Grammar Boot Camp

Become an editing pro as you master English grammar, punctuation, and style

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.6

- You will be able to edit your own work
- identifying and correcting grammar and punctuation errors.
- You will receive the FREE e-workbook "Just the Basics of English Grammar" ($14 value) to practice your new skills.
- You will write clear and concise sentences.

What you'll learn

You will be able to edit your own work

identifying and correcting grammar and punctuation errors.

You will receive the FREE e-workbook "Just the Basics of English Grammar" ($14 value) to practice your new skills.

You will write clear and concise sentences.

Your will understand the proper placement of punctuation.

You will transform awkward sentences into clear and powerful statements.

* Requirements

* You should be functionally fluent in the English language.

Description

Welcome to Grammar Boot Camp, the BESTSELLING Udemy grammar and editing course that has helped thousands of students craft strong, beautiful sentences.

The rules of grammar, punctuation, and style are often the things by which readers will judge your work. You may have original and insightful things to say, but your meaning will be lost if your sentences are riddled with errors, awkward phrasing, misplaced punctuation, and incorrectly used words.

What You Get in This Course

**NEW** Receive a professional grammar and style critique of 500 words (about two pages double spaced) of your own writing!
20 video lectures that include on-screen examples and explanations.
BONUS: The complete e-workbook "Just the Basics of English Grammar" for FREE. (A $14 value!)
Practice worksheets with exercises and answers to check your own work.

Why This Course?

If you have found grammar and punctuation to be confusing or mysterious, then this course is for you. I have designed this course to cover the "must know" elements of grammar and punctuation with easy explanations that everyone can understand. Years ago I set out to find an affordable grammar resource for my students and made a startling discovery. There wasn't one! I found that too many English courses and textbooks taught unnecessary information and technical terminology, confusing students more than helping them. The material seemed like it was made for English teachers and not English students. Also, the materials that were okay were unnecessarily expensive. That is why I wrote Just the Basics of English Grammar and produced the video course Grammar Boot Camp. I wanted to give my students simple, easy tools that would actually improve their writing at a low cost.

Having taught students at all levels for 15 years, I understand the pitfalls and points of confusion that give people trouble. The examples and explanations in this course are tested in the classroom and have proven the most effective in helping students understand the material and master the necessary skills.

Here are just a few of the skills you will learn in this course:

The importance of sentence boundaries (correcting fragments and run-ons).
How to avoid unnecessary shifts in tense and pronoun usage.
How to write clear, to-the-point sentences, avoiding awkward and wordy phrasing.
How to avoid faulty parallel structure (and what that even means).
How to use the best words, especially verbs, to make your writing more powerful.
When to use commas and other punctuation.
How to use quotations and dialogue in your writing.

Testimonials

Here is a sampling of what students are saying about Grammar Boot Camp:

"I love the course. The information is clear and to the point." - Ashley Navarra

"I found the content of this course very useful in my future writing." -Chris Page

"Good content! This was a really great course. I learned a lot of new things . Thank you!!" - Phoebe Felix

"Excellent course!" Khaled Javed

"This is just the kind of thing I was looking for." - Elizabeth

"English is my second language, so this is exactly what I needed to remind myself of grammar rules I had forgotten in order to improve my writing. This is also a great refresher if you are looking to take the GMAT." - Winnie McCrea

"The course is very clear, simple and direct." - Danielle Rodenroth

"Informative and friendly lectures. Great resources and worksheets." - Kara McCleod

Let's Get Started!

I can't wait for you to join me in this journey to take your writing to the next level. Imagine what it will feel like to write with confidence rather than with that nagging doubt that you are doing it wrong. Writing is power. Language is power. I look forward to helping you strengthen your writing voice to become the writer you are capable of becoming.

Who this course is for:

This course is for those who want to understand and practice correcting the most common grammar problems.
The course is NOT for those who want to delve into the complexities of grammar.
This course is also helpful for those who want to improve clarity and style in their writing.

Course content

6 sections • 19 lectures

Meet the Sentence 2 lectures

Parts of Speech Preview 10:54

This first lesson introduces the eight parts of speech. This and the next lesson, unlike the other lessons of the course, do not present rules or show how to fix common errors. Instead, we identify and name different parts of a sentence to provide a basic vocabulary for discussing the rules of grammar and punctuation.

