Ten Practical Tips for Writing in English
by Jarkko Laine
Filed under Blogging, Freelance Advice, Freelance Writing
Online opportunities are not created equal. Although access to the Internet is open to everyone, and the cost of publishing your thoughts are minimal, language gives a huge advantage to those who have learned English as their first language. They can reach the whole world by writing in their own language. For the rest of us, it requires a bit more work.
I’m from Finland, a country of 5,2 million inhabitants at the northern end of Europe, right between Sweden and Russia, so when I started blogging, my decision was easy: if I wanted to reach more than a handful of people, I had to go with English. If you speak French, Spanish or Chinese, there is a bit more incentive for writing in your own language, but even then, the only way to reach the whole population of our planet is to write in English.
It’s not always easy, so that’s why today I am sharing with you the ten most useful and practical tips for writing in a foreign language that I have learnt during my blogging career.
1. Read in English
When you want to master a language, you can never read enough.
Every new book, short story or article you read teaches you new words, new ways to formulate sentences, and more natural ideas on how to use the language. They go to your subconscious and slowly start becoming more natural to you, until one day you notice that you start to think in English and know that you’re on the right track.
The easiest way to get started with reading in English rather than your own language is to pick up a non-fiction book on a familiar, interesting topic. Non-fiction tends to be easier to follow than fiction (fiction authors use tricky words to touch their readers’ feelings) and reading about a familiar topic makes it easier to guess what the author is trying to say to you when you don’t quite understand the words he’s using. Don’t use a dictionary unless you really have to – just skip the parts you don’t understand. If you make your reading feel too much like work, you’ll lose the fun in it, and the habit of reading won’t last for long.
Some great, free e-books to get you started:
- The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson
- Make a Name for Yourself by Scott Ginsberg
- Why’s Poignant Guide To Ruby: This is a programming book, but also a reading experience like no other. I suggest you take a look even if you are not interested in learning to code in Ruby.
2. Listen to native speakers
Blogging is a form of public speaking, which is why one of the best tips for making your text come alive is to write as you speak.
But if you don’t speak English every day, this is a rather tricky advice to follow. So, one thing I have found useful in practicing conversational writing is to watch and listen natives speak.
The Internet comes to rescue here through podcasts and videos from speaking events. Pick your favorite speakers and listen to them deliver their message. You will learn not only about how they use the language, but also how to captivate the audience, and a bit about the topic at hand.
Check out these videos for a good start:
- Randy Pausch on Time Management
- Steve Jobs talks to Stanford students
- Scott Ginsberg, “that guy with the nametag”, tells you how to be more approachable at NametagTV
3. When writing in English, think in English
This is one of the most important tips that separate a decent foreign language writer from a lousy one. The lousy writer thinks in his own language and then tries to translate his thoughts to English. But that simply doesn’t work: the idioms, grammar rules, and cultural differences make text written in this manner sound clumsy and unnatural.
Finnish is probably one of the extreme cases when it comes to grammar. In Finnish we concatenate a big part of words together (for example a railway station would be called railwaystation in Finnish) whereas English is full of small words. We have no future tense. We don’t use prepositions but suffixes… The list of examples could go on forever.
That’s why every time I set out to write in English, I push all my Finnish thoughts far to the background and don’t even look back. Then I pretend to be English speaking until the work is done and I can move back to my Finnish self.
I suggest you do the same.
4. Write
The best way to learn anything is by throwing yourself out there and practicing. With writing practice is even more important. In fact, I would give you the same advice even if you were considering writing in your native language. But of course, it’s even more important when writing in some other language.
When you are just starting out with your blogging, you should write something every day to really get your writing routine developed. After a while it’s OK to drop the pace a bit – although even then, if you want to become best at what you do, keeping up the habit of daily writing helps a lot.
Write in different styles: lists, humorous posts, serious posts, interviews, and if you have the time, even text that is completely unrelated to your blog. Just to get more practice.
5. Trust your gut
The human brain is an amazing machine.
You put in the source material by reading, listening to people talk, and speaking. Then you start writing your own blog posts and tune in the mind set of writing in English. And all of the sudden, words just start flowing from straight from your brain to the keyboard.
This can be a bit scary at first as you don’t know how you have learned the sayings and word plays you are using, and can’t be sure if they are correct or not. Uncertainty is the price you have to pay for trying to learn to use the language in a natural way. You just have to go with your gut and trust your brain when it keeps popping up words that you didn’t know you even knew.
