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If you’re looking for some English writing tips, you’ve come to the right place! We have three English writing tips for you, as well as a link to where you can get even more of them!
There are lots of reasons why someone might want to improve their English writing skills. Maybe you want to be able to have an English blog. Perhaps you want to be able to write an email at work without struggling. Maybe you are required to write a thesis or report in English for school or work. Whatever the case, these English writing tips will help you improve your skills.
Let’s get started!
Tip #1: Don’t Forget about Fluency
When you’re trying to improve your English writing, it’s easy to focus on accuracy. Accuracy means correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. Teachers and ESL writing textbooks often focus on accuracy because it’s easy-you’re either right, or wrong. Did you spell that word correctly? Is your sentence grammatically correct?
The other side of the coin is fluency. This means how fast you write. Most ESL textbooks and ESL writing teachers don’t focus on this because it’s far more difficult. How do you make someone write faster? It’s sometimes impossible.
However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t focus on it. Here’s a simple activity that you can use to improve your writing speed. Don’t forget to keep track of your progress!
ESL Writing Practice: Focus on Fluency
Tip #2: Always Proofread your English Writing
Okay, this tip doesn’t only apply to English! It most definitely applies to any writing that you do, in any language. It’s really, really easy to make mistakes. I maybe even have one or two in this article that I didn’t notice? Before you hit “send,” always proofread carefully. Proofread means to check for grammatical errors, spelling errors, punctuation errors, etc.
For example, you might have to write a five paragraph English essay in one hour for a test of some kind. If this is the case, here is how I’d use my time:
5-10 minutes: Make an outline with your main ideas
40-45 minutes: Writing
5-10 minutes: Proofreading
Check out this article for some tips about how to proofread your work. There’s even a link to the proofreading checklist that I used to give my university students in Korea. Here it is:
English Writing Tip: Don’t Forget to Proofread
Tip #3: Fill out an Application Form
“Writing” is more than just writing an academic essay. Maybe you’re a beginner or intermediate student and this is far too difficult for you. This doesn’t mean that you should give up! There are easier activities you can to do practice your English writing.
An excellent writing activity for beginner-intermediate ESL students is filling out a job or visa application form. It’s not so difficult to fill in information for specific questions. The activity is short enough that you won’t give up! It’s also very practical, because you’re likely to have to fill out an application form in English at some point in your life.
Check out this article for the application form that we recommend starting with. There are also some helpful tips for when you’re just getting started.
English Writing Tip: Fill out an Application Form
Need more English Writing Tips?
Did you find these English writing tips useful? We hope so! If your goal is to improve your English writing skills, then you’ll need to check out this book on Amazon, 71 Ways to Practice English Writing: Tips for ESL/EFL Learners.
These three tips about proofreading, filling out an application form, and not forgetting about fluency are directly from that book. And, there are 68 more tips that will get you having fun while improving your writing.
71 Ways to Practice English Writing is available in both digital and print formats. The (cheaper!) digital format can be read on any device, Smartphone, tablet, Mac, or PC. You just have to download the free Kindle reading app from Amazon. Are you ready to get better at writing? Check out the book today:
