Successful English <http://successfulenglish.com> <http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/SuccessfulEnglish> ------------------------------
Learning to write – almost anything<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SuccessfulEnglish/~3/dOfIB63LHlg/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> Posted: 31 Aug 2010 02:53 PM PDT *Xurxo knows the secret of learning to write. When I read one of his essays and asked him where he learned to write so well, he said, “Reading New York Times essays.” The secret to learning to write is fairly simple – if you want to write essays, read essays. In other words, read the kind of thing you want to write.* When you read, you walk into a writing classroom. You see how to spell words. How to punctuate sentences. How to organize paragraphs. The more you read, the more you’ll learn about writing. You can learn to write – like Xurxo did – by reading. And you can do that because reading allows you to learn vicariously. Vicarious learning You learn vicariously when you see or hear someone do something that interests you. If you’re eating with a group of people and someone says, “Pass the sugar, please,” you suddenly know how to ask for the sugar and, possibly, what sugar is. And if you continue to watch and listen, you learn what to do with the sugar when it is passed to you, to put it in your tea and not on your potatoes. The learning happened automatically and, in this example, instantly. Vicarious learning explains why young children often speak and act like their parents – and sometimes embarrass them when they do! It also explains why, when they’re older, they speak and act like their friends or their favorite sports or entertainment heroes. Vicarious learning also explains why I do certain things when I teach. I watched and listened to the teachers I admired and automatically learned something from them about how to teach. Vicarious learning is automatic and when it happens, you usually don’t notice it. It requires little or no effort. One person does something and, as a result, someone who is watching or listening learns. Learning to write vicariously If you want to take advantage of this powerful way to learn to write, there are two things to keep in mind. First, if you want to learn to write by reading, you have to identify yourself, or be able to imagine yourself, as a writer. You need to see yourself as someone who could do the same thing as the writer you are reading. That’s why I learned from my favorite teachers – I watched and listened to them as a (future) teacher. Second, you won’t learn to write by reading if you try to study and memorize what the writer is doing. The key is to be aware of what the writer is doing – to read with a kind of relaxed concentration – but not to analyze what he or she is doing. As you read, different aspects of the writing may come to your mind – the spelling of a word you’ve never seen but use when you speak, the way the writer expresses a certain idea, etc. Enjoy what you’re reading, think along with the writer, and let your brain do the work automatically. Getting started To get started, try this. Choose an essay by William Zinsser<http://www.theamericanscholar.org/zinsser/>; he’s interesting, easy to understand, and a very good writer. Or from the New York Times<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/index.html>, like Xurxo did. Read it once – like a reader – to understand what the writer is saying. Then read it again – like a writer – and think with the writer as you read. If you continue to read this way, you will pick up most of what you need to write well. Like Xurxo, you will learn to write by reading. Writers and writing teachers I know agree – it’s not possible to learn everything you have to know to write well by studying and practice. But it is possible to learn to write by reading. In fact, it’s the only way. Warren Ediger Related reading: *Learning to write – introduction* Reference: F. Smith. Reading like a writer. *Joining the Literacy Club;*also *Reading without Nonsense*. Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ESL Podcast". To post to this group, send email to: [email protected] or just reply this message For invite your friends, visit: http://groups.google.com/group/eslpodcast/members_invite Know how help us, visit this FAQ at: http://groups.google.com/group/eslpodcast/web/frequently-asked-questions
