Peer Bloggers

In the online world. Capitalization is reserved for:

• The first letter in a sentence
• First letter of Names (John, Qwaider)
• Day Names(Monday, Tuesday ...)
• Month names(January, February ...) 
• Holidays (Christmas, Halloween, ...)
• Names of languages (English),
• Ehnicities/races/nationalities/countries (Arab/Arabian, Jordan/Jordanian, America/American/Hispanic ...etc)
• Names of heavenly bodies, Sun, Moon, Saturn ...
• Acronyms (ASAP, FWIW, IMHO, S/H, COD...etc)
• Very limited use to emphasise the meaning. Although bold face and italics usually do the job much better.
• There's also a use although limited and that's to represent programming code or directions.
• But the only place you will find All capitals is in very serious warnings. (ATTENTION, WARNING ..etc)

It has become quite a common understanding that capitalization means shouting in text. Therefore, it's considered very rude when writing. A common mistake that even native English speakers seem to fall into

So, lesson of the day,

No Capitalization, unless it's absolutely necessary, and only to the first letter of a name, or a sentence

1. You have an idea
2. You collect your thoughts around it
3. Add/research related subjects
4. You start writing your draft
5. You articulate the ideas. (The art of converting thoughts to written words)
6. You proof read it, find errors. If you find any, go to step 5 [Loop#1, Personal feedback]
7. You allow your peers to proof read it, suggest corrections. If you accept them you go to step 5 [loop#2, Peer feedback]
8. You allow your mentor(s) to proof read it, suggest correction, if you like/accept them you go back to step 5 [loop#3, Mentor feedback]
9. You submit your article to your editor/manager/publisher/producer. These WILL proof read it, and WILL suggest/mandate changes. If they do, you will need to go back to step 5. [Loop#4, editorial feedback]
10. You present your article in its final state to consultants. These people are usually paid to do this kind of work. These will also proof read it, suggest changes and give you feedback that you MAY want to consider. If you do, go back to step 5 [loop#5, consultant feedback]
11. Finally, you publish your article. But the feedback doesn't stop here! You start hearing from your readers. If you feel they have a point, and you agree on it, then go back to step 5. [loop 6, Public feedback]
12. And here comes the hardest step, if what you wrote became popular, you will receive feedback from critics. You must accept it (you really don't have any other choice), but here you have two choices. You either go back to step 5 [loop7, critical feedback]. Or you will choose to ignore it and be satisfied with loop#6. This will usually be the harshest criticism you will receive

As you can see, it's hard to escape feedback. We can choose to ignore it. Or we may opt to act and make changes.

Hi folks

I don't have much time for a lengthy detailed post today (I'm getting ready to board a plane to Chicago) so, I decided to give you a quick tip/

Use a spell checker. There's nothing worse than misspelled words to ruin your great post. You spent hours writing it, it is worth the time to spend minutes to spell check your article

If you're not using Firefox2.0, chances are your browser doesn't have a spell checker built in (IE... Microsoft.... Hello!!!!). But you're not completely unable to spell check.

There are couple of options for you. You either compose your documents on a tool like Word that has a built in spell checker, or install one of the browser helpers, something like iSpell which is a browser helper that allows you to check your spelling by right clicking on your text.

Another handy tool is Google tool bar. It has a nifty online spell checker that helps you check your spelling. The bad thing is that you have to be online for it to work. But who isn't these days?! Another drawback relates to your privacy, since the entire text needs to be exchanged with the Google servers. So if you have sensitive information, it's not the right place for you. But otherwise ... it's awesome!

I'm glad that almost all web-mail clients from Hotmail to yahoo to Gmail have been Ajaxified in the Web2.0 style that allows checks your spelling as you type (similar to Word)

Anyway, my flight is almost here. and I need to get going

One of the common mistakes for Arabic writers in English is the misuse of the words. There are many such words but the most visible are "There", "Their" and "They're" (they sound exactly the same). Add to those, "It's and its", "Your and You're" and a bunch others.

Even the most seasoned writers fall into these traps and you find them using one when they really mean the other.

So what is the difference between "There", "Their" and "They're"?

There 
It is the opposite of here. It indicates a location. A place. A direction.= هناك

Their
refers to possessiveness for a group (plural). (It's like saying [some people] own a building= it's their building) = لهم، ملكهم، يخصّهم، تابع لهم

And finally

They're
which is the abbreviation of the verb to be "They are". Which indicates the state, feeling or fact about a specific "people" other than the speaker = انّهم، هم

Some examples:

The school is over there. = المدرسة هناك

The students enjoy their activities = الطلاب يستمتعون بأنشطتهم

They're very talented. = انهم طلبة موهوبون

As you can see the differences are there. Each word has a meaning completely different than the other.

Exercises:

1. Please plant the tree over __________.
   [(a) There, (b) Their, (c) they're, (d) حل عنّا يا]
2. My cousin and his wife just bought a car, _________ car is very luxurious.
   [(a) There, (b) Their, (c) they're, (d) بالله اقلب وجهك]
3. My friends are nice, _________ taking me to the beach tomorrow.
   [(a) There, (b) Their, (c) they're, (d)احنا ما سدّقنا خلصنا من المدرسةا]

I hope you find these examples helpful

Good day friends. Today we'll learn about the use of the verbs "to be"

One of the most problematic areas for Arab non-English speakers is the proper use of verbs "to be" and these are:

I am
He/she/it is
You/we/they are

These appear to be a problem, (maybe because they're irregular). And in the Arabic language the expression of a state, feeling or emotion usually hides these verbs.

Example:

I am free....... = ....... انا حر

As you can see in this example. the word "AM" has no equivalent in Arabic, it's implied. 

What you should NEVER do

Verbs don't exist on their own, You can use "am, is, are" as verbs alone.

What does that mean?

"am free" is wrong, you have to add "WHO" is the person who is going to be free, and in this case it is "I"

Abbreviation

Since these verbs are commonly used in expressions. This is another big area that causes a lot of confusion for many Arab writers.

These verbs have been abbreviated as follows:

• I am becomes I'm [NOT am]
    Example: I am free = I'm free [NOT "am free"x]
• He/She/It is becomes "He's" "She's" and "It's" [Shouldn't be confused with "its"]
• You/They/We are, become "You're", "They're", and We're [These should not to be confused with Your, there/their and were, wear, ware]

That was the end of the first lesson on common mistakes by Arabic writers

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يمكن تقديم المقالات بالغتين العربية و الانجليزية. و سيقوم فريق التصحيح بقراءة المقالات حسب تسلسل ورودها و التأكد من خلوها من الاخطاء اللغوية و الإملائية و توضيح اسباب التصحيح. مع الأهتمام بعدم التدخل في المحتوى الفعلي للمقال.