ESL Blogs

October 20th is a special day for writers! Writers around the world, including English teachers and students, will be sharing how they use writing to connect with others.

I would like to invite all MyEC bloggers to join this month's writing challenge. Let's show the world how we write to connect with other learners and teachers from around the world.  

Your Task

1. Create a new blog post. Use the title: Writing Challenge: Write 2 Connect

2. Write a few paragraphs to answer this question: How does writing on MyEC help you to  connect with people? You could also use the topic: Why I Write

3. Share a link to a piece of writing that you are very proud of! (Your own writing on MyEC.)

4. Share a link to a piece of writing that helped you connect with others. (Another member's writing on MyEC.)

5. Leave a comment on this post with a link to your post. 

6. (Optional) If you are on twitter, share your post by using the hashtag #write2connect. (If you're not on twitter, consider joining and tweeting in English! You can use the hashtag #twinglish to practise English.) I will be tweeting all of the posts that are submitted. If you don't want your post shared, please let me know.

My Example

I have always used writing as a way to connect with people. When I was a little girl, I loved to write to my grandparents. Receiving a letter in the mail was the best feeling in the world. My grandfather only went to grade six, and he needed to practise his writing. I was one of the only people he ever wrote to. This made me feel very special.

As I got older, I enjoyed writing journal entries at school. My grade three teacher always took the time to leave a comment and start a conversation with me (in writing). Her interest in my writing left a lasting impression on me. My grade six teacher also taught me a lot about writing. She encouraged us to keep a writing portfolio of all of our best writing. 

When I became an English teacher, my love of writing was put to good use. I taught a writing course and started a school newspaper with my students. Whenever my students did a writing exercise, I did it too. I firmly believe that we are all students, and we never stop learning. On my teaching breaks, I learned everything I could about writing. I practised creative writing, and eventually wrote a novel and some children's stories. 

Over the years, I have found that blogging is one of the most effective ways to connect with others through writing. I may never know if someone has read my novel or children's stories, but it's easy to tell if people are reading my blog posts. I can see page views, likes, tweets, and comments about my writing. It means so much to me when people take the time to comment on or share my writing. Writers write because they want to make a connection with readers. 

On MyEC, I can connect with English learners and teachers from all over the world. I use my blog to encourage learners to practise English through writing challenges. I also encourage teachers to come up with creative ways to teach English. It makes me so happy to see English learners bravely blogging in a community like ours. They write stories, poems, and articles. They also share questions and answers, and respond to writing prompts and challenges. In our community, bloggers have a special bonus. This club comes with a ready-made readership. I can't think of a better way for English learners and teachers to connect with each other than through blogging.  

My Links

A post I am proud of: How to get the most out of EC's Community

A post that helped me connect with someone: I have a dream by Modaway (Actually, all of the responses to this writing challenge helped us make great connections. See comments for links.)