Things Learned from UDN High School English Writing Class

English writing gives many high school students a headache. UDN offered an English writing course, and yesterday was the last day of the class. In the following UDN news report, some students talked about what they learned from the course.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=219612

 高中英文作文 結業收穫多

【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2009/11/01

聯合報系開設的「高中菁英英文作文課程」昨天結業，不少參加的高中生認為很有收穫，相信會對考學測英文作文成績有幫助，也有人為了出國念大學作準備，覺得寫作文更容易。

政大英文系教授陳超明昨天在結業式跟學生說，學英文單字要先學會念再寫拼字，最好能錄起來聽聽自己的聲音，用聲音去記單字，效果比較好；且學了單字，要練習造句，因為「使用過的才是你的」。

My comments: This is also what I often tell my students. Since there is correspondence between sound and spelling in English, though not so perfect as in Spanish, saying a word definitely helps one remember its spelling. Creating sentences with new words makes it easier to remember the meanings of the words.

目前就讀桃園治平中學一年級的賴勤智說，他打算到美國或歐洲念大學，需要提高英文程度，要準備托福，學校目前都沒有教寫英文作文。經過學習，因對英文句型結構等更為了解，且學到活用單字和句型，閱讀能力變得比較好，而每周上課至少練習寫一篇作文，能力增加。

建中三年級的邱晉裕說，之前寫英文作文時，想到什麼就寫什麼，比較雜亂，上了課後學會對文章架構的安排，例如描寫人的時候，可寫對人的印象，第一印象是什麼，後來的轉變，甚至有什麼影響等。

My comments: Yes, organization is very important in writing. When I read students' compositions, I pay much attention to whether the development is logical.

桃園高中三年級的王子瑜表示，學校不太教寫英文作文，上了課後，他寫作文時可寫得更多，他學到如何描寫細節，例如要寫進入房間之後的環境，看到了沙發、電視等，寫得詳細一點，文章更有內容。

My comments: Be specific.