My diary
January 7th 2011
Friday
Which one improvement can I make to impact my English studies the most? My answer is writing and my reasons come as follows:
1- Almost most universities and companies in Canada test writing ability. It is not important if you have PhD or you are a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, etc, you must pass the writing test relatively well.
2-Writing is a good way to review all new vocabularies. To write well, I have to know many vocabularies. Making a list of all new words and using them in a sentence is somehow useful. But, it does not guarantee to memorize them very well. Moreover, if not used, words would be forgotten. So, to recall new words, I have to use them as much as I can and this is not done without writing. As said, “Use it or lose it.”
3-Writing in English is not as boring as making a list of vocabularies with a sentence using the new words. After a while, your flash cards would be piled up and you do not even know how to organize them. But, by writing on the Microsoft word, you can use less paper and have enough space to keep them organized. More importantly, when I write, I barely forget a word. And, when I speak English, words automatically jump into my head.
4-I have to read more. By reading, I review all the words that I just learned and learn more new vocabularies. According to linguistic experiments, a word should be used and seen as nearly as 20 times so that it remains in the long-term memory. Since, I see words in a context, I do not have to struggle to memorize them. I effortlessly keep them in my mind.
5-Vocabularies help improve listening skill.
6-One good technique that helps to speak fluently is writing. Most English learners ask how they can improve their speaking skill. Writing and speaking is so alike. In writing, you write in the way you speak. The only difference is that you only change some informal words into formal ones. So, writing helps you improve your speaking ability. Interestingly enough, one practice for speaking section of TOEFL test is to first write down what you are going to speak and then, to read it out loud. When test takers have done this many times, they can record their voice and speak without looking at their written text. By doing so, they improve their speaking skill.
7-I have to think logically and to know English rules since the organization of writing has special order. Every word or sentence should be chosen carefully. I should spend most of my time on the organization of my writing, brainstorming and mapping than what I am going to write about. So, logical thinking is a great part of a good writing as well as having the good sense of grammar. I have had a good grammar basis but I learned grammar mostly by reading and writing.
8-I pay much more attention to the sentence structures while I read a text and try to use the same structure in my writing as well.
9-English learners read and speak more than they write. We can speak or read every day but we can barely find a chance to sit and write about a subject. Writing is not satisfying because the final result is childlike. Therefore, we give it up.
10- English learners should be more disciplined and organized to write. You can read your book, magazine and newspaper wherever you would like. But, to write, you should find a place, have a notebook or a computer, find a good and interesting topic, have enough knowledge or experience and finally, courage. So, it is a much more complicated task.
11- English learners should write as quickly as he/she can. Imagine you are working in a company or you are in a class, you do not have the extraordinary amount of time to write. You should think quickly and decide what you are going to write. So, writing for fun differs mostly from writing for professional and academic works.
12-To practice dictation, synonyms and antonyms, punctuation, writing is a good way.
13-English learners would like to be good at writing but, they do not take any action towards it. To be good at writing, we should practice writing.
In short, it is said that do less and accomplish more. By only focusing on writing, I improve other skills such as listening, speaking, reading, dictation, word forms, synonyms, grammars, etc. In addition to that, writing is the most difficult skill. Most English learners have problem in this area and most firms and universities pay much more attention to this part. Therefore, writing is so significant.
Be fun and free,
Nafis
Comments
My dear friend, Walid,
Yesterday, I saw your comments here but today I don't know what happend to it that it is not here. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the nice and caring advice that you gave me. I know what you mean. I definitely consider what you told me and try to be moderate in everything including writing and learning English. Thanks a lot my friend,
I wish I'd be just the half as organized and determined,as you are!
I enjoyed your writing,even it was long,you could keep up my interest with your ravishing style till the very end.
I love your writings,because I can learn a lot from you,thank you for it!
Dear Nida, in fact, you motivate and encourage me to write. This is really important for me.
Not using dictionary while reading a book, it a right thing to do and we, English learners, should "Guess" the meaning of an unfamilar word. However, this may not be good for the texts that are full of unfamilar words. In that case, it's good to use dictionary. I am like you too while I read a book or magazine, I don't use a dictionary at all and try to guess the meaning. This is really important in English learning process. Imagine your own mother tounge language, we don't know all words, but we still can understand the meaning and get the main idea. So, what you do it right.
What I do is that sometimes a word will be repeated many many times in a text and I don't know the meaning. In that case, I look it up in the dictionary and because I have seen it many many times, I barely forget.
But, writing tells you how much you don't know and how much you have still to work on your weaknesses. For example, when I want to write, I can not find a proper word and therefore, I look it up in the dictionary in my mother tounge language to find the English word. Sometimes, when I do this, I realize I knew the word but I simply couldn't remember it. And, after a while, if you do that, you have accumulate a lot of words and synonyms and words will come to your mind very effortlessly without pushing yourself to remember them.
To write well, we have to expose ourselves to reading materials as much as we can because we should learn how to express ourselves in English. It is like a child. A child in the biginning of his/her education is exposed to different stories and words so that he/she can write later in higher grades. However, when you write, the quality of your reading would be different. You read with more attention and care to remember all the structure or how an author conveyed himself. So, words, sentences and structures go to your mind and at the right time when you want to use them , let's say, when you face a foreigner or English strangers, amazingly come to your mind that you will be surprised how you know that word.
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