9 fun exercises to improve your English writing skills (2023)

Writing is part of our life.

Did you send any text messages today?

You havewrite an email?

Maybe you left a message on your friend's Facebook wall, or maybe you messaged a teacher.

If you take classes, you probably have written assignments.

When you work, you can write memos or reports.

You just can't help but write! For this reasonlearn to write englishis as important aslearn to speak.

Talking is easy - just find someone to talk to and start talking.

But how to practice writing?

Improve your English spellingit doesn't have to be frustrating or boring. It can be fun!

Download:This blog post is available as a convenient, portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here for a copy. (Download)

Writing in the Internet Age

it may seem strangeFocus on writing in Englishat a time when anyone can write however they want online. The internet can changehow do we communicate in english, but that's exactly what it doesmoreIt is important to learn to write correctly. To break the rules, you must first learn them!

More importantly, not everything you write is about social media orin informal english. You need to use writing in many different ways. You may need to write a report for work, an essay for school, or some otherSend an email to someone you know. In these situations, knowing how to write correctly in English will help you.

Writing in English has another benefit to consider: it helps improve many other English skills.

How writing improves your English skills

Let's be straight: writing helps you learn English. Research supports this claim.This studyshowed that even short writing sessions can improve learning.

How can writing help you? Here are just a few options:

• Writing helps you remember things better.As you read, listen, speak, and write your lessons, you will remember them better. That's why language courses often use all these skills together!

• Writing helps you practice new skills.Each time you learn something new, you can reinforce that knowledge through practice, speaking and writing.

• Writing gives you time to express yourself.Have you ever had trouble finding the right words when speaking? Writing gives you the opportunity to slow down and take your time choosing the perfect words.

• Writing allows you to try new things.There is no pressure when writing. Nobody needs to see what you write if they don't want to. This gives you the freedom to try new things and experiment with new words and sentence structures. Do not hold back!

See how good it is to write? Let's begin! But where to start?

In fact, you've probably already started. Do you write down your vocabulary? Do you take grammar notes? These may not be entire books, but they are definitely a way of writing.

Typing is another important writing skill that you may already have mastered. If you use a program likefluenteU, you probably enter most of your responses into the program's custom surveys.

When you combine the authentic videos used by the FluentU program to teach English - like movie clips, music videos, commercials, etc. - by typing (and speaking) each new word you learn, it's a powerful way to learn. You almost certainly remember all these new words much better than if you hadn't written them down.

You can further improve your English writing skills by doing fun exercises. These exercises challenge you to try new things and think creatively as you learn and improve your writing skills.

And the best part is that by improving your writing skills you are actually improving many different English skills.

9 fun exercises to improve your English writing skills

1. History of vocabulary

Do you have anEnglish Word Vocabulary Listyou've learned? If so, great! If not, get onefrom hereorHere.

Now write a story using as many words from the list as possible. Strive to include10-20 wordsin your story, depending on how much time you have for this exercise. Have fun with it and try to understand the finished story.

What you will learn:This exercise will help you understand and remember vocabulary better for many reasons. Here are some:

• Using words in a sentence ensures that you understand how to use them.

• It's easier to remember words in context (with a few other words around them). The sillier your story is, the easier it will be for you to remember the words you used. (Memory experts use this method to memorize the order of hundreds of letters!)

• Writing things down activates another part of your brain and helps you remember vocabulary even better.

When your story is ready, you can share it with friends or on a blog. Encourage readers to point out mistakes you've made.

2. Image story

Grab the magazine closest to you and choose a random photo. Describe it in as much detail as possible. Don't just write what you see. Imagine that you are in the photo. Think about what you would smell, feel, or even taste.

You can use this toorandom image generatoror browsepinterestfor ideas.

What you will learn:We use descriptions all the time in our daily lives: “I am tired.” “Your dress is so stylish.” “That mocha tastes amazing.” Descriptions like these are often used in colloquial English! This exercise will teach you more about that.Adjectives, feelings and perceptions(how we see and experience the world).

3. Structured summary

Think about the last book you read or the movie you saw. Summarize with this formula (briefly state what happened):

"[Someone] wanted to...but...well..."

Confused? This is how it looks in action:

"Bruce Waynewantedget ready to save GothamButSupervillains tried to destroy him,ThenHe trained hard and became Batman.”

Do you recognize this story? This is a summary of Batman Begins. To use the formula in the same way, just fill in the blanks:

• Somebody:Who is the main character of the story? This character's name can replace [someone] in the sentence above.

• Wanted:What is the character's motivation? (In other words, what does he or she want?) This should come after the word "wanted".

• But:What's in the character's way and what does she want? After "but" put whatever it is.

• Then:What does the character do to overcome this obstacle? Follow "like this" in everything they do.

You can also add another part:

• Then:What happens after the character overcomes the obstacle (how is everything resolved)?

Here is another example:

"Little Red Riding Hoodwantedto visit your grandmotherButWhen she got there, she found a wolf in its place,ThenShe screamed for help and a passerby came to her aid.Thenthey all lived happily ever after!”

What you will learn:This method can help youresumealmost everything. You may find it difficult to explain an entire story or book in just one sentence. That's the big advantage: you learn to explain a complex idea in a simple sentence. This skill is useful whenever you need to explain something succinctly (in a simple and short way). For example, if you're writing an email about a party, you'll find it easier to pick out the most important parts.

You can alsoimprove your reading comprehensionwith this summarization method. every time youread a book or story in english, you should summarize it to make sure you understand it. If you can't write a good synopsis, you might want to reread the book or story more carefully.

