What I learnedWhat I Learned in This Skills Class
by Anja H.
When I first looked at the new spring schedule of De Anza college, I eagerly wanted to sign up for each one of the English skills classes. I knew I didn't have time for a regular English class, so the flexible Skills classes appealed to me. I signed up for grammar and writing.
At first, I had no conception of the meaning of TBA, which the schedule read instead of a time when the class meets. Soon another student advised me that TBA (to be arranged) meant that I can schedule the class myself. Knowing that, I went to the Skills Center where the friendly, helpful Diana explained all the necessities of taking a class at the Skills Center.
I was overly excited about the individual attention one receives by taking a skills class. Tests are individually corrected and discussed. Assignments are given according to one's individual weaknesses resulting from the test. My first assignment by Jeannie exactly addressed my problems. Jeannie wanted me to do some exercises using pronouns correctly. I believe pronouns are one of the biggest problems of the English speaking society. In many movies producers include a conversation, such as the following in "When Harry met Sally." Harry says, "From who did you get the roses, Sally?" and Sally corresponds "From whom..." As soon as I finished my pronoun exercises I understood the difference between the subjective and the objective pronoun case. Ever since I keep hearing people using pronouns incorrectly, which gives me pleasure. Bettina dedicated some of her time to explain the different uses for the comma. The comma in the English language had always been a miracle to me. It seemed it was just placed in between words randomly. However, after a thorough explanation by Phil and many comma exercises, I feel pretty confident in using that miraculous punctuation tool.
My writing assignments were given to me by the most inspiring Winnie. I cannot help feeling an urge to read and write after a conversation with Winnie. She seems so enthusiastic about the written word that she has the ability to sparkle some of her enthusiasm off to others. I was fortunate enough to be one of them. I had the opportunity to write about my own experiences and to write a persuasive essay. An exercise given to me to improve concise writing was very helpful, and I learned to edit myself to avoid wordiness and repetition.
After finishing my writing and grammar class early, I felt the urge to give in to my interest in taking a reading class. Unfortunately, I had to rush through my reading skills class, due to the pressure of upcoming finals. However, Winnie gave me some very interesting articles to read, which I feel helped me a lot with the systematics of reading and studying. I also attended a great workshop on Textbook Reading.
All in all, I have learned many tools to use the English language correctly. My skills have improved dramatically because of the help of the Skills Center staff and probably also because of my willingness to learn. Even if I am not quite Shakespeare yet, the skills classes certainly lead me into the right direction and gave me lots of incentives. Thank you Diana, Jeannie, Winnie, Bettina, and all the staff!
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