participate in garbage picking and donation activities

[tzfujimino]

One of my students wrote the following sentences.

I want to do some volunteer work when I become a high school student. I have never done any volunteer work. I want to volunteer to help others. I want to participate in various volunteer activities. For example, I want to participate in garbage picking and donation activities.


I think I should correct the last sentence.
I'd correct it to something like "I want to pick up garbage/trash and donate some of my money/old clothes."

Does "participate in garbage picking and donation activities" work?

 

[tedmc]

The activities are garbage (I would say "rubbish") picking and donation which the student wants to participate in. I think that's fine.
I would say "volunteering work".

 

[tzfujimino]

Donating is not really a volunteer activity.

You're right. I need to ask her about it.

Does "garbage/rubbish/trash pick-up (pickup)" work?

 

[PeterCW]

One of my students wrote the following sentences.

I want to do some volunteer work when I become a high school student. I have never done any volunteer work. I want to volunteer to help others. I want to participate in various volunteer activities. For example, I want to participate in garbage picking and donation activities.


I think I should correct the last sentence.
I'd correct it to something like "I want to pick up garbage/trash and donate some of my money/old clothes."

Does "participate in garbage picking and donation activities" work?

Your proposed correction changes the meaning of the sentence. The use of "participate" suggests a desire to be part of a team rather than going out on their own to collect litter.

On a stylistic note, the short sentences combined with the repeated use of "I" and "volunteer" mean that the passage sounds staccato to a native ear. I would combine sentences 2 and 3 perhaps as "I would like to help others but have never been involved in volunteering before." Repetition like this is a fault that even experienced writers can fall in to, and reformatting passages where it occurred was a regular task in my days as an editor.

 

[teechar]

One of my students wrote the following sentences.
I want to do some [STRIKE]volunteer[/STRIKE] voluntary work when I become a high school student.

Is he/she still in primary school?!

I have never done any [STRIKE]volunteer[/STRIKE] such work before. I want to volunteer [STRIKE]to help others. I want to participate[/STRIKE] in various [STRIKE]volunteer[/STRIKE] activities to help others. For example, I want to participate in [STRIKE]garbage picking and donation[/STRIKE] cleanup campaigns and fundraising activities.

See above.

 

[tedmc]

Garbage/rubbish picking does not work.

Garbage/rubbish/litter picking was written by the student. I don't think it is wrong though it may not be the best term to describe it. Rubbish collection, which is more a more common term, is the job of local municipality and involves more than just picking rubbish. Cleanup campaign covers more than rubbish collection.

I don't really see how one can participate in donation.

Donation/donating can be about things other than money, such as books, clothes, household items, etc., which are collected and distributed to those who need them. There are group activities involved, not necessarily just collecting money. Fundraising is to do with collecting money.

I prefer volunteer work to volunteering activities.

Okay, volunteering is more commonly used as a gerund. In fact it is increasingly being used. See here.

 

[tzfujimino]

Is he/she still in primary school?!

She's a junior high school student. I think she's 14 or 15 years old. She will be a high school student next year.

 

[teechar]

Ah yes. To me, that's intermediate school.
She sounds like a nice person.

 

[emsr2d2]

Students who are 14 or 15 years old attend high school/secondary school in the UK.