The G--- Word in Our Class and Why It Matters

In college -- in life -- grammar matters.

Poor grammar in a resume or letter of introduction has often shipwrecked an applicant before the interview. The run-on sentence and the fragment instantly alert the reader that the applicant, no matter how well qualified, may need remedial help. That help means dedicating time and money to an effort that the applicant should have attended to earlier. Meantime, another applicant appears (always!) who knows her grammar AND is qualified. Guess who gets the job?

Conversely, a well-punctuated, grammatically correct letter alerts the reader that you’ve taken care of business. Writing skills (of which grammar is one) can help you enter a four-year college or land you your first ‘serious’ job or open the door to your first home. It did for me – in all three cases. These skills are power. Cultivate this power.

Some of you in our forums are writing ungrammatical, poorly punctuated sentences. Please take my advice, buckle down, and learn good grammar. It’s not rocket science, and once you’ve learned good grammar, you have it for life. Consider it an investment in your future, because it is.

Try this experiment before you post your next Initial or Response post. Go here: http://www.reverso.net/spell-checker/english-spelling-grammar/ Links to an external site.

It will take you to a free grammar checker. Before you contribute to our forum this week, copy and paste your post in the window on this page and behold the results. It’s impossible to learn grammar and to correct your most common mistakes if you can’t find them. This checker will help you do just that. If you use Word or almost any popular word-processing program, as some of you know to your advantage, you have a grammar check at your fingertips. But you must use it and then – learn from it.

Take care of business by taking care of the basic skills. These never rust and once mastered, will give a lifetime of service.

Best to you – Mr. Van