4. Devil's Advocate

Is there anything that is particularly close to your heart? For example, suppose you believe that everyone should learn a second language. Take that belief and write about it from the opposite perspective. In this case, you would write about why everyone should be doing this.nolearn another language.

In English, that means "playing devil's advocate". It's when you choose a side you don't believe in just to see a problem from a different angle.

What you will learn:In addition to teaching English, this exercise teaches a life skill.Empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand how another person is feeling, even when you don't feel that way. It's important to have this skill, and writing can help you develop it.

That said, this exercise is a great way to learnexpress opinions in english. It can also cause you to use words you wouldn't normally use because you're speaking from a different perspective. You might even learn something new about yourself!

5. Language Soup

ALanguageis a proverb that doesn't really mean what it says. For example, "it's raining cats and dogs" doesn't mean the animals are actually falling from the sky (it just means it's raining really hard).

AclicheSense: is an extremely overused saying or phrase so often that it is no longer original.

Clichés are like expressions that have been used so often that they're no longer special, like saying "only time will tell" or "a no-brainer".

Write a story that usesas many clichés and idioms as possible!

you will find oneList of clichés here, it is aList of expressions here.

What you will learn:Sometimes learning English can feel like you've "bitten off more than you can chew" (taken on too big a task). A good way to build trust isknow phrases and phrases that you can use in many situations. Using clichés and idioms will increase your vocabulary and ensure you know exactly what they mean when you hear them spoken by a native speaker.

6. It was a dark and stormy night

Take the book closest to you and open the first page. What's the first sentence? A good first sentence builds the story and makes you want to read more. Some first sentences are classic, like the opening line"1984" de George Orwell:

"It was an extremely cold day in April and the clock said thirteen o'clock."

Some others...don't do the job either.

In fact, a first set was so absolutely awful that it triggered an entire match. CalledBulwer-Lytton Fiction Competition, encourages everyone to do their bestworsefirst lines.

Try writing your own! check out some of thempast competition winners, then write your own terrible first line. Let your sentence use humor and maybe even some cultural references. Let the sentence be long, but make sure the grammar is perfect. How bad is your first line? It's hard to be worse than the first original sentence that inspired the contest:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was interrupted by a violent gust of wind that swept through the streets (for it is in London that our scene takes place), shook the roofs, and violently stirred the sparse flames of the lamps that struggled against it. the darkness.

—Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford (1830)

That first sentence is terrible because it tries togroup a lot of unnecessary information into one sentence. It takes way longer than it should without providing any vital information. Use this exercise toPractice your compound sentences, and try some comparisons or metaphors (when comparing two different things based on a common characteristic).

For example, when you start your sentence talking aboutbad weather, You can compare it to a wet dog that went swimming in New York's Gowanus Canal (known to be disgustingly dirty and unsanitary) without wearing a biohazard suit (a suit that protects you from harmful chemicals). See how much you can pack into just one sentence?

What you will learn:How much information can you fit into just one sentence? You can pack a lot with this exercise. In short, this exercise helps you express yourself clearly and be better understood. Another benefit of this exercise is the opportunityUse English language humor, which requires knowledge of English-speaking culture. Plus it's fun!

7. Story of my life

Think of something you've done in the past, like playing the piano or going to school. Write about your experience with this activity. your writing muststart in the pastEend not future.

For example, you can write:

“I started playing the piano when I was five, but I only stopped two years later. I can't play anything at the moment, but I hope to start studying again in the future."

What you will learn:We love to talk about ourselves. Everyone does! That's why so much of our daily conversation revolves around us. In this exercise you will learn to talk about personal experiences and describe something about yourself. It's also a good way to practice using the correct verb tenses.

8. How to breathe

A "how to" is a way of writing that describes step by step how to do something. Most guides teach something new, e.g. B. how to make a chocolate cake or how to use a specific phone feature.

For this exercise, write a guide for something... something else. Think of something you do every day without thinking and write a guide about it. Write about things like tying your shoelaces, checking your email on your phone, or even breathing. Your guide should look like thissomething like that, with clear language and organized in stages. The guide on this link teaches how to write a guide... Whew!

What you will learn:You'll be surprised how difficult this is! Even something as simple as walking can be a disaster if you don't organize directions well. (let's take a moment to thank our legs for knowing how to work without us. Otherwise we could all be stumbling like thisGame "Run Simulator"..)

Writing a guide will teach youBetter organize your thoughts. It is also an opportunity to practice informative writing or writing that conveys new information. By using easy-to-understand language, you'll also practice using many common words.

9. The stupid job interview

Imagine that you are interviewing the head of a company. You're very nervous and very polite, but the boss is just kidding. You really want this job, but he just wants to make you more nervous. It may seema little like that. (Since the accents and speech rate in the video can be difficult to understand, you can read what they sayHere.)

Write similar dialogue for a job interview that goes terribly wrong. The candidate is professional and serious while the boss speaks colloquial English and evenenglish slang. How might this conversation sound?

What you will learn:If you've ever had a job interview, you know how daunting it can be. Writing a silly scene like that might make you feel a little better for your next interview. Then you might think, "Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the dialogue I wrote!"

Of course, this exercise also teaches you some English skills (and not just life skills). It's a good way to practice writing dialogue andFocus on how people speak. In this dialog you have the option to use professional English, conversational English and even English slang. Use this as a chance to experiment!

You are now a budding (developing) writer and one step closer to mastering the English language.

By improving your English writing skills you will improve your general English skills.

Don't forget to include writing in your studies from now on!

Download:This blog post is available as a convenient, portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here for a copy. (Download)