<pre>1. It's simply too long! No one is paid to correct your essays here. The length of the essay will turn off most people when it is dry and dull.</pre>

 

<pre>2. It's simply too dry and boring. Many entries are written daily here. No one is going to spend their time correcting dull, long winded and pedantic essays. This is perception is different for different people. Each of us has our own interests. For example, I do not like to correct essays on economic GDP of a country or some analysis in a company report unless they are requests from friends. Some people will not correct poetry but I will. </pre>

 

<pre>3. It's simply nonsense. Some people think that they are clever and witty by writing a repeated simple phrase all the time. For example, "I love English, I love English... I will not take a second look. You are doing a disservice to yourself; makes you look like an idiot; someone who is not keen and serious in learning the language. No one will help you.</pre>

 

<pre>4. It's simply not kosher. Do not write controversial topics such as your personal negative aspects on religion or politics; sex or race etc. These subjects are sensitive and inappropriate for public consumption. Send as private messages to your friends instead.</pre>

 

<pre>5. It's simply too short. At a first glance, this seems to contradict #1 but this is not so. It could be in that short sentence there are no error. If you are afraid of people correcting your errors, simply don't write and post it on ITALKI. One must be thick skinned in order to learn and improve. </pre>

 

<pre>6. It's simply inappropriate. Similar to #4 but is written in a style that it sounds more like a personal ad for hooking up with somebody. This is not a solicitation site. For example, "I am a nice girl from China". Why the hell would you want to write this if you have a picture of you indicating your sex clearly? Of course you are nice. This is redundant. Sometimes it is understandable if your native language allows such salutations. However this is not in English. You should not include your age and other personal information as your introductory essay. In English, this construes as a solicitation unless you are a child which most of us here on ITALK are not. </pre>

 

<pre>7. It's simply a piece of homework or an assignment. We can tell straight away if this is so. First of all, your teacher is not stupid. He or she knows the level of your command of the language. If you really want it corrected, at least give a disclaimer in the beginning. People are more than willing to help. Just be up front and your sincerity and honesty will be felt by others regardless of the reason. No one likes to be feel "cheated". This is simply manners. </pre>

 

<pre>8. It's simply not courteous of you. Whenever someone spends their time in correcting your essay, it would be well mannered of you to say at least a thank you. No one will correct your future essays</pre>

 

<pre>9. It's simply laziness. If you are simply lazy and refuse to pay attention in capitalizing the proper nouns and your 'I's; disregarding the proper punctuation spacing rules, nitpickers like me will not correct your entry unless its contents are so interesting that I cannot resist. The mechanics of a language is extremely important and is the visual facade to your expressions. If you do not follow the conventional rules, it would be like a beautiful girl with bad breath that even those who got near will run away! Sometimes, it is not your fault. Either you do not know the rules or it is the fault of your teacher in not transmitting this knowledge to you. I cannot believe that you have this sort of irresponsible instructor! Anyway you have no excuse now. Here are the links for these rules. http://www.italki.com/knowledge/page/Mechanics%20Of%20The%20English%20Language.htm http://www.italki.com/knowledge/page/On%20Capitalization.htm http://www.italki.com/knowledge/page/Common%20English%20Errors.htm</pre>;

 

<pre>10. It's simply too negative. Once in a while, writing a negative essay is fine but if you continually write negatively all the time, people will tend to shy away from you.</pre>

 

<pre>11. It's simply recalcitrancy on your part. When someone corrects your mistake, for goodness sake, remember it and not commit again in your subsequent essays. If you do not, it only shows that you are not serious in your learning. You are simply using us a tool for polishing your work. No one likes someone like this. Of course, an honest mistake can be made. However we know whether you are listening to our counsel or not. Whether you agree with our assessment or not, it does not matter, we have the perogative not to correct. It is this simple.</pre>

Now here are some of the "do's" to help your essay corrected more often.

