What can you do to improve your English?3Q

What can you do to improve your English?3Q
要求一篇英语作文,要带些使用的英语短句,

The number one thing that is going to make a poor impression is bad English.Here are the main areas to think about:a)Capitalisation.b)Punctuation.c)Spacing.d)Grammar and tenses.e)Subject-verb agreement.f)Word choice and word forms.g)Spelling.If you don鈥檛 know what the above mean,it鈥檚 quite likely you鈥檙e making a lot of mistakes already!2.This simple piece of advice deserves a number all to itself:Do NOT rely on a computer,Kingsoft dictionary,or software of any kind to 鈥渢ranslate鈥 Chinese into English.The result is a horrible,horrible abomination of English that will send your resum茅 flying straight into the company recycling bin.3.Even if you are a very advanced English user,you are going to make mistakes,because English isn鈥檛 your first language.Make sure you ask a native English speaker to check your resume.I guarantee the proof-reader will make changes,even if you have checked it a hundred times,and they will be able to suggest some improvements of wording to make your language 鈥渟ound鈥 more smooth or impressive.If you don鈥檛 know any foreigners,or anyone who has a friend of a friend who knows a foreigner then鈥?guess you aren鈥檛 living in Shenzhen.4.When you are composing your English version resum茅,don鈥檛 simply translate your Chinese version.Here鈥檚 one basic example:in your Chinese resum茅 you might write a date period as 002/09鈥?004/07鈥 but to an English language reader that looks weird.You should write:鈥淪eptember 2002 鈥 July 2004鈥?Another example:in your Chinese resum茅,you may list your family name separately from your given names (e.g.鈥淔amily Name:Li;鈥 Given Name:George鈥?,and you probably also list your gender (鈥渕ale鈥 / 鈥渇emale鈥?.That鈥檚 not necessary in English,because your first name will tell us whether you鈥檙e a boy or girl (how many boys do you know called Susan?).And there鈥檚 no sense in separating your family name from your given names:just put them side by side:George Li.There are a lot of more complicated ways that translation will lead to problems,so let me repeat:get a native speaker to proof-read your resum茅.5.Be careful about choosing an English name when applying for jobs.This is especially important if your potential employer is from a western country.Don鈥檛 choose 鈥榗ute鈥 names like 鈥淏obo鈥?鈥淔ifi鈥?or 鈥淟ala鈥 unless you think that is the sort of image you want to project.Similarly,don鈥檛 invent names,e.g.鈥淕indrom鈥 or 鈥淏rinty鈥 鈥 in English you are supposed to use names that already exist.And don鈥檛 choose things as your name,e.g.鈥淢ountain鈥?鈥淧encil鈥?鈥淎pple鈥?or 鈥淓mail鈥 鈥 that just sounds stupid in English.I would also recommend avoiding animal names such as 鈥淭iger鈥 and 鈥淓agle鈥 unless you are particularly confident about that.Finally,make sure you have one,consistent spelling for your name,and make sure you know the correct English way to pronounce your name,e.g.鈥淟ily鈥 has a short 鈥榠鈥 (not /i:/ as in 鈥淟isa鈥?and if your name鈥檚 鈥淰ivian鈥 or 鈥淛onathan鈥 make sure you know how to pronounce 鈥榲鈥 and 鈥榯h鈥?As with all my points of advice 鈥 you鈥檇 do best to ask for honest advice from a native English speaker.6.On an English language resum茅,you鈥檙e probably going to say something about your English level.Beware:鈥渇luent鈥 is a very vague word,and probably suggests to an employer that you are close to perfect鈥 unlikely!It鈥檚 better to use an actual qualification to show your language ability,or at least statement of your English level using one of the following words:a)Elementary (- means you can understand a little but can鈥檛 really use English effectively) b)Lower Intermediate (- means you can undersand a wide range of simple English and express yourself in simple ways)Most high school graduates in China are at either elementary or lower intermediate level in their oral English.c)Mid Intermediate (- means you can follow a native speaker鈥檚 speech in normal situations,and can express yourself in some quite full ways) d)Upper Intermediate (- means you can watch English movies or listen to English radio and follow the meaning; you can express yourself in most situations,although your language is still not accurate) e)Advanced (- means you can express yourself in a complete way in virtually every situation,although your language often shows limitations,especially of vocabulary) f)Proficient (- means you can use English to the almost same practical standard as a normally-educated native speaker) 7.Formatting鈥 You must format your CV so that it looks good,is easy to read quickly,and highlights the most important information that you want to communicate.It鈥檚 impossible to explain in plain words how to do this well.It鈥檚 like asking what makes a famous painting impressive鈥 you just have to see it.So go online to Google or wherever and search for the words 鈥渞esume formatting examples鈥 and look at some examples of good and bad resum茅s.Remember,your resum茅 is your personal advert,and you鈥檙e competing for attention with a whole pile of other resum茅s.If your resum茅 is hard to read or ugly it will just get tossed in the bin.Not being good with computers is no longer an excuse.It鈥檚 2005:wake up and smell the coffee.I doubt there are any jobs you can apply for out there,except possibly serving fries in McDonald鈥檚,where IT skills - and in particular,word processing skills 鈥 are not a major advantage.If you don鈥檛 know how to use Microsoft Word to format fonts,bullets,tables,borders,and graphics,LEARN!ASAP!8.Writing in the English language?Think about English culture!In English we like our statements to be measured and perhaps a little understated.Do you really want to fill your resum茅 with things like鈥?"I feel happy!" "I am the best!" "I will surprise you!" "I had a good relationship with everyone and never received criticism!" When applying for jobs in any culture,it鈥檚 important to show balance and self-awareness.To my (English) ears the above examples simply show that you love yourself and have no idea of what impression you make on other people.HOWEVER,don鈥檛 fill your English resum茅 with weak words,for example:"good" "nice" "useful" "interesting"(- surely the most boring word in the English language !) If you don鈥檛 know what other words to use鈥 use a thesaurus!Did you know Microsoft Word has a free thesaurus?Right click on any word and select 鈥渟ynonyms鈥 at the bottom of the context menu.(the end)