How To Get Faster At Writing In A New Language

One of the main difficulties with writing in a new language is that can be a very slow process. It can be quite frustrating to have your speed drastically reduced and it can really put you off wanting to write.

However, the good news is that it does not always need to be like this and you can speed things up and get to the same speed as your native language. It will just take time and hard work, but you can get faster. 

Why Are You Slow At Writing In A New Language?

We are slow at writing in a new language because we are simply not comfortable with the progress.

I can write and type fairly quickly in English. I don’t really need to think about it, it just sort of happens; this isn’t the case in my other languages. 

I need to think about what I want to say and the actual words I will need to do that. I then need to think about how they are spelt and more importantly I need to make sure they are all in the right order.

This may not take long, but I still need to pause and process all of this before I put pen to paper. This doesn’t happen in English, I just sort of have to think what I want to say and go for it. Unless it’s a particularly difficult word, spelling isn’t an issue and word order certainly isn’t something I ever think about, which is why I can write so much faster in English.

However, I am still doing all the same processes in English, I just do it so quickly I don’t even realise. I am so comfortable with it all, it appears seamless.

The comfort level is the only difference. If you can get comfortable in your new language you will be able to write just as quickly as you can in your native one. 

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Writing In Your New Language)

Write More

The only way to really get faster, is to just do more writing. Its sounds so simple, but that is because it is.  

The more you write, the more comfortable you will get with the process, which as you seen from above is the only reason you are slow.

All you need to do is increase the volume and increase the frequency and you will be comfortable with writing in no time.

The quicker you can get comfortable, the quicker you will start writing faster. Practice really is the key to anything and practicing your writing is the best thing you can do to improve it.

(You can read more about – How To Improve Your Writing Skills In A Foreign Language)

Think In The Language

One of the reasons that you may be going slow when you are writing is because you are not thinking in your new language.

If you are thinking in your native language, then translating, this is going to really slow things down.

If you cannot think in your new language then this is a clear sign that you are not comfortable with it yet. Your brain will always take the easiest option, and your native language is very comfortable to your brain, so it’s natural that will want to run processes through this, even if it is slower.

The sooner you can try and think in your new language, the sooner you will see improvements with your speed. The good thing is that writing is actually really good practice for this. Once you start doing it, writing is only going to make you better at it.

It will be a bit awkward at the start, but keep pushing and you will get better and more importantly, you will get faster at writing because of this.

(You can read more about – How To Think In Another Language)

Read More

Reading is important for writing and the more of it you do, the faster you will get at writing. Reading shows us how the language should look in the written form and the more we see this, the more comfortable we will be at doing it ourselves.

We will feel more comfortable and doubt our decisions less. We will have seen certain words or patterns of words hundreds of times when reading and we will just know that what we are writing is the same, and therefore correct.

Reading is sort of like looking at the map and studying google street view before you go somewhere. You may not have been to this place before; but when you arrive you will not feel as lost as someone who did not do this beforehand.

Reading really can make the difference and it will make you faster at writing. 

Speak More

Speaking and writing are very closely linked. They both use the same part of the brain and really the only difference is one ends up with your mouth moving and the other your hand.

This means that if you train one, you are also doing a lot for the other. By speaking more, you are inevitably going to speed up your writing. 

Your brain is going to be firing up the same way and producing the language, being able to speed this part up will end up with you writing faster. It may not make your hand any quicker, but it will allow you to think about what you want to say a lot faster and that can make a significant difference.

Conclusion

As you can see the best way to get faster at writing is to just write more and also focus on the other areas of the language. Everything is interlinked, so the more reading and speaking you do, it will benefit your writing.

All the different types of study will make you generally more comfortable in the language and the more comfortable you feel, the faster you will be able to write.

Just keep practicing, you will see results if you stay committed.  

(You can read more about – Writing Resources For Language Learning)