The Importance of Effective Communication
...eral minute presentation, and followed by a question and answer session. Talking in front of others is never an easy task, but if I were to get caught up in my nerves, my presentation would be horrible and the class would be furious with me, as this is a way that our class learns information for tests. Thus, coherent speaking skills pay off, because words are easily taken out of context and twisted around. I learned this in Spanish II as well, in going over homework. We are asked to share our answers with the class, and speaking clearly is especially important in this case, as learning a foreign language is especially hard when someone mumbles and listeners interpret what was said as a completely different word. In these instances, speaking skills are crucial to good grades and comprehension of information. Listening skills go hand in hand with speaking. In the wilds of Valley View, not listening leads to not understanding, which leads to confusion and, you guessed it, more rumors. Not only socially, but in an academic situation, listening is important in class. Whether the teacher is lecturing, reviewing, giving directions, or a number of other situations, not paying attention in class does more harm than good. In a lecture, those who refuse to listen can not expect to get a good grade in the class. In Chemistry, Mr.Coulombe lectures about notes many a time, with exceptions to rules and important information not in the power point notes. Getting sidetracked for a few seconds could cause students to miss the most important part of the lesson, and be lost and confused for days. Listening is extremely important to getting a good education, and key to being able to speak about what was said in a coherent fashion. wRiTiNg LyKe tHis wOn’t gEt n.E. 1 n.E.wHeRzz iN LyfE. Neither will using an excess of words such as “ain’t” and “dranken”. Reading helped me to develop my vocabulary, and after a while, I figured out that “dranken” is not even a word. Personally, I find reading to be one of the best ways to not only learn, but be entertained and relieve stress. As a teenager, reading is just not “cool” and I know I have been made fun of for carrying around a copy of Voltaire’s “Candide” for three months until I finally finished it. I have noticed a great improvement in all four domains just because of reading a large amount of literature, which is not a chore but entertaining; if more teens read more, I think grades and SAT scores would go up tremendously. In English II, the reading of one book a quarter, along with short stories, the novel A Separate Peace, and daily language practices (D.L.P.) has all contributed to my ability to write without making absurd grammar and spelling errors because I have been exposed to them already. In the wild, girls do not read. They get pedicures. Perhaps that accounts for their measly vocabulary, which is unfortunate. Writing is cool. I learned some stuff about writing so far this year. If I were to write an entire essay like those last two sentences, I would most likely receive a large red “F”. There is a huge difference between writing styles in middle school and high school, and I consider the tone and diction of an essay to be the determining factor of the grade. In English II, I have leaned to phrase sentences into a more smooth and mature style, that looks and sounds more academic. As in AP European History, I learned to write in a direct manner filled with facts, not fluff. The writing style is really the difference between a terrible grade and a good grade. To hear my instructor Mr. Payne talk about so-called “fluff” in writing, you would think it is a mortal sin. I suppose the appropriateness of writing style depends on the situation, as does everything in life. But the rules are very similar everywhere as writing style matures. Simple sentences are bad. Compound sentences are good. Using punctuation like semi-colons in varying ways is even better. The difference in a “C” essay and a “B” essay could just be the short amount of time it takes to phrase sentences in a more fluid manner, and using synonyms instead of common words over and over again. Some people think writing is becoming less important, but with the popular technology suc...