Want your essay read? ***PLEASE READ***

[Erin]

(This message is posted in all the essay forums.)

Let's keep it simple:

• Before posting your essay, run it through a word processing program with a spell-checker and punctuation/grammar checker.
• Want somebody to comment on your essay? Then comment on another person's essay. Simple as that--give a little, get a little. The forum is a collaborative effort.

Why?

First, the spelling and punctuation problems. Literally thousands of essays have been posted on TestMagic, here in the TestMagic forum, and on the TOEFL Essay part of the website. I personally have read over 3,000 essays on TestMagic in the last few years. Word processors, such as Microsoft Word, can do a great job of finding spelling and punctuation errors, and they can do so very, very quickly, much faster than a human can.

By copying and pasting your essay into a word processor before posting in the forums, you are doing three important things. First, you are helping yourself to learn--you will see your mistakes right away. Second, you helping others help you--by correcting your own minor mistakes, other people can focus on the more important errors. Finally, you are being polite--it is simple common courtesy to do what you can before you ask others for help.

Second, it is vital that everybody help out a little bit, especially if you're looking for help. Literally thousands of people visit TestMagic every day, studying for the GMAT, GRE, SAT, TOEFL, TSE, and more, and collectively, they have an enormous wealth of information to share. But people need to share information and help if they want to receive it. Yes, this is obvious, but it bears repeating nonetheless.

I know a lot of people will say that they aren't good writers or that they don't know enough English to comment on the essays of others. That's a good point, and is valid to an extent, but I have three counterarguments. First, any constructive comment is better than none at all. Even a simple, I thought your essay was good, even though I couldn't understand everything is better than nothing. And receiving even a small comment often creates (in the original poster) that nice warm, fuzzy feeling that we all love. Second, and I don't mean this in an unkind way, if you honestly cannot comment on an essay, then you probably aren't ready to write one; in other words, if you can write an essay, you should be able to comment on one, plain and simple. Third, well... Um, it just slipped my mind while I was typing. Sorry, hope it'll come back. :o

So, if you've made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I hope it helps the essay forums a bit! For those of you who like to help out, feel free to tell peole to read the sticky post at the top!

[loveworm81]

Thk u Erin for ur message!
I understood the message well. I'll try to follow n wait for ur comments on my essay on "bamboo tree".

[leosnake]

"Second, and I don't mean this in an unkind way, if you honestly cannot comment on an essay, then you probably aren't ready to write one; in other words, if you can write an essay, you should be able to comment on one, plain and simple"
- It's cool, I like this argument.