For many ESL students learning to write good English is much more difficult than learning to speak. Even advanced level students face this problem. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Written communication is more formal than spoken communication.
- You have to avoid grammatical or spelling mistakes in written communication.
- Spoken communication, on the other hand, isn’t exactly about grammar: It allows for more grammar mistakes. What’s more, you don’t have to learn spelling to speak.
- People tend to think while writing; not much thought goes into speaking.
The following points can be helpful when considering how to learn English writing skills:
Speaking skills are something that we learn unconsciously. Writing, on the other hand, takes a conscious effort on the part of the learner.
Writing involves the learning of a number of rules and structures.
How to improve one’s writing skills
Good writing skills can be developed with practice. The first thing that you need to do is to learn the grammar rules. Although, you can speak without learning much grammar, you won’t be able to write correct sentences if your knowledge of grammar is poor. So if your job involves a lot of writing, there is no excuse for not learning the rules.
Learn different sentence patterns. These are the basic structures that we use to construct sentences. A basic understanding of the most common sentence patterns will help you to write numerous grammatically correct sentences.
Keep writing. That is true. Your writing skills improve with practice. Therefore, make it a habit to write at least 200 words a day. Keep a diary. In this digital age, blogging is perhaps better than writing a diary. Participate in online forums where people express their ideas in English.