On Writing Well, When English is Not Your First-Language
I am from South-East Asia ( India) and English is our gateway to economic freedom and moving up the social ladder.
Reading, writing and (most importantly), speaking the Queen’s language with fluency is a common aspiration- millions of school-going children from our country (and their parents) share.
English, here, unlocks the key towards opportunity and better things in life. Well, that’s the belief I was taught in my English classes and remained stuck to it since then.
“Read 1000 lines to write 100 lines of correct English”, instructed my teacher.
We read John Keats, Aldous Huxley, O’Henry. Made to keep a separate journal for vocabulary. Rote-learned grammar, etc.
In short, I had gone through some heavy-duty English exercises , though English was not my first-language at school.
All these instilled in me a faux-conviction that, when I would start blogging, everything will come naturally to me.
After all, I followed the rule-book in toto.
Well, little did I get the whiff of trouble and effort that come with — writing in English ‘like a native’ .
But why so? There are mainly two reasons
I was not trained in ‘how to think in English’
When I write something, I first think that line in my mother tongue and transcribe it in English.
I later asked some fellow bloggers (who had studied English as a second language in school) about how they cope with it.
It turned out, we are more-or-less on the same boat.
I have noticed the same ‘stiffness’ in many South-East Asian books in English. Please note, stiffness doesn’t mean it is difficult to read.
However, an avid reader can spot the difference — where the writing has a free-flow touch and where it got filtered out.
I become self-conscious in front of a global audience
“Am I doing it right?”
“Where to squeeze in those cool words I memorized recently?”
“Talking about ‘recently’, stop using so many adverbs.”
These are all the self-reminders play out at the back of my mind when I write in English.
I have a sneaky guess that, this is another reason ( I don’t have concrete proof) so many Indians are there in Q&A sites like Reddit or Quora.
These sites give us an easy-peasy ground for practicing our English writing skill, without the fear of getting whacked by a nagging teacher.
Tips to other ‘self-doubting’ non-native (English) writers :
a) Speed-reading or listening to audio-books may cut back on ‘precious’ time. Moreover, you’d be able to fulfill ‘reading 100 books a year’ challenge without sweating it out much.
But to learn the crafts, read slow.
Even if you complete only 1 book/ month.
b) There is a growing tilt towards self-help books while ditching fictions altogether.
But balance is the key here, folks.
Reading boatloads books on entrepreneurship and productivity and not taking any action won’t make us billionaire anyway.
So pair up your Tolkien with Tim Ferris.
c) I don’t like writing daily ‘cause there would be a ‘dry-run’ of ideas pretty soon.
Be that as it may, trying to post thrice-a-week in your personal blog or in Medium- would be cathartic and a confidence booster.
d) Befriend a grammar-nazi in case the mere sight of a grammar book make you weep.
S/he would act like your personal grammar coach and the best part- you don’t have to shell out a penny.
Precautionary measure : Grow a thick skin before going under the tutelage of ‘said’ grammar nazi.
That’s all.
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I am an amateur blogger, tutor and content developer from India. I blog on Wordpress as well. Here’s the link - jheelamduttaroy.wordpress.com
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