Learning English as a second language can be challenging. For me, this was a necessary in order to continue my education in the United States. When I started at LCCC (Luzerne County Community College), my grammar skills were not as good as I thought; I needed reinforcement with my spelling and verb tenses. When it comes to effective writing, having good grammar, no spelling errors and good punctuation are necessary in order to com- municate effectively. Therefore, I knew this class would help me improve my grammar and writing skills. One of the improvements I have made is comma splices. For example, when writing a sentence in an essay, I now know that in order to separate two ideas I can use a semicolon or a com- ma, this provides the reader a guide on how my ideas are placed. However, the three most important improvements I have made during the semester have been punctuation marks, citations, and coherence. My first improvement was learning to correctly place punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, and quotation marks. Punctuation marks help the reader to understand the text; by placing them correctly, the communication becomes clear and concise. For example, in my two previous essays (Process and Research), I used punctation to organize and structure my ideas to make sure the sentences I conveyed were clear. Also, I saw improvements reflected in my punctua - tion when I scored ninety-five on a fragment quiz. My second improvement was learning to correctly cite sources. Using in- formation from books, websites, and articles, I have to give credit to the original author. Citations are references to sources I use whenever drafting an essay or research project. In my last essay (Researched Contrast Essay), I cited sources I got the information from. For example, I used information A Non-Native English Speaker Taking Her First College English Class Lourdes Sopon Porres
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