What Are The Benefits Of Writing In A Second Language?

Writing is the often forgotten skill when we think about language learning, but it is actually something we should be doing more of as it can actually bring us a lot of benefits, which I will go through here.

While handwriting isn’t as common these days, so it’s easy to dismiss writing, but we still ‘write’ a lot on computers, which is why it is important that we do not neglect this area of our language and instead focus on developing it. 

When You Write, You Actually Have To Use The Language

One of the best benefits of writing in your second language is the fact that you actually have to use your brain.

You actually have to use the language. You need to think of what you want to say then find the words and the correct structure to write this down. There are a lot of things in language learning which are very passive and maybe do not require as much thought, and writing really is the opposite of this.

It is hard work, and can be a real mental strain at times, but it is extremely beneficial for you to push yourself through this process and actually get your brain working and forcing yourself to write.  

(You can read more about – How To Practice Writing In A Language)

Writing Will Generally Consolidate Your Learning

When you look at language learning overall, writing is a very good way of just generally consolidating everything you have learned.

Writing forces you to pull everything you have learned together then process it in a way that allows you to actively use it yourself.

There is a general opinion that if you want to show that you have you have learned something, then you need to be able to explain it to someone else. This is applies to learning anything, not just languages, but writing in your language is a very easy way to “explain to someone” that you understand what you are doing, even if you don’t actually show someone. The act of just writing is the proof that you understand what you are doing.

You can sit down and write something and show yourself that you understand what you have learned which is a great way to consolidate the things you have been studying and as I mentioned above, using the language in this way is beneficial for you.

(You can read more about –  Is Writing The Best Way To Learn A New Language?)

Writing Will Strengthen Your Active Vocabulary

Writing is also going to be very beneficial for your active vocabulary and the more you write, the more you will strengthen this.

If you are not aware, you have two vocabularies, your passive, which is words you can recognise and your active, which are words you can retrieve on your own and use.

Writing is going to make you use your active vocabulary as you need to actually need to think of words and then write them down. This can be hard with some words. It can feel like they are on the tip of your tongue but you can’t quite recall them clearly.

These types of words are just in the process of moving from being passive to active and the more often you force your brain to think of these words, the stronger they will come in to your mind and soon they will just appear automatically when you need them.

Writing is a great way to train this process and it is something you have to train, your memory will not just get stronger on its own unless you are testing it like this. 

Writing Will Strengths Your Grammar Abilities

Grammar is an important part of writing and it is also one of the most difficult things with a language. There is not a lot of room for error when it comes to writing, your grammar has to be correct or your writing will make no sense. 

This can sound like a negative, which it can be …but it also does mean you are required to push yourself and actually strive to improve. 

Writing can be a great way to strengthen the grammar rules that you have learned as you are going to be forced to actually implement them and the more you write the more you can practice your grammar abilities and of course the more you practice anything, the stronger you will get.

You Can Go At Your Own Speed When Writing

A great benefit to writing is just the fact that there is no rush and you can go at your own pace. You can stop and think about what you want to write and then do it when you are ready. If it takes you half an hour to think of the word you need, that isn’t a problem.

You can also go back and start again if you don’t like something or feel it is not right. Of course this is going to be easier to do on a computer or phone, but you can still do this on paper.

When you are speaking, which is another form of output, you can’t really do this. You usually have someone in front of you waiting for you to talk and you can’t really just stand there and figure out what you want to say and how, you need to go a lot faster pace and this can be pretty stressful.

It can be nice to just take your time and gather your thoughts before you start writing.

(You can read more about – How To Get Faster At Writing In A New Language)

Writing Allows You To See Your Mistakes And Weaknesses In The Language

Probably my favourite benefit of writing is that it will show you the mistakes you have made and instantly point out any weaknesses you may have.

The mistakes can be harder to spot when you are alone, as you probably think you are doing things right, but they will always be there for you to notice at some point, which is why it can be a good idea to review things you have written in the past.

You will also have any weaknesses pointed out as you will want to write something then you immediately realise you do not know the word or structure to do so. This can be extremely frustrating, but it is equally as humbling and if you can see past the annoyance, you can realise you now have a new thing you can go away and research and learn about.

Even if it is only 1 word …that is one word you can go and learn and get that little bit better in the language.

Writing Is An Easy Way To Get Feedback On Your Language Skills

When we are learning our new language, we need feedback from time to time to sure we are headed in the right direction and writing can be a great way to help you get this feedback.

Writing is going to allow you to showcase your knowledge, or lack thereof, so it can be a very easy way to get feedback.

You can write something out and then get a native speaker to check and it and they will very easily be able to tell you how you are doing. They can point out any mistakes and generally assess you level.

This doesn’t even need to be anything complicated, just simply writing to a language partner is going to be enough. They can quickly reply to your messages and point out any errors you may have made.   

Being able to get feedback so easily is very beneficial as you can very easily have someone point out your blind spots and then you can go back to this area and strengthen your knowledge.   

Writing Will Give You A Record Of Your Ability

Writing is also an excellent way to record our progress. Language learning is painfully slow and it can honestly feel like you are making no progress.

I think a lot of people give up to easily as they just feel like they are getting nowhere, but writing can help prevent this.

All you need to do is write something today and this will be a record of your current ability. Then you just need to come back in 6 months and look at what you wrote. Compare it to what you are writing now and you will most likely see a difference.

At the very least you will feel like what you did 6 months ago is something you could do today very easily.

Having something like this to measure your progress is going to be extremely beneficial to you as it can really help keep you motivated and wanting to continue.

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

Writing Can Help You With Your Speech

Writing can also be beneficial for your speech. When you think about it, writing and speaking are very similar, they are both a form of output and require you to produce the language.

The initial phase of both are the same, you need to think in your brain what you want to say in the language, and then this is message either sent your mouth or your hand.

By training your writing, you will be indirectly training your speaking. Of course to get good at speaking you will need to get your mouth moving, but strengthening that internal processing through writing will help with your speaking.

Writing Will Help You With Your Reading Skills

Writing can also be beneficial for your reading in your new language, which shouldn’t be a surprise, both of these are closely linked and you can’t have one without the other. 

While writing is not an ideal way to practice your reading, since you are just reading your own work and there could be mistakes, it still does help. You are still seeing the language and since you are the one writing it, you will be examining the spelling and grammar in a lot more detail than if you where simply reading something else.

Writing can still help with your reading ability, even if it is just practicing what you already know.

You Will Probably Make Friends When You Write In Your Second Language

I think one of the least talked about benefits of writing is the fact that you can use this to actually communicate with people, which means you can make real connections and actually form friendships.

Most people are going to writing on language exchanges, or even social media, rather than using pen and paper, but it doesn’t matter. You are still writing and you are still making connections with real people and this can make a huge positive impact on both your life and language learning.

(You can read more about – What Are The Benefits Of Having A Language Exchange Partner?)

Conclusion

As you can see there are plenty of great benefits you can get from writing in your target language.

While I would always recommend focusing on input first and just doing a lot of immersion, I would still suggest that once you get a good understanding of the language you need to start writing.

It will really help push your level up and while it is hard word, the benefits are worth it.

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