Why I Blog

I certainly have no ambition of any kind to be the next J.K.Rowling or Arundhati Roy or anyone else famous for that matter. I have nothing earth-shaking or mind-blowing to say, nor do I feel compelled to show off my knowledge or flaunt my language skills here. This is not a Ph.D. thesis of academic value displaying my literary bent or a dissertation to showcase my vocabulary or flair for English. My posts are just my random thoughts on various subjects, things that I see and hear around me, things that fascinate me, and those that I feel an urge to comment on. Above all, I, for sure, do not write to impress others, but merely to share my thoughts in an understandable way with my students who happen to read what I write.

It all began when I signed up for a six-credit online course in Advanced Writing at the University of British Columbia two years ago. This was no job requirement or anything of that sort, but one that I voluntarily got myself into, just for the challenge and fun of it all. And boy, sure it was both, a veritable year-long challenge juggling a full-time position teaching at college and churning out assignments day in and day out, and a lot of fun critiquing each other's writing as well! My Professor, Dr. Barbara Siennicki, reminded all of us time and again to write for our audience and make sure we modified our register to suit our readers. She also motivated us to have our articles published, and so it was that one of my pieces was published in the Zoni Voice, the journal of the language college where I was teaching at that time, kind courtesy of Mr. Zoilo Nieto.

I decided that the skills I'd picked up in the writing class had to be honed constantly, and thus was born the blog last summer, so my students could continue reading whatever I wrote. My students come from all over the world, and because English is their second language, I have to tone down my writing enough for them to understand, just as I have to modify my "teacher-talk" in the classroom. It has been a pleasant ride so far, I must accept. Sometimes they do comment/complain that this or that post was too dificult for them to comprehend, so back I go again to my Professor's reminders and advice about writing for my audience. I urge my students to write as well, one journal a week, and to be a role model for them, I write one extra post a month, just to inspire them and keep them motivated! If their Instructor can do it, they can too! I find the entire experience truly gratifying and I hope this whole blogging thing will continue with the same enthusiasm and gusto.

Happy Writing, Folks!!!