Distance learning is the ideal solution for anyone wanting to train as a news journalist, features writer, freelance writer or creative writer without having to juggle an existing career or other commitments. Simply by studying at home and corresponding regularly with your tutor you can set yourself on the path to knowledge and success - all while working at your own pace. Improve Your English Syllabus

The purpose of this course is to highlight the most common errors in writing English and to show students not only how such errors occur but how to avoid making them. It covers all major aspects of grammar and style, and explains each point in a clear, straightforward manner. We also teach you how to write clear and harmonious English and how to avoid the pitfalls of jargon, cliché and tautology. There are plenty of exercises dealing with the points raised in each lesson, as well as several opportunities for real writing, where your level of fluency will be assessed and areas for improvement suggested.

Lesson 1 - A Question of Style

The value of the written word - its beauty, power and influence; the evolution of language and the effect it has on us all. Steering a middle course between yesterday's and tomorrow's style. The importance of reading. Discriminating in your choice of words. The six rules of good writing.

Assessment tasks include:
• a series of ungrammatical sentences for you to correct

Lesson 2 - Order and Disorder

Correct sentence structure. The importance of syntax. Mood. Avoiding clumsy writing - striking a balance. Hanging and misrelated participles. Parallel constructions. Ambiguities.

Assessment tasks include:
• correcting faulty constructions
• writing an exposé on a controversial theme
• re-writing a passage

Lesson 3 - What's in a Name?

Nouns: common, proper and abstract. Collective and compound nouns. Problems with foreign words. Agreement. Sexism and how to avoid it. Pronouns: Personal, Reflexive, Relative, Interrogative, Demonstrative and Indefinite.

Assessment tasks include:
• two sets of sentences to be re-written
• 250 word essay

Lesson 4 - The Correct Use of Adjectives

Description, qualification, limitation The definite and indefinite articles. Comparatives and superlatives. Choosing the right word - synonyms and pitfalls. Common examples of misuse. Clichés.

Assessment tasks include:
• three sets of sentences to be re-written
• 250 word essay

Lesson 5 -Verbs and Adverbs

Active, passive, transitive and intransitive verbs. Choosing the right verb for impact and drama. Common misconceptions. What is a complement? Auxiliary verbs. Split infinitives. Gerunds and participles - errors of proximity. Some awkward pairs of verbs. The purpose of adverbs. Other adverbial phrases.

Assessment tasks include:
• two sets of sentences to correct
• one exercise in analysis
• writing a descriptive passage

Lesson 6 - Prepositions and Conjunctions

Preposition or adverb? Or conjunction? The avoidance of ambiguity. Which preposition to use - accuracy and idiom. Conjunctions for added fluency. Correlative conjunctions.

Assessment tasks include:
• two sets of sentences to correct
• writing a piece of narrative prose

Lesson 7 - Punctuation

A necessity not a luxury. The pathway to clarity. Changes in punctuation style. Abbreviations and acronyms. Taking each point in turn - full explanations and examples. Quoted and reported speech. Numbers, fractions and dates. Prefixes and suffixes. A special note about the apostrophe.

Assessment tasks include:
• re-writing a passage with correct punctuation
• further exercises on punctuation

Lesson 8 - Final Briefing

A further look at style - in particular, what to avoid. Jargon, euphemisms and circumlocutions. Some common words overused. Compound and polysyllabic nouns. Prepositional verbs. Vogue words. Tautology. Americanisms. The proper function of the paragraph. Good sentence construction. The use of tenses. A review of common errors.

Assessment tasks include:
• re-writing three passages of 'purple' prose