Originally Posted By jdub We are not talking about comprehension, though. YES, I think even a small college (which is what I suggested in the first place) WOULD help. This is about how you put yourself across in writing--and it is worth every difficult twist & turn you have to go through in FINDING the right program to help you. As far as the nonformal portion--hmm, maybe taking pen & paper & copying from the books, magazines, & newspapers would help. It IS a good memorization tool, & worth a shot, as one part of the program.
Originally Posted By teddibubbles yes that would be fun. I dont know why I block spelling / grammer so.
Originally Posted By LuLu Hi teddi! I'm glad you've gotten some good advice here. I have a comment on the business name tho. I have no idea who told you to use initials, or why. But if you haven't registered the name "Corporate Resource Securities" as a ficitious business name ("DBA" or "doing business as") then I don't think you should use it. If someone were to look it up, they would find it's not a registered business. It may even be illegal to do business under a name that isn't registered. I'd advise you to check into this, or maybe someone here knows more than I.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Honey, don't go a thinkin' yer the only one 'round here with poor spellin' an' grammar. Ever take a peek at some a the slop my two looney sisters put out there fer the public ta see?! I have ta say I never been so embarrassed in my whole, dang LIFE 'til I come here with those two an' end up bein' humiliated worse than a tadpole with no legs!! So just buck up, honey. It'll all turn out just right 'cause yer a WINNER--not some dang loser like Orddu 'n Orwen is!
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: (long pause) In any event, teddibubbles, duckling, I want you to know how courageous and inspiring you have always been to the rest of us in the Laughing Place pond. Your spelling and grammar may need improvements--but the same can be said for most of us at times. The one area where you excel is your caring heart. I wish certain individuals who don't seem to have one of those would be brave enough and humble enough to create a thread asking for help in THAT area of their life. ORWEN: Hugs and Kisses, teddi!!!
Originally Posted By SoThisIsLove The Witches are dead-on. How humbling and true for me: <<brave enough and humble enough to create a thread asking for help>> I never am brave enough...way too proud. And the DBA comment....more good advice!
Originally Posted By Ursula Hi Teddi Dear, Have you been tested for dyslexia? I've known very smart people who can read like crazy but they have a hard time with spelling and getting their thoughts across on paper and it was found that they had a form of dyslexia. Just a thought. I have a hard time spelling dance. I know it sounds crazy, but I took French in school and they spelled it danse. Now, I have to stop and think each time I write it so I don't get it wrong.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: This entire topic is one of the most worthwhile and outstanding subjects on Laughing Place, yet--that is for those of us who can appreciate very common struggles that all of us have over one issue or another. ORWEN: See how much good you've done by opening up with us, teddibubbles?! It just goes to show that being yourself is usually the best way to build bridges between yourself and all the good hearted ducklings of the world. ORGOCH: I know I's never been afeared ta be MY-self! ORWEN: Yes, old biddy, we know. And you're one person around here who really SHOULD be afraid to open as much as you do!
Originally Posted By velo Hi Teddi! Years ago, I worked at my local Junior College's Learning Center as a tutor for Adults who had many of the same difficulties that you do. Most centers provide testing and tutoring (and additional help) and may only require that you take one class. I loooved working with adults - so much more determined than the kids I've worked with. You are not alone, not by a long shot. I encourage you to check this out if you have a local JC - hey, you could even take a fun art course!
Originally Posted By JazzCat Teddi, my best friend of 25 years spells about as well as you do (maybe a bit better). Sometimes he still can't spell my name right, but I love him no less than I ever did.
Originally Posted By MomofPrincess Teddi ~ A really nice grammar book to have on hand is William Strunk & E.B. White's "Elements of Style." If you look it up on Amazon.com, you can probably find a used (or maybe even new) copy for under $5. (And if you read the reviews, you'll see many folks agree it's a great book!)
Originally Posted By avromark Good luck with your endevours Teddibubbles. I use Firefox for my web browser, one of the things I like is in version 2.0 they added a spell checker, so now when I post it highlights what I spell wrong as I type into the box. However with your computer until you get a new one I wouldn't mess with it while it's working. Good luck on that new computer. - No one should be judged by how they sound/look/spell/speak, but unfortunately in this world people are.
