Photo Credit: Everything TypePad
Whether we like it or not, most ESL exams include a Writing test which usually counts for 60%. In the old G.C.E O Level paper of English as a second language, this percentage went up to 70%. Twenty years ago, I used to encourage my students to have native speakers of their age as penfriends since practising writing regularly can help you greatly get through ESL exams with flying colours. But considering the rapid growth of technology, blogging in English is a great way to improve your writing skills before you know it. When I first suggested this to some of my online students, I received some interesting feedback and a variety of reactions. Here are a few:
I feel too embarrassed to blog in English. I make a lot of mistakes and native speakers will laugh at me.
It takes me hours to work out a sentence correctly and besides, after school ,I want to relax on the computer and do things like playing games or chatting with my friends in my language. Not write a composition again!!!
I know that a lot of people read blogs but ...if I blog in English native speakers will make fun of me!
Blogging in English sounds interesting but what if I make lots of mistakes?
First things first! No one will laugh at you!! And you are wrong if you believe that native speakers never make mistakes! On the contrary, many of them will appreciate your effort to blog in English and you may end up with lots of native readers.
Here are a few reasons why blogging in English can help you greatly to improve your writing:1. It's the best exam practice in writing because you can create a blog about your favourite hobby, your favourite singer, your favourite sport etc or simply keep a kind of diary. Together with your text, you can also post your favourite photos or videos as well as interact with other readers who share the same interests as you do. So blogging in English will soon be a pleasure - not a tedious English Composition task!
2. One of the greatest problems most of you have when it comes to writing is that you tend to think in your own language and then ...translate into English. This is invariably a disaster. By blogging in English regularly - let's say 2-3 times a week - you will eventually be trained to think in English. First of all because blogging in English will involve you reading English blogs on the topics you also like. So, the more you read, the better you write.
3. If you want this activity to be effective for you, don't copy and paste other people's writing or else you may be in trouble. Copying and pasting other people's writing and presenting it as your own is called plagiarism - in simple terms it's not very different from stealing things from other people's property! So you may be accused of copyright infringement. Besides, this will certainly not help you improve your own writing skills. You are allowed, however, to quote other people's writing which you happen to like but make sure you post a link to their blog or web page. Most importantly, concentrate on your own writing.
4. Blogging in English for pleasure is the key to gradually developing great writing skills. And don't forget to use your grammar and spellcheck of your Word processor.
