It doesn’t matter why you decided to learn English. Maybe you need it for your work or studies. Maybe it’s just because you want to communicate with people online. Whatever the case is, you’ll find yourself in a situation when you’ll have to write something.
Good writing in English shows you’re an educated, smart person. Sometimes even the smallest mistake can ruin the impression you make.
If you’re wondering how you can improve your writing skills in English, everyone will tell you the same thing: practice! Practice is important, but you should always do it the right way. Fortunately, there are great tools that will help you learn and practice writing. Let’s list 12 of them.
1. Daily Writing Tips
Let’s be honest: you can’t become a masterful writer overnight. You need daily doses of tips on grammar, style, and vocabulary. If you read one of these Daily Writing Tips per day and you implement it in your practice, you’ll notice gradual progress in your skills. The posts on the site are brief, clear, and actionable.
2. No Red Ink
This is an online program that offers an entire curriculum for people who want to become better at writing. The lessons and exercises are flexible and adaptive, according to your interests. It’s like getting your personal English language tutor, but you’re the one in charge of tailoring the lessons. No Red Ink is very good at keeping you engaged in the practice on a daily basis. It gives you challenges and triggers that make writing fun.
Here, you’ll find all grammar tips you could possibly need. You can learn how to use numbers, prepositions, adjectives and adverbs, verb tenses, and all other aspects of the language. When you master those concepts, you’ll be much more confident when expressing your message in written. Purdue OWL also gives you practice resources.
You have trouble organizing your own practice patterns? You find yourself procrastinating, so you need real, traditional lessons to keep you committed? Why don’t you start learning according to an ESOL writing course? It’s free! You’ll find lessons on giving personal information, using adjectives, describing looks, and much more. Plus, the program engages you with different activities, so you’ll practice your writing and witness the progress you make.
5. Write & Improve by Cambridge English
The simple practice of writing is important, but it’s not enough. How do you know you’re getting good enough? You’re too attached to your own work, so you can’t judge it objectively. You absolutely need feedback, and you can get it at this site. All you need to do is choose a topic, write about it in English, and submit your work. You’ll get instant feedback that covers the vocabulary, grammar, and spelling.
6. EssaysOnTime
Sometimes you need something more than automated feedback. The previous tool will highlight the mistakes in grammar and spelling, so you can mechanically fix them. What about the style? In that aspect, a real writer or editor is superior to software. EssaysOnTime connects you with real writers and editors, who can take a look at your work and offer helpful suggestions. You can even hire a writer to start a project from scratch. You’ll collaborate with them, so you’ll see how the writing process works.
How about a quick daily test on writing? It will identify the gaps in your knowledge. Plus, tests can get addictive when they are brief, easy and useful. That’s exactly what this resource offers. Solve a test per day to get proof of your progress.
8. Common Errors
Are you making some of the most common errors in writing that ESL learners are guilty of? Go through this list. It’s huge, but it gives you something useful to explore. Pick a category you’re interested in, and you’ll see how people frequently mistake in their writing.
9. Writing Skills
This is a pretty basic site, but it proves that the visual appeal doesn’t determine the quality of the resource. You get detailed tips that help you master various aspects of the English language. For example, you can learn how to write narrative essays, descriptive papers, research papers, letters, biographies, and other types of content.
10. Definr
Everyone needs a dictionary. No, you don’t have to get a real dictionary and look through it while you’re writing. Definr is a simple online tool that gives you definitions of words. All you need to do is search the word you don’t understand, and you’ll get a clear explanation of its meaning. Much easier than using a huge dictionary.
11. Grammarly
This is an automated tool that checks your grammar. You can add it as Chrome extension, so it will warn you about grammar issues whenever you’re typing something online. It will save you from many embarrassing situations when you’re trying to compose an email.
12. The Ultimate Writing Productivity Resource from Lifehack
Finally, let’s conclude this list of tools with a suggestion for another list. In this post, you’ll find descriptions of 9 tools that make you a better, more productive writer.
All these tools are highly effective and very easy to use. Pick the ones that fit into your practice and use them every day. Stay patient and you will definitely reach your target!
Sophia Anderson is an associate educator, blogger and freelance writer. She is passionate about covering topics on learning, writing, business, careers, self-improvement, motivation and others. She believes in the driving force of positive attitude and constant development. Talk to her on Facebook or LinkedIn.