Everyone is supposed to know English if he or she wants to be called a well-educated person nowadays. Although many people are good at oral conversation, their writing skills are very poor. Apparently, it is not enough to speak well. One should also be able to express his or her thoughts on paper. Sometimes it is necessary to create a business document or simply write a Facebook message to your companion abroad. The simplest text requires profound knowledge of English. Many young students and mature people want to improve their writing skills but they do not know how to reach this goal. The internet offers us thousands of techniques, the majority of which are completely useless. However, there are several basic rules that can definitely help you master the skill of good writing in English.
Method #1: Regular Grammar Exercises
This method is very useful, though modern pedagogues claim that doing grammar exercises is an out-of-date practice. Oral communication, making dialogues and reciting poems of course can make your speech better, but they will hardly improve the quality of your English. You will continue making silly mistakes believing that speech is more considerable than writing or reading. If you want to learn complicated English tenses, irregular verbs, grammatical forms and other details related to the construction of sentences and phraseological units, you ought to work hard every day doing at least five grammar exercises. It is notable to refresh your knowledge of grammar whereas the quality of your written texts is determined by it. Only if you manage to improve your grammar to automatism, will you be able to continue learning English further and further. Grammar is the basis of every language.
Method #2: Read a Lot
It may sound weird, but our eyes ‘remember’ grammatical structures and vocabulary when we see them in the text regularly. For example, if you read business articles every day, you will recognize various stable word combinations and terms that are typical for this branch of knowledge. Fiction is far more useful. When you read classic novels, poems and drama, you improve your vocabulary considerably. An average classic text contains so many authentic synonyms of such words as ‘interesting’, ‘beautiful’ or ‘good’, that you will never use such simple words anymore. Your language will be much more sophisticated and colorful. When you dream to create grand essays, you ought to read a lot to learn new terms and learn about new stylistic devices that can be introduced in your own paper. Doubtless, it is reasonable to read different books of different genre. Both scientific and fictional texts will be useful for the development of your personal style. Do not forget to pay attention to such simple but essential words as ‘fortunately’, ‘moreover’, ‘obviously’, etc. They will make your essay or any written conversation more logical and brighter.
Method #3: Practice a Lot
It isnot worth mentioning that constant practice is the key to success. When a sportsman wants to run better, he or she trains every day to increase endurance and improve muscles. A good musician is not an inborn one, his or her brilliant results are determined by regular practice. In brief, you will never achieve anything without hard work and everyday exercises, writing is no exception. If you do not write an essay every day, you will not become a professional essay writer. Therefore, you are supposed to choose a topic, analyze it and build a logical, original and well-organized essay about it. Very soon, you will notice that you have trained numerous syntactic structures and stable forms that make your essay sound better. If you fail to practice every day, your texts will be poor and illogical. Many students have a common problem, they do not know how to prepare a coherent and concise text. The method is very simple. If you complete hundreds of essays, you will work out a general standard or approach towards writing. You will analyze every subject in the same way, saving much time. You will discover that it is possible to construct the research process of any topic in the same standard way. Constant practice will help make your work logical and faster.
Method #4: Find a Reliable Buddy
It is useful to improve your skills with the help of the so-called “buddy” who is also interested in the improvement of his/her knowledge. You are able to communicate with him/her and share your ideas and questions with each other. If you do not know something, he/she probably does. You can compete in writing short essays and articles and discuss your mistakes in English. The buddy can also play the role of your pen pal, you can write letters to each other and train your knowledge.
Method #5: Exist in the English-Speaking Society
If you want to improve your writing skills, you should communicate with the native speakers as often as possible. Nearly everyone has the access to the internet today. There are many social networking sites and online video games that unite people from all over the world. You can make friends with Americans, Canadians, Australians, etc. and discuss various issues with them. You will learn informal vocabulary and many other practical elements that will help you create good texts all on your own. You can also listen to music and watch your favorite movies and sitcoms in English to develop your knowledge of the language.
