For
the Concorso you need to learn to write in English. How do you learn
to write? Well, as regards handwriting, speed and perhaps essay
organization, you can do this partly by the act of repeated writing.
As regards the main task, absorbing words, expressions and structures
and then producing them, you do this by reading and taking notes on
the elements you want to remember. It’s what you did in your L1,
but unconsciously. You should focus on CUDU (could use, don’t use),
language that you have often seen in English, that you know is common
but that you wouldn’t normally manage to produce. This kind of
imitation is how you gradually improved in your L1 (and also how you
would improve your English while working at the Ministry). This is
your basic task for the next 8-12 months. If you write, use a
bilingual dictionary to find words you don’t know and a monolingual
dictionary to check how to use the expression.
However, if you simply write a lot and frequently without reading and
taking notes and without using a dictionary your English will NOT
improve. You will simply reinforce your grammatical and lexical
errors.
I
will mark whatever you give me as long as it is your own work(!),
researched, checked with a dictionary for basic errors, typed or
written clearly and on alternate lines so that I have space to
correct it. No margin is necessary. Please give it to me with your
name, surname and class. Don’t send it on my email. Please don’t
use translation programs. They don’t yet produce standard English,
and you can’t use one in the Concorso!
At
the Concorso I think they are looking for good
standard, clear English,
good
content and quality,
not quantity. 10 pages of incomprehensible English will not gain you
anything. Your first page and a half should be error free (!), in
terms of both language and content.
Use
a dictionary that has example sentences to show you both the right
word to choose and how to use the word.
The
address of my blog is:
Read
the following entries for September this weekend:
Some
useful sources and resources / Some language for essay writing /How
to write an essay on international relations / Some questions to
think about
The
best model for the kind of English you need to produce you can find
on the UN site, particularly at
http://www.un.org/apps/news/archive.asp
, on the EU site, and texts in English on the site of the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.esteri.it/mae/en
, and Italy’s Permanent Mission to the United Nation in New York,
http://www.italyun.esteri.it/rappresentanza_onu
.You will find that the English used on these sites is slightly
Latinized and without many of the journalistic expressions that make
US and UK newspapers and magazines quite difficult to read. It is
also based on a more limited vocabulary of common expressions. This
is a good thing, not a bad thing and will make your task easier!!
Remember, the object of language generally, but particularly with a
mixed audience of L1 and L2 listeners and readers, is clarity and
successful
communication.
Well, that is what the UN believes and so should you!
When you choose a
topic to write about, you need to do extensive research and arrive at
a balanced view of the subject, taking into account any position
taken by the Italian government and/or the EU.
