Warm-Up 1: General Comment

At time of writing, I think I've marked everyone's Warm-Up 1 and sent it back. The only person I'm a bit worried about is "Linda Andersson" (I couldn't find your e-mail address, so could you mail me so that I can send you your Warm-Up back).

The Warm-Ups were really well done: I awarded marks ranging from 2.5 to 5. If you're wondering what your mark actually means, it works like this. When I mark your work, I keep the ECTS grades in mind. This means that 2.5=50%=Pass. There are five steps between 2.5 and 5, which represent the five steps between Grade E and Grade A in the ECTS system. So … if you've got 3.5/5, that's the equivalent of getting 70% or a Grade C (or a VG in the old system). In my twisted teacher mind (!), I ask myself questions like "does this warm-up merit a pass?" and "how good a pass does it merit?" That's how I arrive at the final mark. If you'd like to hear from me exactly how I arrived at the mark I did, just get in touch and I'll tell you in detail. You're also welcome to get in touch if there's a comment you don't understand. Sometimes larger points of grammar pop up and there's only a limited amount of space in a Comment box to use to give explanations with.

Here are the areas lots of people need to work on:

1. The conventions governing when we use capital letters in English. There are a couple of pages about this in Module 1.

2. The distinction between formal and colloquial language. 'Colloquial' means 'spoken', and there are different usages depending on whether you're speaking or writing. The word 'buck', for example, in its meaning of US$ is known to everyone (thus it isn't a slang expression), but contracts say "dollars", not "bucks". There are several words in general English which you ought to avoid in more formal business English. Here are two of them: "maybe" and "get".

3. Don't forget the apostrophes!

4. Academic qualifications at undergraduate level come in two varieties in the English-speaking world: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). You mention the specific subject in brackets afterwards, like this: B.A. (Geography). If, however, you want to talk more generally about your qualification, mainly to emphasise the subject, you can use this form of words: a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Studies (from the University of Timbuctoo).

There's a podcast out about my reactions to Warm-Up 1 - and I'm just about to post one about Send-In 1 too.

Warm-Up 1

This is the post both about Warm-Up - and it's the place where you post Warm-Up 1. To do the latter, click on the 'Comments' link (small text right under this post). As I write, it'll say '0 Comments', but as you add things, it'll start saying '1 Comments' (yes, I know it's a grammatical error!), etc. Don't forget to write your name in your post!

What you have to do for Warm-Up 1 is to create a personal profile to appear on your company web site. Don't make it too long: people don't read long posts on a web site. What you have to do is to think about what features or characteristics you think will make a great impact. Take a look at the web page and investigate the links - they'll help you create your own personal profile.

There'll be a podcast about Warm-Up 1 later on today too.

Hello from Ipswich

Hi everyone!

Where I live, in Ipswich (Australia), there has been a lot of rain. We needed it badly because of severe drought. We still need some more rain - but most of us would like a chance to get dry first.

Welcome to the Business Writing course. I really enjoy working with students from other places, and am looking forward to getting to know you.

Best wishes,
Bruce.

What happened at the Course Launch

There were 17 students in all who came along to the Nisbethska Building in Kalmar this evening. Once everyone had arrived, we tried out being James Bond! English has a greater level of formality than Swedish (though a lesser level than in some cultures), and you have to get used to addressing people you don't know by their surnames - and with certain forms of words … which you'll learn about as you complete the Warm-Ups and Send-Ins.

Then the students practised putting the different components of a business letter into the right place in the letter. You'll find a description of that 'right place' in Module 1 on the Course Web Site. One of the questions which then came up is: when do you write 'Dear Sir' and when do you write 'Dear Mr Smith'? We did an exercise about that too, and you'll find a page called 'Salutations and Closures' in Module 1.

We ended with a tour of the course web site, and looked at the first Warm-Up and the way you don't have to do more than one Send-In out of the three on offer each time. You can follow the fortunes of three different (fictitious) companies on this course, but you don't have to stick with the same company all the time (though you can if you want to).

The main thing to remember is that you accumulate marks as you go through the course - when you've reached the 'magic' 50/100, you've passed!

When everyone else had gone home … I snook back to my office and made the Course Launch podcast … and wrote this post on the Course Blog. It's nice having you with us this term and we're all looking forward to helping you improve your ability to write good business English!

Hello from foggy Valladolid

Hello

I'm Jon Clark and I live in the northern central part of Spain. When we have very foggy weather as during all this week, it usually means that it is very sunny and warm on the coast (over 200 km away). Here it is only 3ºC and dark.

I'm looking forward to being your tutor for this course and finding out about you.

Apart from working on this course, I also teach in a large language school here in Valladolid and am an examiner for various Cambridge exams.

When I get some free time, I like doing exercise with my family. Our latest interest is discovering 'vias verdes', which are disused railway lines which have been converted into cycling, walking and and horse riding routes. I prefer to cycle.

Here in Spain we have a general election on 9 March, in which I am very interested. it seems that the winner will be the political party which can reassure people most about the economy. I think this must be the same in many countries.

I hope to meet you soon and I will try to help you get the best out of this course.

Best wishes

Jon

Valladolid, Spain

Welcome to the course

Greetings from your New Zealand tutor. I am looking forward to another interesting bunch of students. At the moment we are in full summer holidays, expecting peaches and nectarines to ripen, becoming acquainted with and sailing our new small boat, harvesting honey from our beehives and installing fans for record high temperatures. It feels as if our temperate climate is becoming tropical. I trust you will find the course fruitful. Beth

Welcome to the Business Writing Spring 2008 Blog

This blog is part of the materials for the Business Writing, 8hp Course at Högskolan i Kalmar in Sweden in Spring Term 2008. You can learn more about me, David Richardson, by clicking on my profile - feel free to get in touch if you want to know more!

I'll be using this blog to keep in touch during the course, and you'll be using it to post your Warm-Up Tasks. I'll give you feedback on your Warm-Up Tasks personally and confidentially, but I'll also use the blog to make some general comments on the way that everyone has handled the Warm-Ups. The idea is that you should get some direct feedback before the Send-In Task related to that Warm-Up is due.

Remember too that there are a series of podcasts relating to the various tasks on the course. The 'Pre-Course Podcast' link on the Course home page will take you to the page where you can find out how to subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes, and to another page where you can listen to the podcasts directly on screen. This link takes you directly to the Course home page:

Business Writing 8hp Course Home Page

Welcome to the course - the Internet tutors, Beth, Jon and Bruce, and I are looking forward to working with you this term.