English is also my second language, I have been living in Ireland for 7 years now. I wrote a couple of papers and currently writting up my PhD thesis. My main tip for you is to pay a lot of attention when reading other papers and try to replicate that language - use the same sentence struture and verbs that you see, you will notice a pattern. Scientific language is a lot different from spoken language, so everyone including native speakers have a lot to learn. If you know any latin language, rule of thumb is that if the word sounds like a word in a latin language, they both share the same latin root and latin words in english are more formal (attempt, formal for try etc). Phrasal verbs are informal and are generally avoided in scienfic writting. Hope this helps ;D
I'm going through the same thing right now, but my dissertation is in French, which complicates things even more. That said, I've been using Deepl (translation app) to help me structure more formal paragraphs, and Antidote to check my grammar, style issues, etc. Antidote is very helpful in both French and English. And Deepl translates many many languages. And I asked a fellow PhD student who is french to proofread for me. Good luck and take care! (Also loved the tips, Holly!)
wow your description of writing your first draft is EXACTLY how I feel writing mine. I only recently started making leaps because I realised a shitty first draft is the first step to a published paper. It's reassuring that I'm not the only person who felt that way.
What tips can you add to this list? Here are a few more! ✨If you find it hard to focus, brown noise is a great background noise filler ✨Keep sentences simple. ✨Prioritise clarity within your sentences. ✨Ensure you are using punctuation and grammar correctly.
Some more tips: - Write in a pub drinking beer/wine (makes you less critical of your writing, you'll fix it later). For me it doesn't work after the 2nd beer though - Write in a cafe (what I call "do the same elsewhere") - Write in the morning or at night, whenever you're most productive - If you don't feel like writing, think "I'll write only one sentence today", then once you're all set up (opening the document and all) if you don't continue you feel like an idiot, so you keep writing.
Great thoughts. Some basic tips, but they are all relevant to getting the job done. Building and maintaining the habit of daily writing a minimum amount is very important.
Great tips! I'm really digging into some research now so I'll keep reminding myself that the worst draft I can make is STILL infinitely better than the "perfect" draft in my head and nothing down on paper. Thanks also for the Literature Summary template. I've copied it to my Learning Hub in Notion and am going to start using that for my research.
I just found your channel, and girl... you are the best. Best of success in your health and PhD journey, thanks for your great tips, I love your notion content. I'm a scholar already, and I really have learned a lot from you. Wish you the best from Santiago de Chile :)
Just love your videos. I can relate to this as I am working on my own PhD. Thank you so much for making this a enjoyable quest! Love your content and your spirit. Keep ‘em up! Sending lots of love and appreciation!
Hi! Almost-submitting PhD here. I recommend reading as many theses related to your field as possible, especially if you are not a native speaker. You will be better able to understand the style and the common language used. Cheers!
@HollyJaneYT As someone who put her PhD on hold (somewhat accidentally after getting a full-time job) almost 8 years ago, I'm really appreciating your content. I've only watched a few videos so far, but I hope you're doing well and making progress on that PhD.
Have you looked at Scrivener? It's not amazing with Zotero, you'll have to add one little step by going into word to make the footnotes look nice at the end, but the writing process is much nicer because you don't just slap everything in one massive document (and there's also a focus mode). Instead you gradually build your thesis bit by bit and hopping around randomly between chapters is ultra easy. And you can change formatting every time you export / compile the document which is good if something like the publisher etc. changes. There are tons of videos on YT that explain SCrivener much better than I just did 😁
Hi, Thank you for creating this content. I have one suggestion. You always start your videos with a LONG intro. If you can go straight to the point, that would be great. Because when I play the video, I want to see the information that I'm looking for, not jokes and animations.
Loved the tips. Wondering if anyone would have an extra tip about improving writing in second languages? Cheers
Oh, that’s an excellent question! I’ll pin it and maybe someone has a suggestion for us! X
English is also my second language, I have been living in Ireland for 7 years now. I wrote a couple of papers and currently writting up my PhD thesis.
My main tip for you is to pay a lot of attention when reading other papers and try to replicate that language - use the same sentence struture and verbs that you see, you will notice a pattern. Scientific language is a lot different from spoken language, so everyone including native speakers have a lot to learn. If you know any latin language, rule of thumb is that if the word sounds like a word in a latin language, they both share the same latin root and latin words in english are more formal (attempt, formal for try etc). Phrasal verbs are informal and are generally avoided in scienfic writting.
