Hi. Hi. I'm Karen. I'm Trey.
I've been to the Writing Lab before, so I know how this works.
Great! Okay, so what are we gonna work on today?
Umm, I just, I really need my paper proofread. Mmmkay.
Umm, it needs to be polished. It needs to be perfect. So if you could just look it over, that would be great.
Okay. Well, now, I can't proofread it for you, but we can look it over together and see what we find.
[Pauses] Well, wait. I don't understand, though.
I've been here, and I've had people proofread my paper before and fix my paper, so why can't you?
Well, if that's happened before, it shouldn't have.
We don't proofread papers here, but we can teach you to proofread your own papers.
So, [pauses] tell you what? Why don't we start with the first sentence and we'll just start reading?
Do you want me to read or do you want to read?
You can do it.
Ah. [Begins reading] "Conventionally, all mothers are full-time homemakers,
and only do other work in or near their home, so that their child will never out of sight" [stops reading].
Okay, do you see a problem there? [Frustrated] If I knew what was wrong with the paper, I wouldn't be here.
Okay, well, let's take a look.
The problem is at the very end of the sentence. [Reading] "that their child will never out of sight."
Do you see anything there? Uhh, never, "their child never out of sight."
Never- never be out of sight? Exactly! Right.
Can you write that down? Sure.
So is it- can we go a little bit faster, 'cause, this paper's due tomorrow,
so I really need to make sure I get through the whole paper.
Well, we'll go as fast as we can, but we're, we're gonna go carefully. Alright
[Student sighs] [Tutor resumes reading] "But around seven decades ago,
women, including mothers in European countr-ies [drawn out as he corrects word] start entered the workforce together with men."
[Tutor, correcting verb] entered the workforce together with men.
[Resumes reading] "Today, due to the high cost of living, especially in big cities,
it is come to see mother . . . mothersss [drawn out] working, whether as teachers, doctors, or even engineers."
Hi Hello. I'm Karen.
I'm Trey. Alright, so I've been to the Writing Lab before, so I know how this works.
Excellent! Alright, so what are we gonna work on today?
Sooo, I really want you to proofread my paper. [Hand slapping on desk] It's due tomorrow.
I need it to be perfect. I need you to fix any grammatical errors.
Mmmkay. Alright. Well, now, I can't proofread it for you, but we can look it over together and see what we find, alright?
So, why can't you just fix it?
Well, because that's not what we do here. I'll- I'll help you see where the problems are so that you can fix it. Alright?
[Quietly] Okay. Okay.
So, go ahead and start reading, right there. I'm a slow reader, can't you read?
No, I- I want you to go ahead and do it.
[Begins reading] "Conventionally, all mothers are full-time homemakers, and only do other work
in or near their home, so that their child will never out of sight.
Okay. Do you see a problem there? [Frustrated] If I knew what was wrong with the paper, I wouldn't be here.
[Chuckles] Alright, let's take a look at the end of this sentence, "that their child will never out of sight."
What's the problem? A word's missing?
It is. What word is it? Uhh, "their child will never be out of- BE out of sight?"
Write it down.
We're- we're wasting time. Can we go through the paper faster, or can I get additional time?
Well, no. You can't get additional time. But, what we're gonna do is show you how to find these mistakes
so that you don't need me to finish the paper with you.
You'll be able to do it on your own.
Alright, keep reading. What comes next?
"But around seven decades ago, women, including mothers in European country,
start entered the workforce together with men [voice trails off].
Yeah, I heard you slow down there. Is there a problem?
[Reading]"start entered the workforce."
What's the problem there?
[Long pause] Uhh, [pauses again, thinking] Start- started? Do I need start?
What if you just marked it out? What does that say? Oh, okay."European countries entered the workforce together with men."
Good, okay. Keep going.
"Today, due to the high living costs, especially in big city- cities,
is common to see mother [pauses] working whether as teachers-" [Tutor interrupts] Do you see a problem there?
It is common to see what? To see mother. Mo- mothers?
Mothers. Good! [Resumes reading] "working, whether as teachers, doctors, or even engineers."
Well done. Look, you're doing a really good job. You generally, when we stop and look at these things, you find them on your own.
So, what you're doing here is proofreading. And you're gonna be able to do it yourself from now on.
And that will make this go a lot faster. Okay? Okay.