after years of not being able to spell right, and having no grammer ability, ive decided now is the time to head back to school, on friday i rang the local tafe, they could only offer me english for beginers, i.e if i was a immagrant and needed to learn english anyone know what i need to do, im in qld
There are a large number of specialist educational books that you can purchase from education stores, and some good bookstores. They come complete with exercises and everything. I know I learnt the majority of my grammar and spelling from a number of these books. I was home schooled for many years, and even when I went back to high school, I kept studying from the books - the school system isn't really that thorough. Best part about that, is you can choose your weak spots, and focus on learning what you need to - as opposed to being dragged through a course that may drive you mad with repetition from time to time. Just a thought. Ask around - there are some excellent books out there.
try here National Adult Literacy Database - Literacy Websites - International and Other Countries - Australia
From what i've seen of TAFE, my a couple of my mates left school and done TAFE, and they cant spell for lives, nor does TAFE really care, but they dont put in the effort so i guess the TAFE dont put in the effort with them. My girlfriend finished year 12 and is going to uni, yet she can spell for crap either, really i think the school has failed her in that, as shes a keen learner she has just never been shown. I think books would be the best option, as you can focus on what you want to learn, otherwise maybe a private course.
Me and my little brother have both done Certificate 1 in Preparatory Education. It's pretty much maths and english. The maths we started off with was pretty much adding and subtracting one digit numbers, then moved onto multiplying them, and eventually you'll be doing scientific sums, algebra, pretty much if u learnt it all you'd prolly show up most maths teachers. For the english it started off with doing spelling tests using 'cat' and 'dog' type words. They spent a lot of time doing grammer and making sure everyone knew what it was and how to use it. And altho both me and my brother are good at english and maths, we still learnt a lot from it. There was one lady there who was about 60-65 and she couldn't spell basic words like cat and dog, nor could she write a sentance which made sense. She was there for 3 years (the course was only 2 days a week) and by the end of it she was writing multiple page story's, letters to her friends, and she even learnt how to use a computer and write emails (to start with she didn't even know how to turn the computer on). The lecturer's were great, they worked with everyone and helped out a lot. There was even an old lady who volunteered her time to be there everyday with the class (she'd been there bout 10 years I think) and she also goes around and helps out the students one by one. She evens gives ya a sticker on ya work if ya done good or tried hard. :thumbsup: The youngest person I saw would of been about 15-16, but the majority of the class was older mature students. A lot of the time we'd get new students who were young and were doing the course coz they left school and needed to be there to get their youth allowance. Most of them didn't last a few weeks coz the lectures made sure they were there to learn, if not they pretty much got the boot...which was good coz we always had a good class with no idiots. I'm not sure if the course is available everywhere, but it's great!
It's tough, I have actually got myself recently back into study mode, ok at my own pace but looking at the same result in the long run. For instance I got myself the proper Cisco 3 & 4 books and I must say it's hopeless, it assumes way too much, I read it for 20 minutes and have troubles soaking in anything at all. The terminology for instance is way beyond me and no doubt the average joe blow like what on earth does 'spanning tree' mean in plain english!!??, then I found an ebook from Sybex and think it's the best thing since sliced bread although as expected the Cisco books have the information in it for the exams whereas some others won't, learning blocks it could be useful I guess. Sorry mate I know not a huge amount of help but I'm sure there's a few teachers amongst us that could help a hand. I came across this site which might be of some assistance. Queensland Council for Adult Literacy lol I get them on a daily basis, you need a license to drive a car why not a computer? Anyway back on topic :thumbsup:
We have them in my TAFE course now (cert IV in IT) only their to get centrelink, and they straigh out admit it, they refuse to get on a computer and to quote them "we are not here to do work" so they just sit in the corner for a while to the roll is marked and bugger off, so no real problem with them. BUT when i went to enrol i spoke to the IT faculty caus i had to bridge my way in, anyways i get downstairs to submit my enrollment to find out theirs no spots left all the classes are full. Luckily they rang the IT faculty back up and they let me in, but if one of those drop kicks stopped me from getting into the course i have wanted to do and will get me into my UNI course next year and set my life career up, i would be extremly angry, makes me think how many genuine people missed due to these doll bludgers.
As they say cant teach an old dog new tricks ahhaha jokes man i cant see y u cant do some sorta nite school at tafe that offers u wat u want i know a couple ppl who havent passed year 12 or the likes and have gone 2 tafe 2 do it all again. how many tafes did u try? not all tafes r the same remember.
we have one localy, and there is the logan campus near the hospital, (not that it helps you in directions) but tafe qld generaly sucks at the best of times. got a mate who is in the distance education thing. ill see how he does it, see what and who i need to talk to. but because im over 26 and have a trade im not elligable acording to 1 tafe to do any extra studdy to futher my english studdy.
Don't know what it is like up there, but in Vic they do High School Certificate at most tafes. And good luck to you. It can be hard to go back to studying once you've been out for a while. Hope it goes well.
Just read heaps man. Books, newspapers anything. I guess if you really need the basics (like i before e except after c and sh*t) you will have to have some form of tutoring. Since school I have found reading the newspaper everyday and the ocasional book to be good for my spelling and vocabulary. I speak probably twice as better 3 years out of school than I did when I was at school. p.s. I am waiting for someone to start picking at people's posts. Please don't start with mine.
Garth in my daughters school newsletter there was an advertisement from tafe nsw, with courses aimed at improving adults reading, writing, spelling etc skills. It even said if you can't make it to tafe they can provide a tutor at your home. Maybe they have something like this in Qld?
Congrats.... From somebody who was a terrible speller etc at school to now being not bad, it is possible to get better. I found the best thing was to read heaps and also write. Reading can be just about anything except those magazines that come in plastic bags with lots of pictures of pretty women. Writing can also be about anything. Use word or one of those word processors with an inbuilt spell checker. You will get used seeing the words spelled correctly and your challenge will be to avoid the red line under mis-spelled words. Reaper