I usually write freely on my first cycle, just trying to get the words and ideas out on paper. And then, on the second round of checking my text I drop sayings that sound too uncertain to me – or run them through a friend to see if they make sense or not. Usually they do.
6. Proofread
When you have finished writing your article and it seems nearly perfect to you, the next thing to do is to check it for typos, grammar mistakes, and just some plain weird sounding sentences.
The easiest way for checking for typos is to use a spellchecker:
- If you have a word processor, you can use the spell checker that comes with it.
- If you are using Firefox as your web browser, you can use the built-in spell checker support.
- Another option for having a spellchecker in your browser is Google toolbar.
- And finally, if you are using WordPress as your blogging platform, you can use the spellchecking feature built in to WordPress ever since version 2.1.
Checking for grammar mistakes is a lot trickier. What I do is that I usually check the grammar first in Microsoft Word or in an online tool and then go through it manually. For manually checking your grammar you can use a checklist of the most common grammar mistakes (here’s another one) or just play it by the ear, depending on how much you trust your own English language skills.
And of course, if you want to play it safe, you can always ask one of your English speaking friends to double check your article once you have done all in your own powers.
7. Have English-speaking friends who are not afraid to correct your mistakes
The best way to learn to sound like a native is to hang out with them as much as you can. By paying a close attention to how they speak, you will learn the sayings they use, the slang, and even the jokes that they throw at you. All of this is important in making your English sound more natural and conversational rather than something learned from a book.
Instant messaging, e-mailing, or even chatting with them face to face, if possible, are all good ways to learn from friends. And the best part in all of this – you can do it while having a great time getting to know new, interesting people.
When you apply tip number five, having native friends to point out your mistakes gets even more important. Even my gut goes wrong every now and then, and at times like that I rely in my friends. When they notice something weird in my posts, they let me know and guide me to the right direction.
8. Study spelling and grammar
Yeah. I admit it, this doesn’t sound like a lot of fun at all. But to achieve greatness, you have to put in some effort. And in the end, the reward of learning and becoming more confident with your writing is really worth it. Go find the books you were using on your English courses back in school, or if you can’t find them, check if there are any good course books at the local library.
If you still want to go one step further, you can enroll to a language course. Just make sure to pick one that is mostly about creative writing, because that will get you moving faster towards your goal.
But you don’t have to go that far for good results. These days you can find pretty much everything on the web – also material for studying English. Check out these links to get started:
- Visual thesaurus: A fun way to improve your vocabulary by finding synonyms and related words. The page also contains word lists and a word of the day. For example, today I learned that Sesquipedalian is a fancy word that simply means long.
- 40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation: A sesquipedalian list of tips and tricks to improve your English from the Dumb Little Man blog.
- Dictionary.com: I use Dictionary.com mostly for checking up words that I have used when I’m not sure if they mean what I think they do. But that’s not all you can do with this brilliant web site. They have an interesting feature called reverse dictionary that looks up words when you write few words to describe their meaning, and a good list of further online resources for writers to check out.
- The Economist Style Guide: The guide book given to all journalists who write for The Economist. Most of the advice applies really well to blogging.
With online services like these you will soon notice that learning English is indeed a fun activity that fuels your curiosity and gets you even more excited on your writing.
9. Commas and hyphenation – the tricky buggers
Commas are hard. Hyphenation nearly impossible.
The good thing here is that not even the English speaking bloggers always get these things right. But does that mean you don’t have to worry about them? No. If you want to be a great writer, you have to try to practice the hard things as well.
Let’s tackle hyphenation first: Definitive rules for how to do this right don’t even exist, so the trick I have adopted is simply to never do it. When blogging, you can always keep words in one piece and thus never make hyphenation mistakes.
Unfortunately you can’t get past commas and punctuation that easily. All you can do is to learn about using them and then always double check your text to see if your punctuation is correct.
- Tips on Using Commas at Dumb Little Man.
- Top 4 Guidelines for Using Commas Effectively at About.com.
10. Relax
Last comes the most important tip of all: Relax, and enjoy your writing. To be a great writer, you have to put in a lot of effort, but it’s not going to happen overnight. So, while you are practicing, don’t panic. Just write the best content you can with the skill set you have right now. Put it online on your own blog and learn more as you go.
