1. Why do beginners need to practice writing English?
Why do beginners need to practice writing English?
Writing is often considered the most challenging skill and a source of anxiety for many when learning a foreign language. To excel in writing, writers must have a strong foundation in vocabulary and grammar.
Different from spoken language, you can make a small grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary mistake, but listeners can rely on context to guess and understand your meaning. However, with written language, you must write completely accurately, including punctuation marks. Just one small mistake can lead the reader to misunderstand your entire point.
A text composed by someone who regularly practices writing compared to someone who only writes when necessary will easily perceive that the guidance and storytelling structure of the daily writer are much clearer, coherent, and engaging than those of the conversational style writer. To make your writing skills professional, there's only one way, and that is to practice writing every day.
However, many people mistakenly think that writing skills are simply applying grammar and vocabulary to construct sentences. But in reality, a good writer must demonstrate how they construct a clear narrative throughout the entire writing piece.
Many people possess a solid foundation of knowledge but when they start writing an essay, they don't know how to express their thoughts, organize ideas logically, and align with what they want to convey. That's why you need to practice writing regularly right from the start of learning a foreign language.
For beginners, a proper start will help you go in the right direction and form continuous habits without having to go back and correct mistakes. Training to present thoughts in long-form text from the beginning will both help you improve your writing structure and apply vocabulary and grammar frequently. When you have to use theoretical knowledge in real-life contexts, you will remember and understand how to use them better.
In general, practicing writing is extremely necessary, whether for beginners or those who have been studying for many years. The more diligently you improve your writing skills, the more professional your expression will be in your essays and writings.
2. Effective Ways to Practice Writing English for Beginners
Effective Ways to Practice Writing English for Beginners
2.1 Learning the 3000 Most Basic Vocabulary Words
The first effective way to practice writing English that everyone should apply is to enhance your vocabulary, especially learning the most basic and commonly used vocabulary words. In both spoken and written language, vocabulary is always one of the most important factors. Having a good vocabulary will help you express yourself easily, present your thoughts without any restrictions. Mastering all vocabulary is endless, so the way to learn vocabulary effectively and remember it for a long time is to learn them by topic.
Firstly, you should list various topics, prioritizing simple everyday topics, those related closely to work, things you love, or in specific fields you're interested in. Learn by topic
2.2 Learning the Most Basic Grammar Structures
Unlike spoken language, grammar plays an extremely important role in written language. When communicating, you may sometimes use grammar imperfectly, just expressing yourself in a way the other person understands.
However, in writing, standard grammar structures in English not only help convey your information but also demonstrate your professionalism. The contexts of written language use are often very formal and serious, so grammar mistakes will devalue your writing.
To enhance your grammar knowledge, for beginners, you can prioritize simple grammar, frequently used in daily life or work. After mastering the basic structures, you should then learn more about advanced grammar constructions.
Lưu ý: Trong văn viết, tuyệt đối luôn chú ý dấu chấm câu, lỗi dấu chấm câu là lỗi vô cùng nghiêm trọng và sẽ gây ra nhiều hiểu lầm cho người đọc.
2.3 Writing a Daily To-Do List in English
Once you've built up a foundation of vocabulary and basic grammar, you can practice writing with simple sentences by creating a to-do list every day. Most to-do lists use short sentences to describe the tasks you need to accomplish in a day. However, doing this as a daily habit will help you develop thinking and language expression skills regularly.
Furthermore, the tasks to be done each day are often different, so you'll have to think about and use various vocabulary. At the same time, you'll also encounter many new words you haven't learned yet, which means you'll have the opportunity to enrich your vocabulary every day.
2.4 Writing a Daily Journal
In addition to practicing with short sentences through to-do lists, writing a journal will be a method of writing in English
A journal is where you keep memories, experiences, and thoughts. When describing events, emotions, and daily thoughts on paper, you have to practice writing continuously and on various topics. So you will seek out and use many new words, which helps expand your vocabulary and make the use of vocabulary more natural.
In particular, writing a journal every day will create a regular study habit. This not only helps you maintain discipline in learning English but also creates a fixed time each day for language development.
