Hello everyone! I need some tips to improve my English at school... since I never get past the "85%" level, I need some tips that will help me write better (something that I've never heard... NOT like "write on topic" or "be coherent", but more like "Heres a secret! Use the words "Consequently" not only at the end of your essay, but also use it to blank and [insert whatever]!" and like "a tip to start off your essay is to say 'Many' like 'Many English teachers detest students who cheat, yet, despite the ichi yaya, they also do blank")

Thanks! I really need some help. Oh yes, just to tell everyone, I'm in english 10 Honours (Grade 11 level). I'm only getting 75 % now, so I really need to improve.

Hi. English is one of the only subjects I'm good at. But I don't think there's really any certian tips. Try searching:

english essay help

Google and click on the first link. (English works or something). That has a lot of tips.

Try it out anyway and good luck.

Hey Dooga, I understand you just fine. I give you a 95%. Tell your teacher they wouldn't know effective communication if it hit them in the face.

Or...

Seriously, though, you're teacher might have a grudge against you or something.

Otherwise...

For tests where you have to write correctly the first time through, the best thing you can do is make an outline of your essay on scratch paper before you start on the full text.

For essays where you have time to work on it on a computer, try writing in stages. The first time through an essay write your thoughts down as they come into your head. Don't worry about how it sounds. Don't try to make it coherent, just write/type as fast as your fingers can keep up with your thoughts. If you get stuck and you can't think of anything, sit there quietly for 2 minutes, and if nothing comes to mind just get up and walk away. Come back to it later that day or the next day.

Repeat as necessary to get all your ideas saved. Save your work, and then go do something else for a while.

Then read what you wrote and try to group ideas together (cut and paste and/or copy and paste). Often times you will clearly see where things need to be added or removed at this stage. If you have to add anything, continue writing in free style. Repeat as necessary to group and compile the main points of your essay. Don't worry about the flow of information yet. Just try to get a coherent description of your thoughts on each sub-topic. You can worry about connecting the ideas together later. Do something else for a while.

Then, come back to your essay with a clear mind. Try to connect the sub-topics together in a way that is interesting to you. This is one of the hardest parts for me.
At this point you have a good first draft of your essay. Do something else for a while.

Next, come back to your essay, but try to imagine that you were raised by wolves, and you don't know anything about anything (but somehow you can understand English ). The goal is to try and express your ideas as clearly as you possibly can. Many times it is difficult to communicate because we hold assumptions that our readers do not share. Some assumptions are safe to make, but it is a good practice to keep track of them, so that you can be specific about your meaning when you feel it is necessary. This will take practice.

If all else fails, there are lots of papers you can download off the net...j/k.

I can not help you but I can say that you are not alone. I have a hard time in English too. I would recommend asking your teacher how to write better if all else fails.

Hi. It seems fine to me. I did notice a few mistakes, but it seems great to me. I have some tips.

When writing, try to group your ideas. Don't jump around a lot. It makes it seem hurried and that you were not concentrating very well. If you write a draft first, you can look over your paper and see what needs to be changed.

Proper marks is the key. Remember to use a comma in the proper place and put the correct mark at the end of a sentence. Use quotes whenever writing about a book title or publication. It is very important to also remember your possessive words. Like this: Jim's food, Wendy's ball, Stevens' castle. Did you see that I did not do a "s" after the mark there, that is because it ended with a s. You probably know all this stuff. But I am just jogging your memory.

Hey, tell us when you improve so we can express our congrats to you! Have a great day!

I would suggest reading books in english and using english in everyday life.It helps improve your english skills by talking to people over some chat software or better yet, using microphone over the MSN or something or if you can afford a trip to US, that's the best thing to really learn english.If you would like to improve your grammar I would strongly suggest reading books in english, like I did, like Hamlet , books by Jules Verne or something.

Well, I do live in Canada, hence my english is quite fluent and I am almost obligated to use english in everyday life, because of the fact that at school in Canada, people speak english . And of course I can go to the US... it takes an hour to drive there ! What I need to improve is my writing skills, because my grammer is second nature... (opps, that was probably grammatically incorrect to say that it's second nature... )

The topic on which you are writing is what determines how you should start your essay. Usually I tend to start my essay with something similar to the question. I also try to use big words. I've never really had a big vocabulary but I started to listen to others around me and how they were using certain words and eventually I learned them myself. Read over sample essays online and they will give you some ideas. Also you can visit collegeboard.com and they have a lot of help topics.