Also, when you think about it, blogging is quite a forgiving platform: many of your readers are not from the English speaking parts of the world and won’t notice the small mistakes you make with things like prepositions or commas. Plus, people these days are busy. They don’t have time to stop and read every word you write. While that can be annoying in the sense that you can’t get their full attention, it also means that they won’t notice all of your mistakes either.
Relax, have fun, and share your thoughts with the world!
This is a great stuff!! I’ve been working on improving my english writing and this one boosted my confidence and started feeling I can achive it. Do keep posting ideas and links on ways to improve English speaking/writing skill.
-Shekhar
Nice article. 10/10
Wow nice tips, I’m not English native speaker too, and now I’m trying to learn English by writing English blog, I know until now I still make many mistake, but at least I have tried it. Your advice is very useful, thanks
I have just started blogging and boy! am I glad I stumbled by your site. You got everything here, well almost, that new bloggers should take heed if they are to get through the “starting pains” with greater ease.
I am not a native English speaker myself but I have managed to get a respectable command of the language with the sheer determination to own the language using every learning aid I could lay my hands on including some of the tips you mentioned.
A very helpful post.
Yes and ten years later you should compare your first and your latest posts.
Thanks for this nice article!
This is a nicely thought-out and well-written article. I would suggest even native English speakers spend some time really learning how to write and speak well. Many of us don’t understand the little things that go into writing clearly. I know that the more I write and read, the better I get, and I’m sure that’s true of everyone.
I’ve been doing this a long time, but I still get better every year. If I ever stop getting more clear in my writing, it’s probably time to stop writing.
Thanks, some great tips! I am passing them on to many of my students as we speak. I especially like the parts relating to reading in English and thinking in English. I liked the image of pushing your first language back in your mind for the period in which you are writing in English, and I hope that will really help my students, many of whom are clearly still at the stage of translating from their first language as they write – it will be very helpful for them to see someone else saying the same as me. Thanks!!
Dear All,
It is realy a good article for us who are willing to improve english in writing. Really this person has done a great effort indeed.
Keep it up.
Prince Kari
Singapore
Nice tips mate!
As a French girl, i have to learn English when i was at school so today i have around 7 years of English Practise around me.
To improve my English, i was watching at Korean and Japanese drama with English subtitles (i didn’t have choice because there aren’t French subtitles ^^’) and i have learn a lot of news words and expressions and today i am able to start a blog in English and also talk in English forums, it is very great because the most of websites i like are all in English and even for videos games xD.
Participating in English forums is also a great way to learn this language and know the current “cool” expressions.
I want to learn good english speeking and learning. What can I do for it. can any bocy help Me in this regard
Jayalakshmi
I am not english native and find these tips very useful for improving ennglish writing skills.I hope i will be able to write english without fear and confidenc.
Hello! Could i ask if how long does it takes you to do well in english?
actually i do noticed the sudden change in me as i read often. I suddenly could speak fluently and write better and my mind processes faster. the problem is if i don’t read for a day or two, i’ll be back speaking or writing badly . And Everyday i would do hours of reading. is this the process whereby i would first read and know and later ill be back to ..square one ?so i should keep reading everyday and slowly be familiarise with the writing of the book ? i have been doing this for quite awhile, i don’t know am i doing it right.One more thing was every time after i read, i would do a composition. Hope you could advise me, thank you so much!
Well even in this article I found the same thing, the theoretical aspects that either a person gives you or you have already found through self analysis. As for instance use word processing software, go to library and study, etc. but my problem is, is there anywhere that suppose you write an essay or say any article and post to someone so that he/she will find the mistake.
Similarly if you post few articles, the checker could easily identified the common mistakes in the articles send, so that it can be identified.
Further more, at this point of time when there are lot’s of software for therasus and spell check, I don’t think you need to include these on your articles, the main problem with people like me who is scared of writing is the sentence compositions with grammatical errors.
As what you had mentioned in your articles above one of the way to brush up your english language is to read more non-fiction story books which is more encouragable…but without a english dictionary with us…i’m quite confused in this part as in my school, teachers encourage students to build up the habit of reading becausse it helps to improve our vocabulary…but how do we expect to enhance our english if we skip the new vocabulary or the part of the story that we don’t really understand?…can we still improve our english by reading through the story with the part we understood only and neglected the rest that we don’t?..thx….
