How to Master Writing in a Foreign Language 5 Steps at Any Level

How to Master Writing in a Foreign Language 5 Steps at Any Level 5 Steps to Master Writing at Any Level Have you ever gotten an email full of spelling and grammatical mistakes?Eep!Chances are you have, and chances are it didnt leave  a great impression.When you write in a foreign language, you dont want to be the person  whose correspondence is riddled with errors. That, among other reasons, is why writing well is an essential part of learning any language. Why Writing Is So ImportantWriting Is Essential to Long-distance CommunicationNeed to communicate with someone who isnt sitting across from you? Youll probably need to use some form of written communication. Even if youre setting up a time to make a phone call or have a language lesson over Skype, youll probably be sending an email, instant message or text message. Using online chat rooms, forums and comment sections of articles, sending snail mail and even updating your social media in a foreign language all require writing skills.Mistakes Make You Seem UneducatedIt wont always be obvious that youre not a native speaker of your t arget language, especially if youre reaching out to someone for the first time. Errors in your writing will make you seem like you havent done your homework. People may doubt your ability to understand their reply. Thats not a good first impression to make.Language Tests Measure Writing AbilityDo you need to prove you can speak your target language? If so, youll probably be asked to prove you can write it. Most language tests measure your ability to write, either by asking you to write something in the language or by testing your ability to fill in the blanks in a sentence.Often the oral parts of language exams are less rigorous or theyre considered optionalâ€"I know thats the case with the HSK, which measures Chinese language proficiency. So being an excellent orator will not make up for below-average writing skills on many language exams.Writing Is Essential for Professional CommunicationIf you hope to use your target language in any remotely professional capacity, being able to w rite with relatively few mistakes becomes even more essential. The stakes are high in professional communication.You dont want to make any faux pas in an email to a client or supplier who speaks your target language, nor would you want to use the wrong greeting or make a glaring mistake in a cover letter to a potential employer.Mistakes in Writing Can Lead to MiscommunicationWhen you speak, smoothing out a misunderstanding takes seconds or, at worst, a couple minutes of confused back-and-forth. But when you write, choosing the wrong vocabulary word or garbling your grammar can cause serious problems with comprehension that end up taking a long time to unravel.There are less non-language clues for the reader to go by than for a listenerâ€"things like body language, gesture and context. Because of the nature of writing, back and forth communication is also slower, so it takes a longer time to figure out what you actually meant to say. Its so much better to write it correctly the first time.Ways to Improve Writing at  All Proficiency LevelsLearning to write in a foreign language isnt that different from learning to write in your native languageâ€"which took you 12 years of formal schooling to master. In most cases, the difference is that you have to be  more self-motivated to master writing in a foreign language, because you wont have 12  years worth of teachers forcing you to spell correctly. However, the same habits that make you a good writer in your native language will help you be a better writer in your target language.Read in Your Target LanguageChildren who read have better language skills  and language learners who read in their target language have better language skillsâ€"especially better writing skills. The benefits of reading accrue from any type of reading, not just active reading. Even if youre reading a romance novel or Harry Potter book in your target language and youre casually  skimming over anything you dont understand, the increased exposure to the language in its written form will help you develop better writing skills.Get Corrections on Your WritingThe best way to build a solid writing ability is to write and get corrected. Remember: This is how you learned to write in your native language. If youre studying independently, you can get corrections on your writing on sites like Lang-8. If youre working with a private tutor, make sure he or she gives you written homework and corrects it, explaining any mistakes.Once youve gotten your writing corrected, make sure to rewrite your text  to incorporate the corrections. That will allow you to internalize and practice the correct grammar, vocabulary and style in your target language.Pay Lots of Attention to GrammarWriting well means having impeccable grammar. When you speak, its easy to slur declensions  (in many languages, native speakers do just that) and generally hide a less-then-ideal grasp of grammar. Theres no way to hide poor grammar when you writeâ€"everything is bla ck and white on the page. So becoming a better writer means a complete grasp of grammar rules.5 Steps to Master Writing at Any LevelBuilding the Foundation: 5 Beginner-level Steps to Get Started  Writing1. Learn  the RulesYour first step as a beginner is to learn the building blocks of your target languages writing system.If the language has an alphabet (most do), that means both mastering the alphabet and learning spelling rules. Note that even if youre learning a language that uses the Latin alphabet, youll still have to learn some new letters, accents and pronunciations.If youre learning French, for example, youll need to master the  accent marks  and to know when  a c  should be written with a  cédille (ç).  