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How to improve my English? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| gabrielsilk Newbie Canada Joined 5626 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 9 of 12 01 July 2009 at 1:31am | IP Logged | |||||
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One thing I forgot to mention is read, read, read! The best writers are the biggest readers. When you see something that is well-written, copy from it liberally. I'm not suggesting that you plagiarize, I mean that it's okay to borrow sentence constructions and turns of phrase, and then re-work them into forms that suit you. Remember, there is no true originality when it comes to language -- we all learn by imitation. Don't be afraid of it. If you see a turn of phrase that is particularly well-written, ask yourself why that is -- and try to incorporate it into something you write. Little by little you will improve :)
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| The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5649 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 10 of 12 01 July 2009 at 2:13am | IP Logged | |||||
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My advice for improving your writing is reading. It can be anything, but if you're writing a certain type of essay, read essays in the same style. For example, if you wanted to know to write a good argument essay, read good argument essays (preferrably ones from professional writers.)
You shouldn't worry too much about your essay writing being "subpar" or anything like that. Most people I know can't write a paper to save their lives, and English is their native language. Or it may be the poor education we recieve in high school in the U.S. Also, if you ever wish to improve your creative writing, join a text role playing site. There are a lot out there. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Conquistador Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6905 days ago 5 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 11 of 12 02 July 2009 at 12:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
Russianbear,
Yes, I meant thinking, but also perceiving information. For example, I read the same biology textbook in Russian and English. Information in Russian seemed much clearer and required minimum effort to memorise. As you suggested, I'm going to try think more in English and maybe keep a journal :) Funny you should mention these TV shows, I'm a big fan of Friends and SATC. I love American shows, like Seinfeld or Futurama/Simpsons, I just thought that British ones would be more useful for me in terms of cultural references and slang.
You're right, my accent does partly account to the self-consciousness that I have when I speak English. I have an audio course by Cambridge university press called "English pronunciation in use", I'm going to give it a go, but I'm very sceptical about it. Personally, I know only two people, who were able to get rid of their accents, and I think it's more to do with a good ear, rather than practice. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Conquistador Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6905 days ago 5 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 12 of 12 02 July 2009 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Gabrielsilk, The Real CZ,
Thank you, now I have more reasons to make myself read more :) Thanks a lot, everyone, now I have many ideas to try out. Most importantly, I've reassured myself that at this stage learning fewer things is normal, I shouldn't worry about it too much and that eventually, quantity will translate into quality :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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