2.5 Reading a Little English Every Day
Reading English books to improve English writing skills
Not only practicing by writing continuously, but you also need to learn more about presenting ideas, building stories, using vocabulary from people with deep expertise, and this is especially necessary for beginners in learning English.
Moreover, books often provide many real-life examples of grammar usage. This helps you grasp grammar structures and how to use them in different situations.
Reading English, especially reading foreign language books every day, not only helps you understand more about professional writing but also helps you expand your knowledge base. However, you must choose selectively suitable books for your level to easily comprehend what the authors intend to convey.
2.6 Writing About Favorite Topics in English
A more advanced way for beginners to improve English writing is to practice writing long essays expressing opinions, viewpoints on topics they love.
Unlike to do lists or journals, expressing thoughts on a certain topic or issue will require you to know how to apply more complex structures, with a more professional tone. Moreover, with various topics, you can develop a diverse style of expression that suits the topic being discussed.
Moreover, when writing about things you love in English, it makes writing practice more enjoyable, enhances thinking, and expresses sentences better than rigid topics that make you bored and feel burdened every time you write.
2.7 Regularly Communicating in Foreign Languages
The method of practicing English writing through listening communication may seem strange, but in fact, writing and speaking are deeply related. Even when learning to write and speak, you both need to think in English, but when speaking, you need to think faster than writing. Therefore, combining English communication by topic with practice will help speed up thinking when writing, and it is also a way for you to enrich your vocabulary.
You can practice communication by socializing, discussing in English with your friends, or confidently starting conversations with foreigners in public places for practice.
2.8 Joining English Learning Communities
English learning communities are where you can learn, interact with many others who are in the process of exploring a new language like you. When participating in these communities, you will reference many different writing styles, further expanding your knowledge of this language.
You can also practice writing to share your knowledge and experience with the community. This not only enriches your writing but also helps you use vocabulary and grammar confidently.
At the same time, you may also receive a lot of feedback from readers and other members. This feedback can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your writing, thereby improving your writing skills.
2.9 Establishing a Personal Blog to Write in English
In addition to participating in general communities, an effective way to practice writing in English that you may overlook is to build your own blog. Through writing regularly on your personal blog, you have the opportunity to develop and refine your personal writing style. This makes your writing unique and reflective of your individuality.
Writing a blog will help you hone your skills in conveying ideas and information clearly. You need to practice presenting in a logical and engaging manner to attract readers.
Furthermore, through blog posts, you can easily track your progress over time. This is not only a way to self-assess but also a source of encouragement when you see improvement from previous posts to subsequent ones.
2.10 Find a Specialist to Support Checking and Editing
For beginners, it's best to find someone with a high level of proficiency in the language to help edit your writing. If you just keep writing continuously without knowing where you're making mistakes, the writing practice may yield opposite results.
If the relationships around you lack someone with the expertise to edit English writing, you can access some self-study English learning websites like Lang-8, Grammarly, Essay forum, or Wrinity. These are websites that automatically correct errors in your writing and provide suggestions for improvement.
2.11 Practice Using Sentence Structures and Synonyms to Rewrite Sentences Without Changing Meaning
Utilizing sentence structures and synonyms to rewrite sentences (Paraphrasing) is an important and necessary skill in English writing practice. This helps you express your ideas in a rich, vivid manner, avoiding repetition, while enhancing your grammar and writing skills.
To rewrite a sentence without changing its meaning, you can employ techniques such as changing sentence structures, using synonyms/antonyms, employing conjunctions, using noun phrases/verb phrases/adjective phrases, etc.
2.12 Seek Reliable Dictionary Lookup Websites
For those wanting to enhance their English writing skills, frequent vocabulary lookup is essential. To understand word meanings, increase vocabulary, and have accurate contextual example sentences, you should use English - English dictionaries like Cambridge dictionary, Longman dictionary, Oxford Learner's Dictionaries.
2.13 Knowing How to Utilize AI to Support English Writing Practice
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being applied in various fields, including education. In English writing practice, AI can assist learners in many ways, helping them save time, enhance efficiency, and comprehensively improve writing skills.
