I think to improve your writing you really need to write
something in English more or less every day. In my experience, it's best not
to be too hard on yourself, but just write a few lines about what you did or
about your opinion of something. If you're studying for an exam, you probably
need to do more writing, perhaps writing the answer to an exam question at
least twice a week.
Writing is one of the five language skills, which are:
When writing, it is essential to understand the
basic system of a language. In English this includes knowlege of grammar,
punctuation and sentence structure. Vocabulary is also necessary, as is
correct spelling and formatting.
When writing it is also very important to know the
difference between cohesive and coherent. A text is cohesive if its elements
are linked together. A text is coherent if it makes sense. It should be clear
that these are not the same thing. It should be clear that these are not the
same thing. That is, a text may be cohesive (i.e. linked together), but
incoherent (i.e. linked together), but incoherent (i.e. meaningless). Here is
one such (invented) text:
Maria is my sister. My mother
usually goes shopping. When I am tired, I usually take a bath and rest for a
while. Well, that's all.
Each
sentence is notionally linked to the one that precedes it, using both lexical
and grammatical means, but the text is ultimately senseless - to me anyway
(and I wrote it!).
A writer may
write for personal enjoyment or use, or for an audience of one person or
more. The audience may be known (targeted) or unknown. Taking notes for study
purposes is an example of writing for one's self. Blogging publicly is an
example of writing for an unknown audience. A letter to a friend is an
example of writing for a targeted audience. As with speaking, it is important
to consider your audience when writing. There are many different styles of
writing, from informal to formal.
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Some
useful and practical tools and resources have been collected so far. Just
click on each of them to improve your writing.
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