Hope this helps ;D
I'm going through the same thing right now, but my dissertation is in French, which complicates things even more. That said, I've been using Deepl (translation app) to help me structure more formal paragraphs, and Antidote to check my grammar, style issues, etc.
Antidote is very helpful in both French and English. And Deepl translates many many languages. And I asked a fellow PhD student who is french to proofread for me.
Good luck and take care!
(Also loved the tips, Holly!)
@@massabranca I've recently come across Deepl and I've found it quite useful. I'll give it a try to Antidote, thanks a lot for sharing it! :)
@@marinaramarcato7615 thanks for sharing your tips!! :)
wow your description of writing your first draft is EXACTLY how I feel writing mine. I only recently started making leaps because I realised a shitty first draft is the first step to a published paper. It's reassuring that I'm not the only person who felt that way.
Its the universal experience, I think, Kate. Well done on getting through that shitty first draft! What is your research on?
@@HollyJaneYT Thanks Holly! It's on classifying and detecting distant galaxies
What tips can you add to this list? Here are a few more!
✨If you find it hard to focus, brown noise is a great background noise filler
✨Keep sentences simple.
✨Prioritise clarity within your sentences.
✨Ensure you are using punctuation and grammar correctly.
Some more tips:
- Write in a pub drinking beer/wine (makes you less critical of your writing, you'll fix it later). For me it doesn't work after the 2nd beer though
- Write in a cafe (what I call "do the same elsewhere")
- Write in the morning or at night, whenever you're most productive
- If you don't feel like writing, think "I'll write only one sentence today", then once you're all set up (opening the document and all) if you don't continue you feel like an idiot, so you keep writing.
Great thoughts. Some basic tips, but they are all relevant to getting the job done. Building and maintaining the habit of daily writing a minimum amount is very important.
💪🏻
Great tips! I'm really digging into some research now so I'll keep reminding myself that the worst draft I can make is STILL infinitely better than the "perfect" draft in my head and nothing down on paper. Thanks also for the Literature Summary template. I've copied it to my Learning Hub in Notion and am going to start using that for my research.
Yes! Get that word vomit down!!!
I was today's years old when I learned from you that Zotero would automatically create your bibliography from the citations in your paper. Thank you!
Its such a helpful feature!
I just found your channel, and girl... you are the best. Best of success in your health and PhD journey, thanks for your great tips, I love your notion content. I'm a scholar already, and I really have learned a lot from you. Wish you the best from Santiago de Chile :)
Hi Camila! Thank you for saying hi - I hope your studies go well! wishing you the best from Ireland :)
Just love your videos. I can relate to this as I am working on my own PhD. Thank you so much for making this a enjoyable quest!
Love your content and your spirit. Keep ‘em up!
Sending lots of love and appreciation!
Also love your LaTeX reference 😅 (I’m using it and thought like … why isn’t she using LaTeX though.)
Thanks for the lovely comment! I'm glad you enjoy the content :) xxxx
Hi! Almost-submitting PhD here. I recommend reading as many theses related to your field as possible, especially if you are not a native speaker. You will be better able to understand the style and the common language used. Cheers!
I also recommend this. It really helped me consider how I might structure my own thesis!
@HollyJaneYT As someone who put her PhD on hold (somewhat accidentally after getting a full-time job) almost 8 years ago, I'm really appreciating your content. I've only watched a few videos so far, but I hope you're doing well and making progress on that PhD.
Thanks for being here! Xx
Love the energy, and valuable info...subscribed!
Thank you! :)
Have you looked at Scrivener? It's not amazing with Zotero, you'll have to add one little step by going into word to make the footnotes look nice at the end, but the writing process is much nicer because you don't just slap everything in one massive document (and there's also a focus mode). Instead you gradually build your thesis bit by bit and hopping around randomly between chapters is ultra easy. And you can change formatting every time you export / compile the document which is good if something like the publisher etc. changes. There are tons of videos on YT that explain SCrivener much better than I just did 😁
Oh, that's good to know! I haven't heard of it, but I'll look it up!
Really enjoyed your tips and will definitely apply to my PhD writing
Thank you, I’m glad they helped!
An amazing video as always, so nice to see you back on the channel! Super useful tips :)
Thanks so much, friend! 😊
Hahaha my dog barked when you said "Hi!" 😂
Ha!
Thank you) that was useful 👍🏻
Glad it was helpful!
Hi, Thank you for creating this content. I have one suggestion. You always start your videos with a LONG intro. If you can go straight to the point, that would be great. Because when I play the video, I want to see the information that I'm looking for, not jokes and animations.
Timestamps :)