The best way to learn writing in English?

[olafek]

Hello everyone

I'm first year student of English philology in Poland. Lately I failed my final exam of practical knowledge of English. Although I passed grammar, i wasn't enough good in writing part (which consit of writing an essay, narrative or description and all of them must have more or less 250 words, so it's not so long). I have to prepare for a second term exam in september and I wonder, how could I learn to write well in English during holidays. Of course the best is to practice, but I am not willing to pay someone every time he (or she) will check my essay or something. Have you any idea how to practice writing yourself? Maybe you know any useful books you can recommend me?

[Michael84]

n.a.t.

You may want to check out the other sections of this forum, like "Editing & Writing Topics" where you can submit little eassys and articles.
Another way would be to find someone to be your "penfriend".

P.S.: The post editor doesn't work correctly for me...

[Mannysteps]

Not a teacher

Just an example of what you can find online:

English writing skills for ESL EFL classes for a variety of purposes including: formal and informal letter writing, resumes, essays, business documents, as well as writing lesson plans for classroom use.

[Gillnetter]

Hello everyone

I'm a first year student of English philology in Poland. Lately, I failed my final exam of practical knowledge of English. Although I passed grammar, I wasn't enough good in the writing pa rt (which consit consisted of writing an essay, narrative or description and all of them that must have more or less 250 words, more or less, so it's not so long). I have to prepare for a second term exam in September and I wonder, how could I learn to write well in English during the holidays. Of course the best is to practice, but I am not willing to pay someone every time he (or she) will check my essay or something. Have you any idea how to practice writing yourself? Maybe you know of any useful books that you can recommend to me?

I suggest that you slow down and edit everything you write. When you write something and put it out in the world, the world will gauge you on that writing. You made some serious errors in your text - "September" is a month and is always capitalized. "I" is always capitalized. Read the novel, "The Old Man and the Sea", by Ernest Hemingway. You should find a free copy on the Internet. Read it one time for content. Read it a second time to see how the author worked with English. Read it a third time to understand the rhythm the author built into the text. There is no magic book that will teach you a language - learning a language is like learning anything else, it takes hard work.

[nyota]

Olafek, take a closer look on the criteria for the essay evaluation and check where you scored least, so you can focus on improving that part.

I imagine you're graded for composition, i.e. introductory, body and conclusion paragraphs, topics sentences, clear thesis (if a given form requires it), logical structuring of ideas, appropriate transitions etc., grammatical corectness, style, use of complex structures and more.

Once you've determined where the problem lies, it will be much easier to work on it and find proper exercises.

[TheParser]

Hello everyone

I'm first year student of English philology in Poland. Lately I failed my final exam of practical knowledge of English. Although I passed grammar, i wasn't enough good in writing part (which consit of writing an essay, narrative or description and all of them must have more or less 250 words, so it's not so long). I have to prepare for a second term exam in september and I wonder, how could I learn to write well in English during holidays. Of course the best is to practice, but I am not willing to pay someone every time he (or she) will check my essay or something. Have you any idea how to practice writing yourself? Maybe you know any useful books you can recommend me?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Olafek:

(1) Some people say that the best way to learn how to write better is

TO READ MORE.

(a) The more you read "good" writing, the more you may (no guarantee)

start to imitate what you read.

(2) Read everything -- fiction and non-fiction. Don't forget that you

can read (for free!!!) great American and British newspapers online.

Notice how the newspaper reporter started and ended the story. Pay

attention to the vocabulary and grammar.

(3) Do NOT be discouraged. Little by little, your writing will improve.

If you have time, read some books written by Winston Churchill. You

know that he was the leader of the United Kingdom during World War II.

His books, in the opinion of many people, represent the best English

writing possible. I hear that when he was in secondary school, he failed

his English composition class. He had to repeat the class until he learned

it well!!!

(4) As the other posters told you: Practice makes perfect. Write! Write!

Write! ALSO Read! Read! Read! In fact, also Listen! Listen! Listen!

Writing is not a separate compartment. It reflects your total language

input.


James