If youre learning Chinese or another language that uses characters, focus on learning both basic, common characters and the building blocks of those characters (radicals).2. Master Basic GrammarWhen youre a beginner, its easy to feel like the grammar rules youre learning a re boring and stuffy. But this stage is all about foundation buildingâ€"it might not be super interesting, but its extremely important.Take all of your grammar lessons very seriously. You should also make sure you do grammar exercisesâ€"which count as writing practiceâ€"and get corrections to make sure you internalize and master grammar concepts as they are taught.3.  Focus on Correct SentencesWhen youre a beginner, dont try to write out huge compositions. Focus on writing simple sentences, but writing them correctly. Grammar exercises are a great example of a writing exercise for beginners. Dont get caught up in the quantity of writing youre doing.At most, your compositions should be about a paragraph long. At the beginner level, its better to focus your energy on doing a little well than doing a lot poorly.4. Keep Subjects SimpleAs a beginner, dont focus on writing complex tales using constructions you dont really understand. Beginner vocabulary and grammar concepts are generally very descriptive and concrete.The nouns youre learning are the kinds of things that you can point to or hold in your hand rather than abstract concepts. Grammar youve learned will be similarly concrete. Heres some subjects that are well-suited for beginners writing:Descriptions of your family, your home, your bedroom or your hometownDescriptions of your routinesâ€"how you spend the weekend, what you do at work, how you make dinnerDescriptions of what you did during the past day, weekend or on your last vacationThe bottom line is that you shouldnt be trying to argue about the meaning of lifeâ€"just focus on writing about simple subjects and doing so correctly.5. Write LonghandIf youre like most people, you probably do most of your writing on the computerâ€"in your native language or any other language. Your computer probably double-checks your spelling and might even have a grammar check as well.If youre learning a character language like Chinese, the experience of writing on the com puter is substantially different (easier) than writing longhand. The only way to get good at writingâ€"and to build a really solid foundationâ€"is to practice writing by hand. Here are some things you can write out by hand:Diary entriesShopping listsRemindersRemember, thoughâ€"if you really want to master writing, you need to be not just writing for yourself, but getting corrections on your work. So dont write anything so personal that you wont be willing to share with a teacher!Moving Forward: 5 Steps to Take as an Intermediate Writer1. Move to More Complex Subject MatterAt the intermediate level, you should start writing about more complicated subjects that require more advanced vocabulary and grammar.Current events is a great subject to practice with, because theres always something going on! You can also keep it personal by writing about experiences further in your past or your plans for the future.2. Write Longer TextsAt the intermediate level, you should be trying to write mor e than a few sentences. Do at least some writing that hits the 500-word mark.You should also start thinking about more than just whether or not each individual sentence is grammatically correctâ€"make sure that you can write a coherent paragraph with sentences that relate to each other and flow correctly. This means learning to use pronouns appropriately and learning the phrases your target language uses to refer back to ideas that have already been mentioned.3. Start TypingOnce youve established a strong foundation by writing longhand, you should move to typing.Youll need to change your keyboard to your target language. If your target language is Arabic, Russian or another language that doesnt use the Latin alphabet, I would recommend getting keyboard stickers as well.Typing well involves a lot of practice and is like learning a manual language, so it will take practice to get to point where you can type as fast in your target language as in your native language. Using the computer opens up a huge number of opportunities for writing in your target language, such as:Using social media. Pay attention to which social media platforms are used by speakers of your target language. If youre learning Russian, for example, set up a VKontakte profile. If youre learning Chinese, a Weibo account is basically a must.Commenting on blog posts. Reading blogs in your target language is a good way to get in plenty of reading practice, and participating in the online discussion is excellent writing practice.Utilizing relevant apps. Other apps that have a written component, ranging from dating apps to weight loss apps that force you to write updates.4. Learn Specialized Writing StylesWriting well, like speaking well, requires using the correct phrases, vocabulary and style for the circumstance. Different types of writing require radically different types of vocabulary and often have their own set phrases and formats that are quite different.Using