Really, I actually wrote this.
I have known for a while, since my first work term report I believe that I have a problem with my technical writing. I have a hard time being confident about my facts and results. I tend to use the words “reallyâ€, “actually†and “basically†far too much. I'm sure there are other words as well, but these ones stick out in my mind at the moment. Part of the problem is that I am usually trying to write using as many words as possible to meet some predefined word count. And since these are words, they slide into the sentence without too much effort.
The other cause of the problem is that I just plain don't have enough confidence in my facts. Even writing for my weblog I find myself punctuating sentences with uncertainty. It is like I'm permanently stuck writing in the subjunctive mood. And of course, the only reason that I am mention any of this is as a means to procrastinate writing more uncertainty. Certainly.
13 Mar 2007
pacuna
well, there you go, more reasons to learn subjuntivo ;). De esa manera, si aprendieras a decir todo como si supieras perfectamente el idioma, no tendrías ningún problema y no habrían confusiones (hehe, just a dosis of spanish subjunctive :P). But you know, I think it's not like you don't have enough confidence in your facts, I actually learned that in a paper or in a document where you are declaring or defining something, you should give some uncertainty, because you may be wrong without knowing. Maybe you can be sure about something today, but later something else comes up and your "truth" becomes a "lie".
13 Mar 2007
Colin
A bit like fuzzy logic, state your degree of truthfulness. Yes I agree with you, but only to a point. I find myself using some of these words even when describing how things that I did worked. Or how my software works. Like: "Wow, this actually generates the WADL file" as if I'm surprised it works. :)When in reality I think that a lot of the words just appear as a result of me trying to be verbose.
14 Mar 2007
mike
I had exactly the same problem. Have, I suppose, is the right tense.30 meetings with Jacob were enough to beat it out of me temporarily, long enough to finish my thesis.
14 Mar 2007
Colin
@pacuna: "In this way, if you learn to say everything as if you know the language perfectly, you would have no problem and there would be no confusion." And FYI it is 'dose'.@mike: My problem is that my supervisor doesn't speak english perfectly — fluent enough for what I'm doing here, but not to the point where he is correcting grammar or structure. And sometimes I go so long without hearing from him that I think he is dead. :)
14 Mar 2007
Danielp
"You knooooooooooooooooow" , "I mean" ;)What's a "subjuntivo" ??????? :$ :$
Es algo en Español? jejeje
14 Mar 2007
Dad
Please get back to work. :) You are making me nervous. What Now?
Well, it would seem that for the most part, my Europe Adventure is over. It has been an amazing time. Now, I am reviving the ailing colibate.com and going to make a go of it over there. All the best.
Times
- Nova Scotia, Canada
- 2:55 (Feb 5, 2012)
- Reading/London, United Kindom
- 6:55 (Feb 5, 2012)
- Thessaloniki, Greece
- 8:55 (Feb 5, 2012)
- Madrid, Spain
- 7:55 (Feb 5, 2012)
- Guatemala, Guatemala
- 23:55 (Feb 4, 2012)
Leganés
- Schedule 2006 (pdf/14KB)
Reading
Thessaloniki
- Term Schedule (pdf/7KB)
- Weekly Schedule (pdf/45KB)
- Marked up City Map (jpg/650KB)
Something Different
- Athens Trip (March 2006)
- Barcelona Trip (December 2006)
- Scottish Adventure (April 2007)
Friends and Colleagues
- Enrique (aka. Q)
- Pablo Acuña [es] (photos [en][es])
- Daniel Perez
- Ionas Pagkalos [en][el]
- Simon Kohlberger [en][de]
- Nadia [es]
Pablo's Recent Photos
Places of Interest
- Erasmus Mundus Alumni Association
- Euro Coins — Identify the various national Euro coins.
- Word Reference — great multi-language dictionary site.
Universities
Badges
Products I Like
