Is Writing The Best Way To Learn A New Language?

Writing is extremely important when you are learning a language; however, it’s not important from day one.

You do need to spend a little time acquiring the language elsewhere first, but once you have the basics then writing is really going to help you solidify your foundation of knowledge and it really can make the difference.

Writing definitely can be one of the best ways to improve your language skills.

Writing Is Only Practice

The biggest downside to writing is that you can only write what you already know. It is more of a form of practice, rather than a way to learn new things.

This means it is maybe not the best way to learn a language, but it can certainly be a very good way to strengthen your knowledge and it could be argued that this is actually extremely important.

I can explain how a language works to you pretty quickly and I can teach you a lot of new words, but if you can’t remember them or use them properly, then you can’t actually use the language.

Writing allows you to practice these things and is going to solidify them in your memory, meaning you can actually use the language.

Just because writing is only practice does mean it’s a bad thing!

It Can Be Better To Focus On Input

When you are a total beginner it is going to make more sense to focus on input. As I mentioned above, you can only write what you know, so if you don’t know anything you will not get very far.

Input means reading and listening which are going to expose you to the language. You are going to see new words and get used to how grammar works. Once you have a basic grip of this, you can take what you have learned and practice it through writing.  

It can be better to focus on input for a while, but how long you do this for is down to you. I would not leave it to long, as writing can actually beneficial, so as soon as you can, I would add writing to your study routine.

(You can read more about – The Input vs Output Language Learning Methods)

You Can Take Your Time With Writing

The beautiful thing with writing is that you can take your time. It is a very slow and controlled activity and you can really think about what you are doing and why.

The process is even easier if you are writing on a computer. You can write a word, delete it, swap it around and just generally take your time getting the grammar and structure to be perfect and exactly how you want.

This is the complete opposite of speaking where you need to go at 100mph. If someone asks something you need to come up with a reply in a very different way compared to writing.

The slower approach of writing is perfect when you are learning as you it just takes a lot of the unnecessary stress away.

(You can read more about – How Can Writing In a Second Language Improve Your Overall Language Skills?)

Writing Will Show You Your Mistakes

Writing is also great at showing you your mistakes, they are literally right there in front of you. Of course the issue is that you may not spot them, but that’s a different issue.

You can always go through your own work and double check things and more importantly you can analyse where you went wrong. Perhaps you forgot a grammar rule and you can decide if that was because you didn’t know, or because you forgot, either way you can see what you did go wrong and try and prevent it from happening again.

I find this a really effective method and you will learn a lot from it, it really can be one of the best ways to help you learn.

Even if you are using something like Duolingo, when you are forced to write you will quickly see your mistakes. Usually they are small and annoying, but they are still mistakes and most times it just shows you need to practice more.

(You can read more about – Should You Focus On Writing In A New Language?)

It Is Easy To Get Feedback From Writing

Writing is also one of the best ways to learn as it is very easy to get feedback. You can easily write something and send it a native speaker to check when they are free.

You could argue you could do this with listening, which is true, but the slow nature of writing means things can get done at everyone’s own pace, there is no rush or need to be together at the same time. You can just send off you work at any time, and when you friend is ready they can check it for you.

I also find writing is easier to check. If someone is speaking to me, I may have forgotten what they said by the time they get to the end. With writing I can go through their work with a fine tooth comb a number of times, checking every word and making sure I give good feedback.

Writing Shows You The Knowledge Gaps

As writing makes you produce the language you will very quickly start to notice your gaps. This can be extremely frustrating, but you have to see it a positive.

If you want to write something and do not know the wording, or just how to express it, well now you have identified something new that you can learn. You can look up the words you need, or the grammar and add it to your toolbox.

It you just keep doing this you will slowly plug away at all the little gaps and very soon have a good broad grasp of the language. 

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

You Can See You Progress

Writing is also a very good way to learn as it is very easy to see you progress. You can look back at older work and see how it compares to what you did today.

Hopefully you see that there are fewer mistakes, or that the quality and detail of your writing is much richer and complex now.

Even if the quality is not that different, you may still feel like you could produce the same work a lot faster, which still shows you have made progress and are getting a little more comfortable with it.

As long as you put the effort in, you will see results and you will see this when you look over the work you have done.

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

Conclusion

Writing is not going to be the best way to learn a language, but it is going to be one of the best ways to really practice it. You will pickup new words from listening and reading, but if you really want to add to them your own vocabulary then you need use them, which is exactly what writing is perfect for.

Once you start writing and practicing what you have learned you will become stronger and more comfortable in the language which is exactly the sort of progress you want to be making. Writing is important and it plays a large role in learning a language. 

(You can read more about – Can You Learn A Language By Only Writing?)