Here are some specific applications of AI in English writing practice:
- Lên ý tưởng và dàn ý: AI có thể giúp bạn brainstorm ý tưởng cho bài viết bằng cách gợi ý các chủ đề, câu hỏi liên quan, hoặc cung cấp các ví dụ về bài viết hay. Sau đó, AI có thể hỗ trợ bạn lên dàn ý chi tiết cho bài viết, bao gồm các luận điểm chính, luận điểm phụ và cách trình bày logic.
Gợi ý từ vựng và cấu trúc câu: Khi bạn viết, AI có thể gợi ý những từ vựng và cấu trúc câu phù hợp với ngữ cảnh, giúp bạn diễn đạt ý tưởng một cách chính xác và trôi chảy hơn. AI cũng có thể giúp bạn sửa lỗi ngữ pháp và chính tả, đảm bảo bài viết của bạn được trau chuốt và chuyên nghiệp.
Đánh giá và phản hồi: Sau khi bạn hoàn thành bài viết, AI có thể đánh giá bài viết của bạn dựa trên các tiêu chí như ngữ pháp, từ vựng, cấu trúc câu, logic, v.v. AI cũng có thể phản hồi chi tiết về những điểm mạnh và điểm yếu của bài viết, giúp bạn xác định những điểm cần cải thiện và nâng cao kỹ năng viết của mình.
Currently, there are numerous AI tools supporting English writing practice, both free and paid. Some popular tools include Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Hemingway Editor, etc. Additionally, you can explore more advanced AI options such as Chat GPT 3.5, Google Gemini, Microsoft Bing AI, Pop AI, etc. You can research and select the tool that best suits your needs and proficiency level.
3. Simple Process for Constructing an Article
Process of Constructing a Simple Article
For beginners, if they are only given suggestions on how to effectively practice English writing but do not know where to start writing an article, those methods will become meaningless. Therefore, Mytour English suggests a simple process for you to present your views in written form as follows:
- Bước 1: Chọn chủ đề
Firstly, you must determine a topic that you want to write about. As beginners in writing practice, you should choose simple topics that match your interests or work areas to make it easier to start your writing journey.
- Bước 2: Nghiên cứu chủ đề
Once you have identified the topic you want to write about, you must research and understand it thoroughly in order to express your own views accurately, coherently, and logically. You can read reliable sources on the Internet, consider opinions, and gather necessary information to support your content.
- Bước 3: Xây dựng ý tưởng
After grasping the topic you want to write about, you can outline your initial ideas. You need to determine what concept and message you want to convey.
- Bước 4: Lập dàn ý để viết dễ dàng hơn
Next, you should present your ideas in an outline, listing the main points you want to write about. Creating an outline will help you organize information systematically and shape your ideas.
- Bước 5: Viết bài đúng trọng tâm
For newcomers, even though they have prepared sufficient knowledge about the topic, ideas, and detailed outlines, they may still encounter difficulties in presentation and expression when writing. However, every beginning is challenging. If you practice every day, you will gain experience and adjust your writing style to make your articles more attractive and engaging.
- Bước 6: Đọc lại bài viết và chỉnh sửa để hoàn chỉnh
After writing the conclusion of the article, don't rush to stop writing, but check the grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. Reread the article to ensure that it clearly and coherently conveys your ideas.
4. Common Mistakes When Writing in English
4.1 Challenges with Difficult Writing
When starting to write, often vocabulary, grammar, and style are weak, but many people inadvertently start off on the wrong foot by attempting challenging topics for their first writings. A long and difficult article will make you feel confused, unable to fully express your thoughts due to limited vocabulary and grammar. This will make you intimidated by writing.
It's best to start writing with short and simple articles like to-do lists or diaries as suggested by Mytour above. Once you get used to it, you can gradually increase the difficulty of your writing to longer articles on topics you enjoy.
4.2 Not Focusing on Specific Goals
When writing in English, just like in Vietnamese, you must set a specific goal for each article, such as writing to persuade, explain, or describe, to keep the article focused and purposeful. This helps you avoid being vague or verbose in expression.
Trên đây là tổng hợp thông tin về 10+ cách luyện viết tiếng Anh hiệu quả