1.5: Track frequent errors

Almost everything in life goes faster when you know what to do and revising a text goes faster when you know what to look at. Due to the self-check error list this is possible. With just a quick glance at this list you can see what and what type of mistakes you tend to make. The self-check error list summarizes a series of common grammar and sentence structure errors, due to these it is possible to personalize your proofreading process.

When looking at the self-check error lists I made in semester 1, I noticed that the major problem for me is the usage of academic language. Over the lenght of the first semester I managed to eliminate frequent grammatical errors.

Error type	Frequency check
Present simple or present continuous tense?
Past simple or present perfect tense?
Conditional  - When/If?
Apostrophe use
Parallel grammatical structures required
Fragment / incomplete sentence
Comma splice or run-on sentence	2
Countable or uncountable?
Preposition problem
Make subject(s) agree with verb(s)
-ing word form required
Article problem (a / the)
Adverb not adjective required
Make verb tenses consistent
Review word order
Comma after introductory word or phrase
Full stop required
Informal style inappropriate
New paragraph required
No new paragraph
Link word?
Awkward structure – rewrite more simply	1
Meaning unclear
Missing word	1
Wrong word	2
Use academic vocabulary	7
Misspelling

From this self-check error list it is noticable that the use of academic vocabulary is still a major problem for me. It is a problem I am working on and will be doing so for the remaining university period. Luckily, it is a problem that can be easily prevented due to the presence of convenient internet tools, which will be discussed in upcoming steps. The other errors I made did not or at least not consistently show up on previous self-check error lists and are therefore not a problem I should be worrying about.

Reflection:
I think this is one of the hardest steps in the whole revision process. The most important factor making this step hard is that it is very easy to oversee an error. And due to that, it is possible that I did not discover all the errors made in these paragraphs. Another reason for not seeing an error, could be that a sentence sounds correct, but in fact is not. Therefore, I leave the possibility that there are still errors in these paragraphs open.