James Krampert

James Krampert

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I first used the ConvoSpanish editing and proofreading service when I needed to write a business letter in Spanish. I needed the expertise of a native Spanish speaker to make sure the letter was saying what I wanted to say. I provided two different texts of my letter: one was in English that represented what I wanted to say; the other text was my effort to convey this letter in Spanish. I had only started learning Spanish a couple years earlier and, needless to say, the service made quite a few corrections to my Spanish letter. In addition to getting a well-written business letter, it was a learning experience because I received a copy of the letter where I could see all the mistakes and necessary revisions in one place. It was quite educational to discuss with Inés all the reasons for all the corrections. I realized that this was improving my understanding of Spanish overall.

In learning a language, it´s important to learn to develop all facets of the language: listening, reading speaking and writing. Writing is particularly important for actively applying the rules of grammar, making good word choice, using correct spelling and punctuation as well as applying the accents in Spanish.

I decided that I would try and use the ConvoSpanish editing and proofreading service once a week strictly for educational purposes to improve my writing in Spanish. Unfortunately, I found that I never completed writing anything because I struggled with what to write about. Then Inés had a good suggestion: translate simple English texts from a website that provides examples of writing for students of English. This focuses my mind and effort on how to say something, not what to say. Now I try as much as possible to translate one of these short 300 to 500-word write-ups from English to Spanish each week. I review the corrected text that ConvoSpanish provides me and note any changes that I don’t fully understand. Inés and I then discuss these in my conversation lessons with her. It has been helpful in expanding my vocabulary, developing my understanding of Spanish grammar, and learning Spanish idioms. These skills carry over into my speaking in Spanish as well.

I definitely recommend using the editing and proofreading service as an educational tool to further develop a person´s knowledge of Spanish.

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James Krampert Retired engineer Editing and Proofreading Service