roy2005 Diglot Groupie Hong Kong Joined 6555 days ago 70 posts - 75 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, German
| Message 1 of 9 29 June 2009 at 7:23pm | IP Logged |
If, for any reason, one does not practice writing in the target language, but continues doing plenty of speaking, listening and reading, do you think this will significantly hinder the development of the latter skills?
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ExtraLean Triglot Senior Member France languagelearners.myf Joined 5999 days ago 897 posts - 880 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German
| Message 3 of 9 29 June 2009 at 8:14pm | IP Logged |
Without going into why one should write, and I strongly think that one should.
I don't think that not doing so will impede ones comprehension, both written and spoken. However, I think that without using some of the more complex turns of phrase, grammatical forms and what not in their written form, it will limit ones capacity to express oneself orally. Mainly because one discovers these parts of a language through text, both by reading, and by reproducing, yet one doesn't really have the opportunity to use them outside of the written word.
Thom.
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LtM Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5865 days ago 130 posts - 223 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German
| Message 4 of 9 30 June 2009 at 1:07am | IP Logged |
I don't think a lack of writing practice will "significantly hinder" the development of the other skills. However, if you start something like personal journal writing in your target language, it can show you where you're lacking in language skills in a way that conversation usually doesn't. Having to stop and think about what you are writing -- vocabulary, phrasing, etc. -- can really help you to think better in the language.
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Ashley_Victrola Senior Member United States Joined 5711 days ago 416 posts - 429 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Romanian
| Message 5 of 9 30 June 2009 at 3:22am | IP Logged |
Also, if you don't write, especially if its a different character set you may have difficulty understanding what someone has written. Like for instance all of the different ways one can write the letter "g", it's the same thing with an Arabic language. Having experience with all the different ways it looks when you write something can help when you go to read something hand written by someone else.
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Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5674 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin
| Message 6 of 9 30 June 2009 at 7:47am | IP Logged |
Writing gives you time to think very carefully about what you are going to express. This is both its advantage (since it gives you time to catch mistakes before you make them, and look things up). It can also be its disadvantage, in that - at least in my case - it can get you into the habit of thinking and expressing things slowly.
Writing was giving me too much time to think - and to translate - and this became habitual. I had to put writing to one side for a few months and focus exclusively on ramping up to listening and speaking at natural speed. This helped break the "think and translate" habit. After several months of writing nothing, I started to go back to writing again but still have to force myself not to get back into the habit of translating in head when writing.
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Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6899 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map
| Message 7 of 9 30 June 2009 at 9:59am | IP Logged |
In a word, yes. If you are not writing anything you are missing a key element. It will not make it impossible to develop the other skills but it will slow down the process. In my opinion slowing it down does qualify as "significantly hinder".
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staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5702 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written)
| Message 8 of 9 30 June 2009 at 10:06am | IP Logged |
I experienced writing to be helping my language skills. After five years of writing on my Italian blog I find it is
enough.
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