<pre>1. Write something personal that everyone can relate to in another words, some common experience. For example about how great your grandmother is. Almost everyone has one to relate to. Human nature is gossipy and curious. They want to know something in general of your personal life.</pre>

 

<pre>2. Write something that is unusual or something of interest. This can mean many things. Perhaps unusal food, recipies, something unique about your hometown. How about some interesting facts or observation. I remembered someone wrote on St. Petersburg's bridges. I did not know that they are all movable. When night falls, people wishing to get out of the city are trapped. This because all the bridges are raised, a tradition started in the olden days for preventing the city from being invaded in the night!</pre>

 

<pre>3. Write something of delight. Everyone wants to be happy and cheerful. This includes jokes, an experience that will lift the spirits of others. We all worked hard and most of us hate our bosses. So something to lit up our face will always be welcomed.</pre>

 

<pre>4. Write something creative. Creative writing is one of the most read kinds of essays. Many has different levels in the command of the language they are learning. Some may be more advanced than others. They would like advice from native speakers so that they can learn and improve. I will always assume that this is the case and that they are not here to show off their literary talents. </pre>

 

<pre>5. Always write something you know. If you don't know what it is, your can never express well in your writing. I learnt this from the classic movie, "I Remember Mama", about a young girl wishing to become a writer.</pre>

Here are just some of the do's and don'ts I can think of right now. I will be adding more in the future. Of course I will be glad that others add their opinions. I have intended this to be an open collaboration.

You spent hours on your essay. You look lovingly at it. You are extremely satisfied with the last edit. Such creation deserves to be posted and be corrected as you know that as a non native speaker, surely there must be tons of mistakes in there. With great hope you posted it. You check on your essay now and then to see if there is any correction made. No corrections at all. Still waiting. The day passes and none to be seen. Well, you say to yourself, it must be a great piece of writing. So perfect that no one made any correction. Days passed and the result remained the same as before. You asked yourself, "Did I really do such a great job?" Of course I did. With great confidence, you write more but still no corrections. Soon you have nagging doubts... "What if no one cared what I wrote?" Maybe you began to write an essay filled with errors as a test. Again no correction! This is not right at all. How come nobody corrects my essay? Is it because they don't like me? How can that be? I am always a nice and warm person! My profile picture must be at fault! Well then, if all this sound familiar to you, then you are not alone. Why some essays remain uncorrected. Here are some reasons. To be continued as a correction. You can also find it as a knowlege page, http://www.italki.com/knowledge/wiki.htm?n=How%20To%20Get%20Most%20Corrections%20To%20Your%20Essays1

-How To Get Most Corrections- not correct To Your Essays You spent hours on your essay. You look lovingly at it. You are extremely satisfied with the last edit. Such creation deserves to be posted and be corrected as you know that as a non native speaker, surely there must be tons of mistakes in there. With great hope you posted it. You check on your essay now and then to see if there is any correction made. No corrections at all. Still waiting. The day passes and none to be seen. Well, you say to yourself, it must be a great piece of writing. So perfect that no one made any correction. Days passed and the result remained the same as before. You asked yourself, "Did I really do such a great job?" Of course I did. With great confidence, you write more but still no corrections. Soon you have nagging doubts... "What if no one cared what I wrote?" Maybe you began to write an essay filled with errors as a test. Again no correction! This is not right at all. How come nobody corrects my essay? Is it because they don't like me? How can that be? I am always a nice and warm person! My profile picture must be at fault! Well then, if all this sound familiar to you, then you are not alone. Why some essays remain uncorrected. Here are some reasons. To be continued as a correction. You can also find it as a knowlege page, http://www.italki.com/knowledge/wiki.htm?n=How%20To%20Get%20Most%20Corrections%20To%20Your%20Essays1

How To Get Most not correct Corrections To Your Essays You spent hours on your essay. You look lovingly at it. You are extremely satisfied with the last edit. Such creation deserves to be posted and be corrected as you know that as a non native speaker, surely there must be tons of mistakes in there. With great hope you posted it. You check on your essay now and then to see if there is any correction made. No corrections at all. Still waiting. The day passes and none to be seen. Well, you say to yourself, it must be a great piece of writing. So perfect that no one made any correction. Days passed and the result remained the same as before. You asked yourself, "Did I really do such a great job?" Of course I did. With great confidence, you write more but still no corrections. Soon you have nagging doubts... "What if no one cared what I wrote?" Maybe you began to write an essay filled with errors as a test. Again no correction! This is not right at all. How come nobody corrects my essay? Is it because they don't like me? How can that be? I am always a nice and warm person! My profile picture must be at fault! Well then, if all this sound familiar to you, then you are not alone. Why some essays remain uncorrected. Here are some reasons. To be continued as a correction. You can also find it as a knowlege page, http://www.italki.com/knowledge/wiki.htm?n=How%20To%20Get%20Most%20Corrections%20To%20Your%20Essays1

How do yall add strikethrough and bolding and colors for corrections.