Learning Express Library (LEL)

Course 1: Grammar Skills 4: Adjectives, Adverbs, & Confusing Words:

1. Interest Level: I found this course very interesting, although it was not very difficult. It cleared up a long of things for me, especially the confusing words. And even though it was not too difficult, it was not at all boring.
   
   
2. Difficulty: I did not find this course very difficult; it was quite easy. The instructions and explanations were all very precise which made it much easier to do.
   
   
3. What I learned:
   I learned that in English, adjectives can be found by asking the questions: "which one?", "what kind?" and "how many?" As for the adverbs, the questions used in order to find them are: "where?", "when?", "how?" and, "to what extent?"
   
   I learned that there is a difference between altogether and all together.
   
   I also learned that modifiers describing nouns or pronouns have to be placed as closely as possible to the words they describe.
   
   
   
4. My Score: There was no score for this course. However it did show me that I had no mistakes for the first part, two for the second part and four for the third part. For every mistake I made, there was a correction, which made it easy to understand why the answer I chose was wrong.
   
   
5. Course Rating: I would give this course a 8.5/10. The instructions and the explanations were all very clear and precise. Although it was not very difficult, it was very instructive as well as very interesting.
   

Course 2: Grammar Skills for Writing 2: Fine-tuning punctuation :

1. Interest Level: I found this course very interesting because I learned a lot from it. Punctuation has always been one of my biggest diffulties in English (I have a tendency to write run-on sentences). It gave me a chance to see different ways of varying the punctuation in my sentences and hopefully I will remember everything that I have learned!
   
   
2. Difficulty: I did not find that the course itself was very difficult, mainly because I did the course after having reviewed punctuation in class with Mr. B. I know that I made a couple mistakes every now and again but I was able to realize it right after having made them. The instructions for the course were very clear and precise.
   
   
3. What I learned:
   I learned when to use hyphens to relate words (depending on whether it is a noun or an adjective).
   
   I learned when to use brackets in quotation marks (to show that we modified the original text).
   
   I also learned that the dash is used to emphasize on an explanation and it is also used to connect the beginning of the phrase to the rest of the sentence.
   
   
4. My Score: Once again, I did not get a score for this course. I know I made a couple mistakes in the text, although I understand why I made my mistakes.
   
   
5. Course Rating: I would give this course a 8/10. Personally, it helped me a lot since I have trouble with punctuation. It was very well explained and was not at all hard to understand. However, I would not recommend this course if punctuation is not your weakness; it may seem a little useless.
   

Course 3: Grammar Skills 3: Practice with Subjects, Verbs and Pronouns

1. Interest: I found this course very interesting. It helped me clarify certain things that I use at times but without really knowing it (or without knowing why). Even for the the material I already knew, I found the lessons very interesting and worth putting into practice.
   
   
2. Difficulty: The exercises in this lesson were not too difficult, however they were not as easy as the ones I had done previously. The instructions were very clear and the information was easy to understand, which made it easier for me to do the exercises without too much difficulty.
   
   
3. What I learned:
   I learned that we sometimes make up nouns from verbs, and that if we simply use the verb as it is (instead of the made up noun), it will help clarify our sentences.
   
   I learned that the words "there" and "it" are often unnecessary (especially at the beggining of a sentence).
   
   I also learned how to correctly write a verb when they are following a singular or plural pronoun.
   
   
4. Score: This course did not give me a score. It did, however, explain to me my mistakes when I made some.
   
   
5. Course Rating: I would give this course a 9/10. I thought it was very interesting and I learned things that will help me while writing texts in the future.
   

Course 4: Vocabulary and Spelling 2: Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes

1. Interest:I thought that this course was the most interesting of all the courses I have done on the Learning Express Library. The course helps understand the roots of different words and the different meanings of prefixes and suffixes and which words to use them on.
   
   
2. Difficulty: This course was not too difficult. However, without the explanations and definitions or certain words, I do not think I would have done as well as I did.
   
   
3. What I learned:
   I learned that adding a suffixe at the end of a word, can change the word's function (suffix: logy, meaning: study field of, words: biology, geology, etymology, cardiology)
   
   I learned that there are different types of prefixes (for example, there are negative ones: dis, un, non...)
   
   I also learned that the root of a word has a meaning and it is with the meaning that words are created. (root: aud, meaning: sound, words:auditorium, audible, audiologist, audiotape)
   
   
4. Score: 86/100.
   
   
5. Course Rating: I would give this course 9/10. It was very relevant and very well explained. I liked that it gave a lot of facts concerning the roots of certain words, although I know I will not be able to remember them all!