Tips for writing in English - part 1
Six tips to help you write better
Hello everyone!
Today, I want to talk to you about writing. A few people have asked me about this recently on Facebook so here are some tips and suggestions for you.
When I was teaching in a language school, writing was usually my students' least favourite part of learning English. Let me explain why it's a useful skill to practise and I will also give you some tips which I hope will make it a more positive experience!
1. Why write?
Don’t ignore this skill. A lot of students enjoy speaking, practise reading and listening, they study grammar and vocabulary but they neglect writing. Maybe you need to be able to write for an exam or for work so then the need to practise is obvious, but even if you don’t have such a clear need, writing will still help you with your English. One reason for this is that writing gives you time to think about how to express yourself, and to find the right words and grammar. When you speak, you don’t have as much time to think. Also, writing can show you where you have gaps in your knowledge and what mistakes you often make.
2. Don't just translate
Try not to just translate from your language but think in English. There are many phrases which cannot be translated directly. A lot of mistakes I see are because students try to translate word for word and it doesn’t always work. Also, of course, don’t just put your sentences into Google Translate! That won’t help you learn anything! It’s much better to work out how to say what you want to say by yourself.
3. Don't be afraid of writing
If you can say it, you can write it. Some students think that writing has to be a different style from speaking but this isn’t always true. Informal writing, like emails to friends or messages on social media, is very similar to spoken English. So don’t be afraid of writing - just write what you would say. You can learn about how to make your writing more formal later.
4. Free writing
One thing you could try is “free writing”. This means you just pick a topic (e.g. your weekend, how you are feeling, a film you just watched) and write what comes into your head. You don’t have to plan or worry about the end result but just try to express yourself in English. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling mistakes either. This writing is just for you and nobody else has to read it so it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect. This is just to develop your fluency and confidence. You can always go through it again at the end to check for mistakes.
5. Other ways to practise
Writing doesn’t always have to be long texts like essays. You can start small. Try writing some comments on social media. If you have friends who are learning English, send them messages on WhatsApp. Another idea is to write a journal. Buy a notebook and every evening, write a few sentences about your day.
6. Language in - language out
You can't write if you don't know enough words and if you have no idea about grammar so you have to learn some basic grammar and vocabulary before you can start. You should also read. Reading will help you with your writing because it shows you what your writing should look like. Also, you can see how grammar is used in real contexts and build on your knowledge of vocabulary. The more language you put into your brain, the better you will become at getting it out onto paper!
I hope you found something helpful in this post! Good luck with your writing! If you have any questions, you can put them in the comments.
Until next time,
Katie
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