English and Foreign Language Compositions - 5 Tips for Easier Writing

Writing Can Seem Like a Daunting Task
Whether you are an English as a foreign language teacher or a foreign language learner, at some point you’re going to have to write an essay or composition in English. Since English is structured quite differently from many other foreign language groups in terms of grammar, spelling and punctuation rules, writing even a simple, straight-forward opinion essay or composition can seem like a daunting task for many. Writing in English can be either process or product-based (ref. Fowler, 1988 vs.White, 1987), so even native English language speakers can experience problems with organizing, composing, drafting and editing a written piece in their own first language (L1). So if you are nervous about writing at first, don’t worry too much about that. You’re in plenty of good company.

Here are seven easy tips to help make the English language writing process easier.

1. Use a five-paragraph essay format
To keep yourself on track use this writing format: Paragraph one – state your idea or opinion and what you’re going to write about clearly and simply in three to five sentences. Here's a five-paragraph essay example online for you to follow.

2. Write simple sentences
Use short, simple sentences to help state your points as directly as possible. “I think learning a foreign language is important for most learners.” Then use additional sentences to add additional points. “This is because most learners will need to be able to communicate with others not from their culture.” For more points and ideas just use more sentences. “We all live in a globally-based community connected by technology like telephones, faxes, e-mail and the internet.” Don’t list more than three or four items in a sentence.

3. Use compound sentences expressing no more than two ideas – sparingly
For a little variety, you can use compound sentences which express two ideas instead of just one. If you do this however, it should be just a very few sentences – not a lot of them. “People in many European countries often have to communicate in several languages on a daily basis, like English, French, and Spanish or German for example.”

4. Be sure to capitalize proper nouns
Proper nouns are generally the names of persons, places or things and should be capitalized. Examples are nouns such as languages, cities, people’s names, titles, and geographic names among many other possibilities. Use a dictionary to help you. English, Barcelona, President George W. Bush, and Mt. Saint Helens illustrate proper capitalization.

5. Be careful with the use of the articles in English
In a number of languages, the use of the indefinite article (a, an) or the definite article (the, this, that, these, those) can be very different from their use in the English language. Also related are quantifiers like: some, any, a lot of, many, few, all, none, much and most). These can be a problem if the learner translates from their first language (L1).

Many English-Speaking Natives Have Problems
So if you are nervous about writing in English at first, remember that even many native English language speakers have problems with essays, articles, letters and compositions in their own first language (L1). Just follow the steps above and you should find the English language writing process a whole lot simpler and easier.



Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" or "7 Techniques to Motivate Your English Language Learners and Make Your Classes More Dynamic" by requesting the title you want at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then e-mail me for further information.

Part 3 Write a Thousand Articles This Year? Sure You Can! Here’s How

This is your final push out of the door towards your inevitable “Write a Thousand Articles This Year” success. I don’t doubt for a moment that you’ll have your one thousand articles in the bank before the end of this year. (Yessiree. I’m betting you will)

What You’ll Need

Yes Bunky, you’ll need some precise discipline. You’ll have to set up your “writing space” or a “writing place” if you don’t already have one. And yes, a cheering section (that would be me and my writing “Write a Thousand Articles This Year” group, Matey) and some peer writer coaching to help boot you over those initial rough spots will definitely be of help too. An additional great boost will be the use of a variety of article templates. If you’re fresh out of handy, dandy writing templates no problem, they’re available to members of our “Write a Thousand Articles This Year” group. I’ll bet you guessed that already though, didn’t you?

But writing a thousand articles in a year is a lofty but attainable goal that will do untold wonders for your business, for your writing career, for your article marketing campaigns, for your online or web presence and be an absolutely, undoubtedly stunning boost to both your writing skills and your self-esteem. Think of what will happen to your Google ratings with a thousand articles posted online! Hey, I won’t even mention the bragging rights you’ll have over your writer’s group and other friends. Aren’t you going to just love watching them turn slimy barf green with envy!

Finally …

Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. You must be asking yourself, “What if I don’t or can’t “keep up the pace” for a whole year? Well, in that event all is certainly not lost. Sure, it’ll take a bit of grit to get going and get set firmly on track, but help is always available (via our free “Write a Thousand Articles This Year” program) if and when you need it. The overall schedule does not actually require writing every single day, nor must you produce three articles each and every time. Other possible scenarios are discussed within our program group. In an “absolute worst case” scenario, even if you don’t get your one thousand articles in one clip, you’re not exactly going to cry if you only reach seven or eight hundred articles, now are you? Certainly not!

There’s really no way to “fail” at this. Everything you produce goes “in the pot”. If you do slip in any way at all, you’ll only “fail forward!” Doing only half of the program will still net you five hundred articles – that’s right, five hundred articles! How could you possibly call the writing, production, editing, publishing and even the possible selling of five hundred articles a “failure”?


If you’d like to join my FREE “Write a Thousand Articles This Year” program, just contact me at writeathousandarticles@gmail.com and we’ll get you started, put you on track and keep you going along with the other dedicated writing professionals in our rapidly growing group. (I’ve just put some freshly re-charged batteries in my Uncle Buzzy’s cattle prod) Just think, a year or less from now, you’ll be the proud author of a thousand or more articles. And your “writer” friends? Gosh, they’ll just be sick with envy. And you? You’ll love every moment of it, you thousand-article-writing devil you.

English Language Teaching: Countries with English as the Official or First Language

The Question

On occasion, my opening question at an English Language Teaching (ELT) conference is, “How many countries have English as a first or official language?” To twist the screw just a bit more I add,

“You’ll all English teachers, so you should know where the language is spoken, right?”

They agree that they should and for the next few minutes set about fathoming the English as a first or official language list.

More squirming, a few shouted out queries and I let the pressure off.

“How many do you have on your list?”

Rarely does the number exceed ten or fifteen.

Take a moment; how many can YOU list?


The Response

“Would you like to see my list?” I ask.

You know what the response unanimously is.

“Do you think that is something that might be useful for an English teacher to know?”

A resounding “Yes!” always follows.


The List

In truth, at this writing there are at least thirty-five countries that have English as a first or official language!

Surprised? Most English teachers are. And my current list might not even be an all-inclusive one by now. At any rate, here is the current list:

- United States, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize

- Barbados, Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands

- Guyana, British Virgin Islands, Australia

- Falkland Islands, England, Grenada

- St. Nevis / St. Kitts, Jamaica, India, Bermuda

- South Africa, Bahamas, New Zealand

- Cayman Islands, St. Vincent, Grenadines

- Samoa, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone

- Singapore, Liberia, Ghana, Ireland

- Hong Kong, Zimbabwe


To Do Suggestions

Why not check out the official country websites for these and other countries for some eye-opening information on the impact of English on their respective cultures? Many foreign country websites include news, local current events, audio, radio and streaming video as well. If you need even more information? Just “Google” the country name to get a trainload or two of related websites.

So what’s the point? Just that it’s helpful to provide practical aspects to learning English. World travel and commerce are just two of the many reasons to be cited for the practicality of English-language learning. The internet, e-mails, chats and forums all contribute to a preponderance of English-language use online.

A plethora of English teacher resource websites and a growing cadre of English language learner websites help contribute to the usefulness of knowledge of the English language.



Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. For more information on entering into or advancing in the fascinating field of ELT send for his no-cost pdf Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, send an e-mail with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. For comments, questions, requests, to receive more information or to be added to his free TESOL articles and teaching materials mailing list, e-mail: lynchlarrym@gmail.com