Originally Posted By jonvn I don't want to sound rude or anything, but you simply need to go to school and learn how to write properly. I know some people have mentioned a community college english course. You need to look into something that is not just an english course. You need some remedial literacy training. You're writing at below sixth grade level. A general english course is not going to help. You need more help than that. This is a specific sort of class that will help you. A local community college might be a good place to start looking where to find such a class. You may have some issue, such as dyslexia, that is stopping you from doing what you want. You can be tested for what might be causing a problem and then have a program crafted for you. This is not an uncommon problem, and there are lots of places that can help you. I'm not saying anything anyone else hasn't, but if you want to get anywhere in life, you need to be able to spell, punctuate, and organize your thoughts on paper. No one will take you seriously otherwise. Where do you live? Maybe there is something on the web for where you live.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< BTW, my wife, who is Hispanic, is very intelligent, but she was raised speaking only Spanish. She really didn't learn English until she started school. Spanish was all her parents spoke. I never really did have a deep conversation with either of them. I know some Spanish, but not enough to have a long conversation. Anyway, her grammar has never been the best. But, it's not because she is dumb or anything like that; it has nothing to do with that. She just didn't have the training that many other people had. She works at Merrill Lynch, so she ain't no dummy. My point is...Lack of grammar skills does not mean anything, except that you, or anyone else for that manner, have not had the training that others have had. >>> I'd wager that she's not writing customer correspondence, and certainly not marketing materials that ML sends out without further proofing in order to generate business. Separate from that, there's the issue of mistakes by a native speaker and one to whom English is a second language. I always cut people who have learned English later in life some slack, as I know I could never be fully fluent in another language no matter how hard I tried. But when someone that's a native English speaker makes these mistakes, it comes off differently (and it's very easy to tell which situation applies). I think jonvn gives some good advice, and I understand the way in which it was offered. I think the advice to find out if there's some medical condition behind the situation is very wise, as there may be some very well understood and successful treatments for certain situations. And by "treatment" I mean something that could be as simple as a book or class that teaches spelling and grammar to someone in a different way than is done for most people. Who knows until you find out? And I think that a community college is a really good place to start. If they don't have the suitable kind of assessment, they probably know who does. Your family doctor can also be of help. This reminds me of an often-repeated story of the child who was having trouble in school, and the parents thought there was something really wrong with him. After getting their doctor involved, it was determined that all little Johnny needed was glasses, as he simply couldn't read the blackboard properly. But the kid didn't know that this was unusual as he just thought everyone saw that way, so he had never mentioned it. And let me offer some unsolicited business advice: you've already done one of the most important things - you've identified your weaknesses. One of the wisest things a small businessperson can do is to know what they DON'T do well. If your skills are in uncovering the hidden assests and talking to people on the phone and keeping good financial records, maybe you get someone else to help with the email and letter writing. There's all sorts of options. And regarding what you brought up about wanting to sound like maybe you're a big company without misrepresenting yourself as such, that's a very good idea. But if you do this, you need to make extra sure that the marketing materials you send out have *flawless* spelling and grammar. I'll just share how I judge these things - take it as only one person's advice (but I'd be surprised if I'm the only one that thinks this way): If I know someone is an independent businessperson, I'll cut them slack if their written materials aren't perfect. After all, unless I'm hiring them for something like proofreading, I'm much more likely to be focused on their underlying ability to do the job. But if a company of more than just a few people sends out materials with obvious spelling and grammatical errors, I'd never do business with them. This is because it means at least three things are happening: 1) They have a person writing these materials that has no business doing so (for a medium to large company), 2) They don't have enough QA in place to detect and correct these mistakes before stuff gets sent out, and 3) They have a management structure in place that lets 1 and 2 happen. That being the case, there's probably a whole lot else that the company can't do right. Good luck!
Originally Posted By onlyme >>as I know I could never be fully fluent in another language no matter how hard I tried.<< Ain't that the truth. However, I'm amazed at how many non-English speaking people do not even try to learn the language. But, that's another thread for another time. >>I'd wager that she's not writing customer correspondence, and certainly not marketing materials that ML sends out without further proofing in order to generate business.<< Brochures, and such, are not done locally, but she does engage in constant written/email correspondences with clients. And yea, she proofs everything(as we all should) before sending it out. The point that I was trying to make was that she has, through hard work, overcome a lot of her earlier 'grammatical inadequacies' (huh...whatever that means) through college, self-study, etc... I don't want Teddi, or anyone else to think that they cannot do anything about their struggles...as you and others have already pointed out. Poor Teddi, she's probably worn out by all of this
Originally Posted By Mr X I agree with jdub completely, some courses taken over time will help you make improvements which will improve your business abilities for the rest of your life. If you have no community college around, how about an internet course? Another thing you can do is to google "grammar", and "spelling", and see what educational websites you can come up with. And finally, most importantly, do NOT use spell check. Rather, purchase a good dictionary and put it beside your computer. Every time you even THINK you might have spelled a word wrong, look it up. In that way, you will not only find the correct spelling, but many of the sample sentences you read will help you with your sentence construction as well. By the way, I just looked up sentence as I was typing, because I wasn't sure of the spelling and I've made it a habit to do so. Guess what? My spelling was wrong! See, everyone makes mistakes. However, if you make it a habit to try and improve yourself you can definitely improve over time. I'm a much better speller than I used to be and, you might notice, I don't often have misspellings on my LP posts. The reason is NOT because I'm so good at it, it's because I've made a habit of checking for mistakes. Anyway, I'm sure there are a few errors in this post as well. Why not use laughingplace as one schoolroom? When you post something, check and make sure your spelling is correct and try to improve the sentence flow too by making sure the sentences are not incomplete. This is not a substitute for classroom work, but just another excersise for improvement. Good luck!
Originally Posted By Mr X Just repeating what Ursula, Jon, and Superdry have already said because I think it is VERY important, please do consider checking with your doctor. If you do have dyslexia or anything else, all of the other steps you'll need to follow will be completely different than if you don't. But first of all, you need to find out! Considering that you are an avid reader, I think this is a very definite possibility. And do read and re-read what Jon wrote, because I think he's correct that this CAN be achieved (though it might be hard and take some time), and it is VITALLY important for you to do it to get anywhere in life business-wise. You can do it!
Originally Posted By Mr X By the way, Jon, you neglected to capitalize the word "English". See, Teddi? Everybody makes mistakes. Even Jonvn. ;D
Originally Posted By tink2680 Also remember that business writing has it's own special format. I consider myself to be pretty good and grammar and spelling and I learned a lot when I took a business writing class in college. I agree with what everybody says about you maybe having some sort of medical condition that inhibits your writing. I teach children to read and I know that just because someone can't read, spell, or write properly that doesn't mean that they aren't smart or that they don't get it. People just learn in different ways and some people need to learn in very different ways. I do believe in practice makes perfect though. I would start writing as much as possible and then taking the time to look up everything for mistakes, and then have someone check it for you and let you know what you missed. If you do it enough you will start to see what you miss most often and then can work on those things. Even if you fix only one frequent problem your writing will improve immensely. The best place to get the help you need is definitely a class...so get out there and find one!! I will say what I always say to my kids, You CAN do this. You ARE smart enough.
