Full-time University employees and administrative staff interested in expanding their grammar skills may be interested in a program offered by the Writer’s Lab.

Barbara Toth, Director of the Writers Lab, will be holding the workshop, titled “Write Here! Write Now!” each Thursday in July.

Toth said the workshop was implemented to help employees expand their grammar and punctuation skills in the work place.

“This is a great way to help each other and to let BGSU employees realize what resources are available on campus,” Toth said.

According to Toth a similar workshop was held in the spring and became so popular with employees that she decided to bring it back.

“For the first workshop we actually had a waiting list,” Toth said. “It seemed like we had struck a chord, and there were a lot of people interested in this.”

Apparently Toth is right. Write Here! Write Now! has also developed a lengthy waiting list of hopeful participants. Due to the workshop’s popularity the University is now considering offering it throughout the year.

“Yes, we are talking about what is considered correct in academic context at this point and time, but what makes the workshop so popular, I think, is that we are also helping build confidence,” Toth said.

The workshop will cover grammar faux pas, punctuation, how to write and proof-read a memo, as well as the history of words.

“The workshop will be really interesting; Barbara has a whole different take on teaching,” Kerri Campbell, coordinator of Internal Training and Development, said. “She gives all kinds of really fun facts about the historical perspective of grammar and how punctuation got started.”

Toth mixes these historical facts with popular culture in order to make the workshop fun and connect with participants.

“The Power and History of Words is back by popular demand; this is something a lot of attendees had fun with before,” Toth said. “Another nice feature is that I will be sharing some texts with the attendees that are helpful and fun reference tools.”

One of the books Toth says she is excited about is “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves” by Lynne Truss. The book has been on the top ten bestsellers best in the UK and America for over a year. It teaches proper grammar etiquette and provides quirky bits of information from the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon.

The bookstore has given Toth coupons and discount cards, which will be handed out during the workshop, so participants can take what they used home with them and continue learning outside the workshop.

To sign up for the Write Here! Write Now! Workshop employees should contact the Office of Human Resources at 419-372-8421 or email [email protected].