Hi Jarkko Laine,
This is an great article, and it’s just perfect for people like me.
Thanks a lot for tips and also the great links!
Best,
Zhao
I am learning english as a second language. I have studied the above articles and found very helpful.
I want to improve my English letter writing. I want that there should be some site which edit my written stuff with technical details and suggest me better options. If any body could help me in this regard I’ll be very thankful to him.
Great article! It’s nice to know that all the headaches in learning creative English writing that I am currently facing are also experienced by others. It has definitely boost my confidence and urge of writing more. Thank you. =)
thanks:)
Hi,
Speaking/ Writing English is most important to convey or share your thoughts around world, this is one of the common languages used worldwide. I am newbie and trying to improve my speaking and writing both and given tips are not only helpful to chose the correct path to learn english and but encouraged me somewhere.
Thanks A LOT !!
compact and very useful tips for all learners.
fantastic tips….helped a lot really…..
First i should thank to you. Because my mind always grumble and it always said , i can not able to speak english. But hereafter i got a codifence. I like to keep in touch with you. You are my hidden, unknown but great friend. Be in mail. Bye.
vow, it’s a great relief for me , to know people like me are there in this world ,struggling to be masters in english language
oh! it is vary good tips for me because I am not good English Lerner.
Hi,
Great article!
You could add “electronic helpers” to your list.
I needed something to proofread my texts at the final stage of editing.
Following English writing tool helped me to do that: http://www.englishsoftware.org/
It checks English texts with a simple mouse click in any program, and also suggests better synonyms or sentences structures, which I find quite useful.
Sincerely,
Jenny
I can not formulate proper sentences while writing email. Can please someone help me how to improve my email writing skills?
good tips.. make me want to say something on it…
I am struggling on writing for long time… don’t know how to improve it… now.. I can follow it step by step… see how it goes….
Hi thanks for the tips. I am sure i will try it to make me comfortable and convenience when speaking and writing english in my working area and daily day . Hopefully, i can master “this” language as soon as possible and improving my confident level when dealing with different types of people especially foreigner which are always asking a direction ways when they are lost in middle of my town.
great study done by the writter,got a lot of enthuiasium after reading such an motivatating and inspriatioanl.thank u so much sir ,i’ll be a great help in future.
Inspiring and Useful Blog….Thnks
Nice website & ideas. Very recently, i got promotion as Project Engineer. In this new role, i have to wite lot of emails every day which require strong written skills. Looking forward to improve my spoken / written skills.
Thanks & keep posted.
Hi
Thank you for your great article
I’m studying English right now and I want to improve it.
I use your tips on writing and they are useful for me.
Thank you sir ,i am feel very happy to read you view about writing skill .i follow it.Again heartfull thankyou .
Awesome! Your article is really helpful. I wish to learn more about English from you.
Thanks!
Hi,
I just want someone to correct me if i am wrong. One of my stratgedy to improve english is to copy a paragraph from a well known writers from their articles and paste it in word processor and try to write in my own words. What i have felt it does help a bit to analyze the writer’s style and remember idioms and specific words used in articles. Because for me words starts fading after some time but if use the above technique than i can easily remember all important words and analytical style.
Beeing a copy cat is a good practice sometime.
I am learning English and writing an English blog now. Thanks for your post and I have learned much from this post.
Awesome
Hi,
This is a nice article, with lot of related link which will help the people not only to understand but also to go in depth and have a study plan, even though this article does not say anything about the time frame. I would suggest to have a time frame to improve or a target date to improve. without which the things will not fall in place.
What is your thought.
this is a great pleasure 4 me to put my comment regarding tips. English is my second language, which took two much time . Now , i know, there is huge material to read and learn, these ten tips are very essential to take result effeciently. I also emphasize to new learner to overview these and make pratice . This is only best source.
hi you have written a nice article how to improve ur communication skill for those who are not native english speaker
hi,
It is most amazing and helpful post i read about improving English.It really takes care of most of the difficulties a novice face in learning of English language. I very grateful to you for this post
every time I try to write something I feel empty just
as if I dont know any vocabulary that’s one if my problems
with english writting and the other thing is I feel that my writting is
messi.I dont know how to organize ideas.I tried reading but
it didn’t work for me. I know that it’s not something that happense
overnight.I hope this artical help me
Nice and very informative article. Thanks
Thanks a lot for the great tips.