ESL Writing Tips: Improve your English Writing Skills

If you’re looking for some English writing tips, you’ve come to the right place! We have three ESL 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.

Tips for Improving English Writing

Let’s get started with learning how to improve writing skills in English!

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?

How to improve writing skills in English and practice ESL writing? Don’t neglect the second half. 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

Learn More about Teaching ESL Writing:

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 checking 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.

You can easily find proofreading checklists and useful articles online that are very helpful for ESL students.

Tip #3: Improve English Writing Skills Exercise: 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 basic English writing skills.

One of the best ESL writing skills exercises is this one. 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.

ESL Writing Tip: Fill out an Application Form

Tip #4: Keep a Journal to Improve English Writing Skills

When my students ask me about how they can improve their English writing skills, I always recommend that they keep a journal. It’s a relaxed way to get some daily practice with writing in English.

And the format is totally up to you. Do it online in a blog format, or keep a very private journal under lock and key! One of the most important things, though, is that you put away your cellphone dictionary and just write using words and grammar that you already know. This will help you to stay motivated and keep going because it’ll be more fun than a chore.

Do you want to find out more about one of my favourite ESL writing tips? Check this out: Journalling for ESL.

Tip #5: Use Conjunctions and Transitions for ESL Writing

Let’s be real here: Conjunctions and transitions are just so, so important in the English language, particularly when writing. If you neglect them, your writing quality will suffer in a big way. But, if you want to improve your basic English writing skills, this is one of the easiest ways that you’re going to find: mastering these words and knowing how to use them correctly.

The good news is that it’s really quite easy to practice using them.

Need more Writing Tips for ESL Writing Practice?

Did you find these ESL 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. How to improve writing skills in English? There are a ton of awesome ideas found right here.

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, but only if you want to improve your English writing skills in a big way:

What about ESL Writing Textbooks?

Are you a teacher looking for some recommendations for the best ESL writing textbooks? Then look no further than right here! We strongly recommend the Great Writing Series by Keith Folse. It’s a nice blend of the process and product approach to writing.

There’s a range of levels from 1-4, taking your students from sentences to 5-paragraph essays. You can check out all the details for yourself on Amazon:

FAQs about English Writing Tips

Here are commonly asked questions about how to improve writing skills in English and the answers.

How can I improve my English writing skills online?

There are a number of great online resources you can check daily to improve your ESL writing skills. You can also take online courses that focus on improving ESL students’ writing skills. However, don’t forget the most important writing tip. You want writing to be a habit in order to really scale up your skills. Writing English journals is a great way to do everyday writing, making it a habit, and improving your skills.

What are the best English writing tips?

Following are the five best English writing tips for ESL students: always keep fluency in mind, proofread, fill out an application form, keep a journal, and use conjunctions & transitions.

How can I improve my writing words?

The most important thing is to first use the vocabulary and grammar that you already know. Keep the dictionary and mobile phone aside and try to use the words that you learned. If you want to learn more words to improve your writing, read more. Reading books will help you learn new vocabulary in the most memorable way. Then, you will be able to apply those new words to your future writings.

How can I practice writing every day?

The best way to practice writing English every day is to keep an English journal. It is private, so you do not have to be stressed about showing it to others. When you write daily journals, try to put aside the dictionary and focus on using the words and grammar that you already know.

Improve English Writing Skills: Join the Conversation

Do you have any tips or tricks for how to improve ESL writing skills that you’d like to share? Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you.

Also, be sure to share this article on Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook. It’ll help other English learners like yourself find this useful resource.

Last update on 2022-07-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API