Four Simple Ways to Better Your Writing

⊙By Lucy Earl

Lucy是一名来自英国的知名主播，她的英语教学系列是Youtube上最受欢迎的学习频道之一，内容涉及语言学习的方方面面，被世界各地的粉丝奉为“女神”。这一期，我们请Lucy给大家分享几个简单而有效的写作提高法宝——无论是高考，还是雅思托福，乃至将来的学术论文，这四个法宝都能一直派上用场哦！

听力指南针

Lucy的教学节目主要面向英语学习者，其语言通俗易懂，很少使用艰涩生词或复杂句型。她喜欢用语音语调的变化来强调一些关键词，大家在听的时候不妨多加留意。

Keep It Simple简简单单才是真

My first tip for improving your writing is:keep it simple.

Now, I know this seems really, really obvious, but I always say to my students,“Simple done accurately is better than complicated done inaccurately.” In other words, it’s better to keep things simple and do it well, rather than over-complicate everything and do it badly.

So, in English writing exams, you want to show off your English, but you want to show off your accurate English, not all this English that you don’t know or haven’t learnt yet.

Have a Collection of Set Phrases多收集固定搭配

Now that leads me on to point number two. In order to avoid making mistakes in your writing, it’s a really, really good idea to have a collection of set phrases and key words that you can use in that exam. Now, you do have to be careful with this. You don’t want to rehearse[排练]what you’re going to write,but you do want to have a nice selection of things that you could possibly say if the time arises. You want to have linking words and key phrases prepared.

Now, I’m going to give you a list with two examples for each point, so pay attention.And if there’s any point that you think “I really could expand on that,” go and do your research and prepare yourself. You want to make sure that you have a variety of different ways to…

Compare 比较: in the same way, at the same time

Contrast 对照: on the contrary, however

Give examples 举例: for instance, to illustrate

Give your opinion 个人观点: from my perspective, from my point of view

Generalize 概括: overall, all things considered

Express certainty 确定: undoubtedly,of course

Express partial agreement 部分同意:in a way, to some extent

Show cause 表示原因: owing to, due to

Show effect 表示结果: for this reason,consequently

Mark time 时间先后: to begin with,following this

Add information 补充: furthermore,moreover

Express condition 指出条件: unless,provided that

Conclude 总结: in summary, in short

So, that’s just a very brief list showing you exactly what you need to study to be fully prepared for any English writing exam.

Reduce Your Word Count注意精简字数

Now, point number three: reduce your word count. Use as few words as possible. I’ve got some really, really good mini-tips within this big tip to help you keep your word count down and your English level up.

The first one is: avoid these deadweight[重负]words like very, so, a lot, really. They are pointless; they are empty calories[无营养食物]in English. Replace them, instead, with a strong word. So, instead of saying “really happy,” I would say, “I am elated.” Instead of saying “so scared,” I would say, “terrified.” OK? So, by using strong words and avoiding these boring words,you can reduce your word count by a fair bit.

Now, another way to really reduce your word count but really improve the quality of your writing is avoiding there is and there are. We want everything to be as clear as possible, and sometimes there is and there are can act as fillers[填料]—they add extra words to our sentences. I’m going to give you an example, so you can see this and bear it in mind[记住]next time you’re doing an academic piece of writing.

Sentence 1: There are many problems that we may encounter[遇到].

Sentence 2: We may encounter many problems.

The first sentence has eight words. The second sentence has five words. You have reduced your word count and you have increased the quality and the clarity[明晰]of your writing, so make sure you apply this in your next exam.

Check Your Work一定要仔细检查

Tip number four: this is one that you will have heard in school so many times, but I’ve worked as a teacher for many, many years, and I get so frustrated with silly, stupid mistakes that I know that my students know.They don’t make these mistakes when they’re speaking, so why do they make them when they’re writing? So many times I’ve gone and I’ve prepared a lesson, because I’ve seen that there are some very clear mistakes in my students’ writing, and I prepare a lesson to correct this mistake. And when I go to teach it, they say, “But teacher, we already know this. This is baby stuff!” And it’s because they don’t check their work.

I have a clear example of this. I used to work as a proofreader[校对员]. I used to check through documents before they got sent off to publishers to make sure that they were all correct—that there were no spelling mistakes,there were no grammar mistakes, there was nothing, nothing wrong, they were all perfect. I could get every single mistake just by looking at a document. From a distance, I could pick out those errors.

However, if you follow me on Instagram注,you will see that I make spelling and grammar mistakes all the time. Why? Because I don’t check. I don’t check my writing. I am a native English speaker, and I make spelling mistakes.Granted[就算]many of them are due to autocorrect on my phone which I’m battling with,but a lot of them are my fault. And I don’t check them, so I don’t see them.

I know, when you finish an exam, you’re like, “Ah, I’m done! I want to move on to the next question!” But you can avoid so many point deductions[扣除]just by checking through your work, so please, please, please make it your absolute priority[优先].

I personally think it’s much better if you write less and check more. Fewer words,higher accuracy. And I know, normally, I’d promote[提倡]fluency over accuracy, but not in writing exams—in writing exams, you want perfection.

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