Short English Course

First meeting

We looked to shortcomings of your writing. Hints (from Sanna's notes):

• Read the publications of your area and look style instructions of publication houses.
• Use active voice instead of passive.
• Writing abbreviations: Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is... The SIP message... SIP provides...
• Do not, cannot, is not, etc (do not use don't)
• Spelling: american or british? Be coherent.
• Do not try -> do! (In this paper, I try to give you a presentation -> In this paper, I present..)
• Introduction gives background information
• Discussion: results and opinions
• Conclusion: your own findings
• Mark references in a way that others can know what kind of publication the reference is and where they can find it.
• Do not copy
• Write abstract in the beginning and again when your paper is finished.
• English writing is explicit: guide your reader through your paper (first, second, in the next section, in this section...)
• Linking words: moreover, however, for example, this, also, such as, secondly, in question, finally...
• Think your audience while writing
• Give examples
• Choosing words: shortly (== briefly), it's vs. its, shall vs. will... Use synonyms!

Homework for second meeting

• Read "The 12 Minute talk" article (delivered as material in the first meeting)
• Prepare a presentation that is 6-8 minutes long on your seminar topic. You will present your work in the second meeting to one fellow student.

If you missed compulsory English course's first meeting

Second meeting

Linking text based on word choice, articles, and repetition.

Using commas.

You have to do both assignment below:

1st assignment: Print one page of your seminar paper (full text) and mark how your text guide the reader through paper (sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph): using of articles "a cell phone -> the phone", "a new device -> the device", "the device called iPod Nano -> Nano", repeating words "will come loaded -> to load", contentwise linking "can store up to 1000 songs or photos -> besides music.." etc. Check also how commas are used in English, and correct your paper.

2nd assignment: Take two main points of your conclusions, and make two slides about these points for your presentation. Note: these should present the "beef" of your paper, no background information or such.