge you or to make fun of you if you make a mess." He also provides the audience with a broader view of the European experience of learning English.

The film wraps up with a conversation with Beatriz Huelamo, a native Spanish resident of Madrid who teaches English. Huelamo sheds light on the structure-based English education system in Spain and expresses her frustration that 13 years' studying the language does not qualify her as an "expert". Like many of the other interviewees in the project, she believes that travelling abroad is crucial to those serious about learning English.

This is the fourth film of "The Learning English Video Project", made by British filmmaker Daniel Emmerson and sponsored by EnglishClub.com.

Each film runs approximately 15 minutes in length, with a total series length of 2.5 hours.

The free classroom materials and self-study exercises on EnglishClub that accompany the films offer vocabulary, comprehension and listening practice for learners. Materials are available in digital and print form.

Several options are available for watching the film, including downloading it or watching it online - with or without subtitles - on EnglishClub or YouTube.

New Spell Checker Compatible with Internet Explorer

Ginger Software, the provider of an innovative tool to help people write faster and more accurately, has launched a new application that works with Internet Explorer. Ginger (www.gingersoftware.com), compatible with Microsoft Word and Outlook, has enhanced spell check capabilities and can even decipher creative spelling errors made by people with learning differences, such as dyslexia. The new application means that people can improve their writing skills and participate in social media without fear of embarrassment over spelling mistakes that may be missed by traditional spell check.

"Ginger gives people the freedom to write more efficiently and independently," said Yael Karov, founder and chief executive officer of Ginger Software. "Writing emails or socializing on Facebook and Twitter can be very intimidating for someone with writing or spelling difficulties. Ginger levels the playing field and allows everyone to participate."

Ginger is the fastest and most accurate text correction tool on the market, providing users a more efficient way to work by correcting multiple errors in a sentence with a single click. Ginger evaluates writing with more of an eagle eye, highlighting spelling and grammatical errors frequently missed by traditional writing correction software.

The software also helps users learn from their mistakes by highlighting users' errors and offering alternative contextual options while also incorporating text-to-speech functionalities. Furthermore, Ginger's frequent error reports allow users to identify problem areas, and instructors to track progress and evaluate instruction methods.

In celebration of the holidays, Ginger is offering a 20 percent discount on Ginger software. To redeem the discount and download a free trial of Ginger or Ginger Premium,visit http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2660277-10709963.