the correct greeting is remarkab ly important if youre sending someone an email or letter. Here are some types of writing that most likely have specific formats that you should learn:EmailsLetters, both formal and informalCover letters and resumesInternet slangOther types of writing, depending on your goals as a language learner, might include academic papers, news articles, reports or scripts.Youll also want to learn set phrases like once upon a time.5. Read in Your Target Language and Write SummariesOne of the best ways to practice writing is to summarizeâ€"in your own wordsâ€"things that you read in your target language.This type of exercise is ideal for writing something that can be  corrected by a language exchange partner, teacher or tutor (remember you want to get corrections on at least some writing, and youre less likely to be corrected on your social media posts).The goal is to use the reading material as a way to learn new vocabulary and sentence structures and then to summarize the piecesâ€"without refe rring to the originalâ€"so that the vocabulary and turns of phrase are internalized. Basing your writing on something youve read also eliminates the need to come up with a subject, which is surprisingly difficult when facing the blank page.Mastery: 5 Steps to Dominate Writing as an  Advanced Learner1. Write for PublicationWant to become a really good writer? Make sure that your work is publicly available. The idea of a stranger reading your work is a powerful motivator to get it right. This doesnt mean that you have to become a full-time writer  in your target language (although there are certainly writers who write in a language that isnt their native language), just that you should seek out opportunities to publish works of writing. Heres a couple of ideas:Start a blog in your target languageGuest post on other blogs in your target language (especially if you dont want to commit to blogging yourself)Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine in your target languageSub mit a professional paper at a conference related to your profession.2. Practice Different Types of WritingAt an advanced level, youre working on more then learning set phrases used in writing. Instead, you want to master different types of writing.There are surprising cultural differences in some types of writingâ€"I had a French professor insist that an essay  must be five  paragraphs and had to adhere to a very strict format in order to be correct. Here are some of the types of writing youll want to work on as an advanced learner:Persuasive essaysNarratives of different lengthsCorrespondenceProfessional writing like reports and memos3. Retell Stories or Essays You Read in Your Target or Native LanguageRetelling stories (or other kinds of writing, depending on what type of writing youre working on) is a great way to practice.You read a piece of writing (of a manageable length, probably between 1,000 and 2,000 words), put the original aside and then try to replicate the piece of wri ting on your own. This exercise will both help you overcome writers block and teach you new vocabulary.Retelling stories is a good way to internalize the turns of phrase, vocabulary and sentence structure that native speakers of your target language use in their writing.4. Pay Attention to StyleYouve moved beyond merely avoiding gross errors in your writingâ€"so now its time to care about whether or not your writing sounds decent. This means varying your word choice by using synonyms and using sentence structures that arent only correct but that also sound good to a native speaker of your target language.5. Continue Getting CorrectionsOnce you get to an advanced level, its easy to assume that you dont need any more instruction. But if you really want to master writing, you need to continue getting corrections on your written workâ€"indefinitely. It doesnt have to be on every piece of written work you produce, but periodic corrections will help you continue improving your writing.Wri ting is one of the hardest things to do well as a non-native speaker of a language, because theres no room to hide behind mumbled errors  and because becoming literateâ€"even in your native languageâ€"requires quite a bit of effort and instruction.That doesnt mean writing should be neglected, because your overall language ability will often be judged solely on the basis of how well you write. There are lots of ways to improve your writing ability, but they can be essentially boiled down to three key components:Read a lotWrite a lotGet your writing correctedIf you can do those three things, youll see your writing ability increase until you can genuinely consider yourself a master!Emily Liedel  is a writer and polyglot. She speaks French, Spanish, Russian, German and Mandarin Chineseâ€"her goal is to speak all of the official UN languages fluently (HINT: Arabic is the language left on her list). She writes about language learning and living abroad at  www.thebabeltimes.com.And One Mor e ThingUsing FluentU on the regular will help your writing skills by expanding your vocabulary, giving you spelling and grammar practice and strengthening your overall grasp of the language youre learning. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover your mouse over the subtitles to instantly view definitions.Interactive transcript for Carlos Baute song.You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs learn mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the iTunes store  or Google Play store.