Especially on the harder difficulties, melee weapons will only get you killed. Instead, stay back and pick off enemies from afar. Use your shoves to keep some distance, and, whenever you're in the open, use a pistol or rifle to thin the herd before they get too close. Left 4 Dead is a constantly shifting game, and Infected will appear in unexpected places. Zombies spawn at various points, and they are on a timer. Special Infected like Hunters and Smokers can appear anywhere but usually, come with a horde of Infected to cause maximum damage. There are, however, ways to predict when enemies are coming:  Pay attention to the music -- it will start to swell and get tense as enemies build up out of sight. Turn on subtitles. You can often read things like, "coughing sounds" or "noises of the horde" in advance, making it easier to predict incoming groups or specials. Know the three stages of an attack. Build-up, as the music swells. Peak, when the big group descends on you, and Rest, after you've defeated them and have 1-2 minutes to relax. When in crescendo events, or if you just need to catch your breath, choose spots with limited entryways (like rooms with only 1-2 doors or windows) or high areas where you force the enemy to bottleneck. Bullets pierce enemies and hit the Infected behind them, meaning you can mow down large groups quickly and conserve ammunition. Shooting down stairs, ladders, and in doorways can make big crowds much, much easier to handle. Still, keep moving when possible. Holing up for too long drains supplies and can leave you open to attacks by Boomers and Spitters. Ammo is your lifeblood, so don't go draining it. When enemies are at a distance or are easy to deal with, switch to a pistol or melee weapon. Running out of shotgun shells during an intense moment can cost you your life. Medkits are valuable and should be used as such. After your first knockdown, your vision becomes monochromatic (loses color), and you move slower. This is the time to use a Medkit. Otherwise, stick to pain pills and adrenaline whenever possible. If you're approaching a crescendo event and have less than 40 health, now is the time to use your Medkit. Crouching increases aim and is essential if firing at incoming enemies. Whenever you can, crouch and fire, then get up and move as you go. In muddy areas, like "The Parish," you actually move just as fast crouching as standing, so the benefit in accuracy has no trade-off. In the mud and swamps, crouch the entire time. In Versus mode, four players get the chance to play as Smokers, Boomers, Hunters, and more while fighting against four other human players. Playing as Infected is practically its own game, but the best advice is to think about all the ways you've died as a human. What sorts of attacks stranded you from teammates, caught you off-guard, or otherwise dealt more damage than you could handle?  For the best results, use your teammates to coordinate attacks together. A Boomer can vomit, bringing in zombies that allow a good Spitter to trap pressured players in a corner, for example. Use surprise to your advantage. Let them run to you and hit them when they're distracted.

Summary: Keep your distance whenever possible. Predict the "flow" of the hordes by learning how they spawn. Use choke-points and high ground to your advantage. Conserve ammunition whenever possible. Don't use medkits until necessary, usually after incapacitation. Crouch whenever possible. Know the strengths of each Infected on Versus mode.


Start the address line in the middle front of the envelope. It may be more business appropriate to add an honorific prefix, such as “Mr.” or “Ms.” before the name of the person. You should write this directly below the name of the person. This may include an apartment or unit number, followed by a hyphen and then a street address. Canadian addresses have specific postal and province codes for different parts of the country. Before writing out the address, you must find out what the specific codes, including the correct abbreviation of the provinces, are. If the person or business you are writing to hasn’t already given you this information, you can find out by visiting USPS website or the Canada Post website Place 1 space between the city and the province and 2 spaces between the province and the postal code. The country name should always be the last line of the address, unless you are already sending your mail from Canada, in which case this line is not necessary. In the upper left hand corner, write out your return address, following the same format as the recipient’s address. When writing or typing the address, be sure to leave 15 mm (0.6 inches) of space on each side of the envelope. There must be 40 mm (1.6 inches) of space from the top of the envelope and 19 mm (0.75 inches) of blank space from the bottom of the envelope.  Write all business addresses in uppercase letters. If possible, you may want to use a computer to simply type and print the address as this can decrease the processing time. If you have a graphic or logo on your envelope, it must be placed to the left of the address. You must ensure you have the same amount of space left from the edge with the logo included.

Summary: Write the name of the person on the top line. Write the business or department name. Fill in additional address information. Find the correct postal and province code. Write the city, province and postal code on the next line. Write Canada in the last line. Write the return address. Be mindful of spacing.


The best way to improve writing skills, no matter the writer's age, is through regular practice. Your child might be getting a lot of good practice at school. However, if your child's school provides limited writing practice or if you're homeschooling your child, you may want to include additional formal writing lessons at home. Even having your child write very straightforward things (such as what they did at school that day or what kinds of snacks they want to eat) can be excellent writing practice. It doesn't always have to be creative writing practice to be effective. Recognize, however, that sometimes children will be reluctant to write. Let them take some time away from writing if they need to (unless they have to complete a school assignment). A daily journal can be a terrific way for a young writer to expand their vocabulary, develop a unique writing style, and learn how to express complicated thoughts in words. This builds essential skills and gives children an important outlet for sharing their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes the best writing practice is freewriting when your child simply writes whatever comes into their mind. However, if your child is a bit older and wants to write a longer or more ambitious story, encourage your child to make a writing plan first. Make sure your child has a sense of what they will write about, what the point of their story is, and (if relevant) what the assignment entails. Do they have a plan for the beginning, middle, and end of the story? Perfectionism can be harmful to your child's creativity and self-confidence. Rather than fixing your child's errors and mistakes, have your child reread their own writing and ask them what they think about it. Let them locate their own errors and encourage them to fix things themselves. Never take over and rewrite their story yourself.  For example, you could underline the words they have misspelled without giving them the correct spelling. Ask them to look up the correct spelling in the dictionary. Be sure that you provide your child with positive feedback as well as gentle suggestions for improvements. One of the most important skills your child will learn is how to revise first drafts into final drafts. Encourage your child to make changes to their story and to work hard at improving it. For example, you can ask them to use sticky notes to build off of the first draft of a story in order to add more details, clarify their language, and vary their sentence structures. Let your child know that practice and perseverance are essential to the writing process.
Summary: Encourage daily writing. Encourage your child to keep a journal. Encourage your child to plan before writing difficult things. Resist the urge to do the writing yourself. Provide fun opportunities for revision.