Identifying the Core of the Sentence - Subjects and Verbs Preview 06:48

Subjects and verbs form the core of a sentence. In fact, it's impossible to make sense of any grammar rule without the ability to identify the subject and verb in a sentence. This lesson provides a primer on the function of these important elements in a sentence. Like the first lecture, this one is not about fixing mistakes. It lays the groundwork for understanding the rules covered in the rest of the course.

Understanding Sentence Boundaries 2 lectures

Correcting Sentence Fragments Preview 08:09

Sentence fragments are one of the most common errors in writing. They are also fairly easy to identify and fix, as demonstrated in this lecture.

Correcting Run-on Sentences Preview 06:08

Like the lesson on fragments, this lecture also deals with understanding sentence boundaries, or knowing where one sentence begins and another ends. However, run-on sentences are different in that they form when two or more independent sentences run together without correct punctuation or conjunctions.

Punctuation 4 lectures

Common Comma Rules Preview 17:16

Yes, there is room for stylistic choice when choosing to use a comma; however, there are reliable rules and sensible flexibility regarding those rules. This lecture removes some of the mystery surrounding comma use.

Apostrophes Preview 05:07

This often overlooked punctuation mark shows up in quite a few errors, from student papers to professional advertisements. This short lecture will clarify the common points of confusion.

Semicolon, colon, parentheses, dash, exclamation point, question mark Preview 08:07

In this lecture I group punctuation marks that didn't quite deserve their own lesson. This video is action packed and to-the-point.

Quotations Preview 09:18

This lecture not only shows how and when to use quotation marks, but strays from strictly grammatical concerns to discuss how to integrate (and how not to integrate) quotations in a sentence.

Sentence Construction 4 lectures

Parallel Structure Preview 03:49

Maintaining parallelism in a sentence, especially in sentences that contain lists, is important in making your sentences just "sound right." Once you learn to identify the problem in this video, the fix is easy and intuitive.

Shifts in Time Preview 04:42

The action of a sentence happens in a certain time frame, referred to as "tense" (past, present, future, etc.). Problems arise when we unnecessarily shift that time from past to present or from present to past. This lecture will help you avoid this mistake, especially as it occurs in writing stories.

Pronoun Problems Preview 09:30

Pronouns are words that stand in place of nouns. For example, if I have already mentioned a girl named Sarah, in the next sentence I might refer to her as "she." A surprising number of issues arise in the use of pronouns, from problems of agreement in number to questions of sensitivity and inclusiveness. This lecture provides the "must know" material on pronouns.

Subject - Verb Agreement Preview 05:48

We say, "The dogs bark" not "The dogs barks". That is subject-verb agreement. Things can get a little messier, however, in more complex sentences. This lecture keeps everyone in agreement.

Improving Style 4 lectures

Wordy Sentences Preview 07:59

When it comes to improving clarity and style, reducing unnecessary words and clutter in a sentence is one of the simplest and most effective techniques. Applying the principles of this lecture will improve your writing immediately.

Awkward Sentences Preview 09:29

Some sentences aren't necessarily grammatically incorrect, but they just don't sound right. This lecture will help you break apart awkward sentences and reconstruct them in ways that are pleasant to read and easy to understand.

Verb Power Preview 06:31

The verb is the engine of the sentence. This lecture will help you get the most out of your verbs, letting them do the heavy lifting in your sentences.

Sentence Variety Preview 05:41

Variety is the spice of life as well as an important characteristic of good style. This lecture will help you vary sentence structure, length, and rhythm.

Words and such 3 lectures

Capitalization Preview 07:37

"Do you capitalize ____?" We've all asked this question hundreds of times. This lecture will make you the one answering these questions rather than asking them.

Confused Words Preview 13:46

"Is it they're, their, or there?" You're/your going to get the answers hear/here. This lecture helps end the confusion regarding homophones--words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings.

Commonly Misspelled Words Preview 09:46

Spelling has little to do with being a good writer. It's possible to be a brilliant writer but a terrible speller. However, spelling errors often give your reader a negative first impression of your work. This lecture discusses some of the most common rules and pitfalls.