Why do second language people struggle with writing? The three main reasons that I see in lessons are these:
1) Trouble with prepositions (in, on, from, with, to, at, behind, before, after, over, under, through, and more)
2) Trouble with articles (a, an, the)
3) Trouble with advanced verb tenses ("He might have been going." or "I would have had time.")
Many prepositions are tied (through common use, not necessarily a
logical reason) to certain verbs, nouns and adjectives. For instance,
we say "in defeat," "with care," "work toward" or "dream about." Some
books have great reference lists for these combinations, but a lot of
it is also practice.
The articles (a, an, the) also have many rules developed through common
use and that are not so logical. For instance we say "the flu," but we
do not use "the" with a named illness like "heart disease." Or we use
"the" with names of rivers, but not with lakes: "The Mississippi River
is far from Lake Tahoe." Like prepositions, these rules can studied,
but also just require a lot of practice.
Advanced verb tenses are at least more logical than prepositions and articles, but again practice is needed.
If you struggle, remember this: Language came first, grammar second!
From languages that were fully in use, people chose to define rules
based on what was common. And as languages evolve through use, the
rules change.
See online classes for ways to start writing lessons. We also offer editing for
professional documents, such as business forms, student essays or
dissertations. Back to Speakmethod home page.
