Reported Speech: Xavi likes to bite his nails

Xavi claimed that he has a bad habit of biting his nails since young. His parents commented that the action of his is very unhygienic and suggested him to cut his nails using a nail cutter instead. However, Xavi rejected the idea of cutting his nails with a nail cutter as he was afraid of hurting himself. His parents then suggested to help him cut his fingernails to prevent him from biting his nails. He mentioned that as he grew up, he learned to cut his own nails and have managed to get rid of his bad habit.

Descriptive Reflection: Strengths and Challenges in Communicating

Dear Professor Blackstone,

My name is Lu Sheng and I am writing to formally introduce myself. I studied marketing in Temasek Polytechnic before making a switch to pursue civil engineering in university. After graduating from polytechnic, I was uncertain if marketing was the right course I wanted to study since I already understood the mechanics of it. Before I could actually decide on the course I wanted, I had to do National Service. I was given the vocation of an air force technician and that somehow rekindled my love for engineering. Since young, I have always enjoyed building structures out of lego blocks and because of that I took part in a structure building competition during secondary school. I decided to find out more about the engineering courses offered in university and concluded that civil engineering was the course I wanted. After all, I felt that civil engineering was a meaningful job and I wanted to challenge myself in taking this course.

One of my key interests would be traveling. I always make an effort to visit a new place every time I have the ability to do so. I love traveling as it helps to broaden my perspective and teaches me to appreciate the things around me. There is always something for me to takeaway after visiting a country. Another hobby of mine would be swimming. I find swimming to be a rather relaxing sport while keeping fit at the same time

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One of my strengths in communication would be the ability to give presentations comfortably. This is probably due to the experience I have gained from my course of study in polytechnic. I often had to give sales pitches to lecturers and industry clients. I could say that I have managed to gain confidence from the numerous presentations I have completed previously. Nick Vujicic is someone I respect a lot in the world of effective communication. He highlighted to me the power of expressions that can be used to captivate the audience and I could not agree more with you that effective communication is not just science but also art.

My weakness in communication would be my poor command of the language. I always have problems dealing with grammar issues and I reckoned that it had got to be related to my lack of reading. I find the language complex with many rules to follow. However, I am willing to put in the effort to improve by the end of the course under the professional guidance of yours.  

Through the span of this module, I aim to become a better communicator and I hope to brush up on my language. I believe as an university graduate-to-be, there ought to be certain standards I have to uphold so as to carry out my tasks professionally.

I appreciate your time in reading this introduction and I hope you have a good day ahead.

Yours sincerely,

Lu Sheng

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Edited 22/01/2019 1.05am
Edited 20/01/2019 6.55pm
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Welcome to Lu Sheng's blog on Effective Communication!

Through the use of blogging, I hope to improve my communication and writing skills via the application of related academic materials.

Cheers!