I have always had a few reoccurring problems with my grammar that I never really tried to fix. I have always loved to use Microsoft Word to fulfill all of my spelling and grammatical needs. I know that I shouldn’t be relying on Word, but seeing a squiggly line to fix is much easier, faster, maybe more indolent than proofing my own work. I have though, come to the conclusion that Word is not always right. One of my goals is to develop the knowledge needed to be able to correct all of my grammatical mistakes myself, instead of relying on Word to do it for me.

  I have always liked to write how I talk, which brings on many issues within itself. One of my favorite things to do is to put commas where I would pause if talking in actual conversation. Number nine from the Conventions and Income quiz is an example. “When the ship arrives we can begin the journey.” The sentence is correct on its own, but my first instinct is to put a comma after “arrives” because I would pause there when saying it out loud. I don’t know how this habit came to be but that is one of my main grammatical problems.

My next problem also has to deal with commas. After the quiz we took, I realized that I do not recognize comma splices at all. To be honest, I barely knew what a comma splice was. I always thought it was okay to join two sentences to make a run-on, but now I realize that that is not the case. For instance, “We packed all of our luggage, then we were on our way to the airport.” I could not find a problem with that sentence at all, and I still don’t really see a problem with it, although I know it’s wrong. I think I am in dire need of a comma intervention!

            Another large problem I have has to do with quotation marks. I’ve never really learned how to use them, or punctuate them, properly. I never can tell if they look right or not, and I usually do my best to avoid them at all costs. I also have trouble quoting an ongoing conversation properly, and I have actually opened novels before just to see how conversations are supposed to be properly structured. I think that I never really learned how to use quotation marks properly, and I am very uncomfortable using them.

            To be honest, I probably have a few more problems with my grammar, but I chose the top three. I haven’t really been in an English class that taught grammar since Seventh Grade, so I’m hoping that this course will be a nice refresher for me. I can already tell that I am going to learn a lot, and I’m excited to do so. I somehow want to be an English teacher, even with my bad grammar habits, but I am ready to improve these bad habits and conquer grammar!