Editing

Compared to the terrifying oral interviews that we're facing next week, this rehearsed speech project doesn't seem too bad. Anyway, I though the peer editing that we were assigned to do was even more helpful in conjunction with Sato-sensei's usual input. Since we as a class are all going to have to listen to each other's speeches, working with our own classmates helped us to write pieces that will hopefully be more enjoyable for everyone. Also, it's much less intimidating to receive input from our own classmates - it's easier to ask why they thought a certain change ought to be made, or even to argue to that person why a certain sentence or phrase should be preserved. Not to mention, peer editing is another great way to continue to get to know our classmates - I rather honestly believe that Sato-sensei does a good job of bringing all of us together as a community of friends.

I learned a few things even while I was editing other papers on my own. Putting myself in that kind of position, and focusing on the errors others had made, helped me to spot and correct a few errors in my own paper. Also, the fact that even the most well-written speeches had a few mistakes in them helped me understand why the written pieces I submit in class so often come back with a bunch of red marks on them. *laughs*

The only concern is that perhaps a few mistakes may have still managed to escape the notice of my peer editing group members and myself, but they can't be serious mistakes if they're that hard to catch. Now, the only issue is making sure that Sato-sensei comes away feeling as good about our speeches after hearing them as we did after writing and editing them.