Writing consistently in English has been the hardest thing about blogging, everything i write always seems better in my head than when i type it down. There is no real solution when English isn’t your first language, you just need to constantly practice and evolve your writing to a point where you’re happy with it. Below are a few ideas you can use to better your grasp of the written English.
1. Think in English
Just do your thinking in English instead of your own language. This is hard to get used to at first but it will help to get your mind in the habit of writing more than a few sentences in English.
2. Watch movies without the subtitles
Again, this will help you to get your mind to work in English and not your native language. Listening to spoken English will also help you catch new words and how they are used.
3. Do not translate what you write in your own language
You will always find inconsistence when translating between your own language and English. Think about how the text will seem to an English reader, not yourself.
4. Have a native English speaker go through your writing and make suggestions.
This will help your writing the most, and the more people read it, the better. You will often get different suggestions from different people depending on their expectations and what they are used to reading
5. Read other blogs
There’s a certain style and jargon that goes through every niche that might take you some time to pick up, especially on some concepts that don’t translate well between languages. Take sailing for example, a native English speaker might use a word to describe something that will only seem natural to English speaking readers and translates to a completely different thing in another language. One of my favorite blogs is CopyBlogger, which has excellent style on his articles.
6. Read books, but don’t use book writing as a blueprint for blog writing
Books will help grow your vocabulary but “bookish” writing is very different from blogging, which is more like a conversation between writer and readers.
7. Proofread. Then proofread it again.
I never proofread enough, and end up noticing spelling errors a few minutes after posting. This is important for any blogger, even more so when English isn’t your first language.
8. Stop using the dictionary.
Just keep writing what seems natural for you, and keep the dictionary and thesaurus for when you’re completely stuck.
9. Sign up for a forum and start threads.
Forum posting will help you practice your writing in a much more relaxed environment and quickly compare it to other posts. And forum posts are generally much closer to the average blog post than a book or tv and will help you work out a more fluid writing style.
Don’t forget to proofread
These are just a few general guidelines that worked for me, it does not mean that it will work for everyone, but it’s a good starting point to improve your writing. The most important thing to keep in mind is to never stop practicing writing better. As your experience grows so will your writing improve and your writing will be more fluid and natural.
