I lrn2English?

Zombiemambo

Alright, so next semester is 2 weeks from now, and I've got an English class (ENG-121). I took my entrance exam and got placed in 121, but to be honest I'm totally not ready. I can't tell you the parts of a sentence, or really anything you should know by the time you're in 5th grade. So I guess you could say I learned mostly from reading, but not from actual schooling (I really dropped the ball when it came to English). So, uhh, could somebody help me out here?

ceres

It's been a while, but I *believe* English 121 is a comp class. If this is the case and I'm not misremembering, you won't be asked about parts of speech or to diagram a sentence.. you'll be asked to write short essays, papers, and the like. You'll more likely be expected to work with different styles of writing and so forth.

Zombiemambo

Even if that is true, shouldn't I know these things?

Belruel

yes, you should. just go through google, and teach yourself the basics.

some random links that look ok, the first two are the most important to know for now, you know the third (punctuation)

http://www.eslincanada.com/englishlesson1.html
http://www.eslincanada.com/englishlesson2.html
http://www.eslincanada.com/englishlesson3.html
http://www.eslincanada.com/englishlesson4.html
http://www.eslincanada.com/englishlesson5.html


just go through the information slowly. make sure you understand every piece of it, don't skim, don't assume.

cooljammer00

It won't matter. Can you speak English properly? Can you express your own thoughts and critically analyze texts?

That's basically it. Don't be a stupidhead sheep and have your own ideas regarding books.

NightDragon

I think the last time I was taught the parts of a sentence must've been my senior year of high school. In college, I never really encountered an instance where I needed that information. If you're like me (which is seems you are), and you learned "how 2 speek gud" by reading, you should be fine. I think the upper English courses are typically for Composition and general writing exercises.

For the record, I don't think I've ever retained the "parts of a sentence" information for more than a few months. I never remember what anything's called, either. :P

Hachface

If you really think it's important that you learn grammatical terms, you may find -- oddly enough -- that studying a foreign language will improve your understanding of the formal aspects of English.

Hevach

Class numbers vary school to school, and exact requirements from professor to professor, but for the most part, you'll find that formal grammar like you're thinking of died in elementary school. If you can speak and be understood, that's sufficient.

I had to take english 111 and 121 in college, they were composition and rhetoric classes - I don't remember which was which. Formal grammar wasn't heavily emphasized in either (for 121 I actually had a professor who would mark you down for using "proper" grammar when it made a sentence more awkward than using common speech), but comprehension, critical thinking, and most importantly, thinking for yourself were.

It's a 100 level class for a reason, don't worry or expect too much. My college required it for all majors, and the professors knew it, they didn't expect any preternatural feats of speech from students when they knew 99 out of every hundred were only there to fill a little bubble on their requirement sheet.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

Hachface wrote: »

If you really think it's important that you learn grammatical terms, you may find -- oddly enough -- that studying a foreign language will improve your understanding of the formal aspects of English.

I actually found going back and reading old English novels quite helpful for myself. None of my teachers ever really took the time to explain any of it to us; I noticed where punctuation was in books and learned from that.

edit: also look up what a serial comma is and then never use them again... I find it more fun this way

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

strange as it sounds, you aren't going to get grammar in a 100 level english class. At least, not beyond noun-subject-verb.

Knowledge of formal grammar is overrated; 90% of the time you already "know" the correct method just by experience reading, and the other 10% of the time you can fix it by just simplifying or breaking up the sentence. There isn't really any reason to be able to spit out the definition of a participle, and the only place you'll be asked for that is the bullshit grammar class the journalism/communication school makes you take (also ask me if I'm bitter!)

Figgy

You likely won't be learning parts of speech in that class. You stop learning that after grade school/high school and don't pick it up again until specialized classes in University/College where they go into really advanced shit.

Still, you want to know the basics. Even if you know the basics of punctuation and can express yourself clearly, you're going to be making grammatical errors because you don't understand certain rules about the English language.

Will your English prof care? He/she might deduct marks for grammatical errors on your papers, and it might be the difference between an A and a B or even a pass and a fail. Then again, the prof might not give a shit about grammar.

Zombiemambo

Figgy wrote: »

You likely won't be learning parts of speech in that class. You stop learning that after grade school/high school and don't pick it up again until specialized classes in University/College where they go into really advanced shit.

Still, you want to know the basics. Even if you know the basics of punctuation and can express yourself clearly, you're going to be making grammatical errors because you don't understand certain rules about the English language.

Will your English prof care? He/she might deduct marks for grammatical errors on your papers, and it might be the difference between an A and a B or even a pass and a fail. Then again, the prof might not give a shit about grammar.

Which is pretty much why I want to know this stuff - minor errors here and there can add up, if they matter. All of this is good advice, thanks guys!

Nappuccino

If you're having problems writing a paper, or think you're having problems (or hell, you just want someone to double check your work because you want to make sure its the best it can be) most campuses have a Writing center where you can work 1 on 1 with someone who knows exactly what they are doing to perfect your paper.

There's no shame in going there and if you pay attention to what they have to say and remember what they fixed, you'll quickly be able to notice the errors you make regularly and fix them on your own.

Elin

In my school 121 is the first college level English class, anything below that was college prep. We actually learned the parts of sentences and such in there, along with 4 types of compositions. English 122, the next level, was the research paper.

elfdude

It all depends on your teacher really. In my first english class I got a D for my improper grammar, and my grammar wasn't that terrible. Some english teachers absolutely hate commas and their improper use makes them even madder. You could pick up a book called eats shoots and leaves but it only helps if you already know the basis of english. I'd say it's important to learn basic sentence diagramming and learning the basics of conjugating different words together. You already know most of it (given you speak english) so it shouldn't be too hard.