Academic Coach Weekly: Issue 3 (September 25, 2015)
Jaclyn Holland-Strauss (on Facebook)
jaclynhollandstrauss@hotmail.com, JaclynHStrauss on Twitter
University can be overwhelming, but I coach individuals and groups at reasonable rates.
Tons of experience with Arabic, Asian, Hispanic and Canadian students
Includes proofreading from beginning to end. Check out togetgoodgrades.com
Help with verbs
A phrasal verb is one which is composed of two words. Examples include “find out,” “part with,” and “pass around”. I’ll explain the last one. To “pass around” means that you give the thing to everyone in the room. If you are having a meeting, and you want everyone to have a copy of a certain piece of paper, then you “pass around” the paper to everyone in the meeting.
Tip for numbers
If you multiply a two-digit number by 11, add the two numbers together. So to multiply by 12 by 11 instead of working it all out, just add 1 and 2 together to get 3. What we just did was we added the first digit and the second digit. 11 x 12 equals 132. The 3 in the middle was obtained from adding the first digit 1 and the second digit 2. This can save you a lot of time. Here is another example: what is 11 x 16? Add 1 and 6 to get 7 and put it between the 1 and the 6. So 11 x 16 = 176. Another example: 11 x 14 = 154.
More Professional English
Here is an example of a synonym, which can turn a basic sentence into a more professional one. A synonym is a word that is spelled differently, but means the same as another word.
I am writing to ask if you have any openings.
I am writing to inquire if you have any openings.
Ask if a synonym for inquire. They mean the same thing, but inquire is much more professional than ask.
Something You Should Know
Did you know that Adam Smith is the founder of capitalism? He believed in something called “the invisible hand.” He believed in the free market. This means that the government should not interfere with the buying and selling of products. The market should decide what the price of a product should be. This is capitalism.
