Memo

Date: August 29, 2022

To: Brian L. Monegro
From: Wendy Campos, Student
Subject: Report of participation in Effective Written Communication

Introduction: The Effective Written Communication course is focused on improving

our grammar and business writing skills. The duration of this course is 14 weeks, during
which we were able to learn different abilities. How to rewrite a business letter, Memos,
and negative news letters were some of the topics covered. This report is intended to
evaluate what we learned during the course. Paying special attention to self-comparison
at the beginning of the course and now; how these skills will help us in the work
environment and advice we would give to a new student of the course.

Time management, punctuality and peer mentoring

Time management, punctuality and peer mentoring are important points during the
development of this course. As a student, employee, mother and wife, time management
is vital to be able to achieve what is proposed. The balance is the key to avoid the non-
fulfillment of the duties and not to fall into stress. The punctuality I understand was
pretty good, as I managed to be on time every week. One factor that influenced the good
punctuality is the fact of the schedule, and that we already came from a previous class.
Finally, peer mentoring is a very useful tool in this course. Sometime in wringing a
partner can see mistakes that is not easy to see to the author himself.

Compare and contrast before the course and now

I can't deny that at the beginning of the course I felt disappointed with myself and what
I had previously learned. I made many grammatical and punctuation errors. Eventually I
learned new rules and applied them to subsequent assignments. Although there is still
much to learn, the improvement in these areas has been evident. Confidence goes hand
in hand with knowledge and mastery, the lack of grammatical knowledge has been
evident.
Three major achievements during the course

We have been able to learn a lot in these weeks. I personally consider that the most
useful for me has been punctuation, such as the correct use of commas, periods,
question marks and others. Then, the formats of letters and memos and, finally, the
grammatical rules, such as capitalization. Sometimes it was very confusing for me to
know how to use them.

Work environment

Today's market is very competitive. A professional is expected to know how to do briefs

correctly. Since English is not my native language, it has been a real challenge for me.
If I want to work in an English-speaking environment, I have to learn how to write
correctly. In my area of work we have to deliver reports, communications and letters
that require good writing. Knowledge of grammar and letter formats will enable me to
perform this task with the quality it requires.

If I were to start the EWC course tomorrow

If I started this course tomorrow my grammatical performance would have been

different especially in the first assignment. I would have written short sentences, Memo
formats, letters would have been correct from the beginning consequently I would have
had better grades. On another hand, the desire to learn new techniques would have been
the same, as we always have a lot to learn.

Advice for a new PACE student.

At the beginning when I looked at my grades I was a little frustrated and discovered that
I knew less English than I thought I did. My advice to this new student is to stay open to
new knowledge. Dedicate time and effort to continuous improvement and never do the
assignment on the day of the deadline, as this does not allow you to correct and improve
your work. Even guided by the textbook, writing short sentences can help them improve
their writing. Furthermore after making the assignment you could allow another
colleague to review it, sometimes another one can see things that the one who wrote
does not see at the moment.

Conclusion and recommendations

This course initially frustrated me when I discovered that I knew less English than I
thought I did. If had started with what I know now I would have done many things
differently such as, better grammar performance, short sentences etc. Other things
would have been the same such as keeping an open mind to the possibility of learning
new things. The knowledge learned here will help me in the Canadian work field and in
life in general. My recommendation is to take this course as one of the most productive,
appreciate every technique learned, rely on the books and before submitting each
assignment, review the directions and previous feedback.

For more information contact me directly by email at wendic8@yahoo.com