Do you like writing? Do you find it easy?

If you answered "No" to either of these questions, this article can help you.

First of all, why do you want to improve your writing skills? Do you need to write essays to move up to the next level of English as a Second Language? Are you taking credit courses at a college or university? Do you want to write business e-mails or friendly letters?

Please finish this sentence: I need to improve my writing so I can _______________________________________________________________________.

That's the first step, and a very important one!

Now, your next step is to think about what you need to become an effective writer:

* Spelling
* Grammar
* Punctuation
* Ideas
* Organization
* Vocabulary

There are various courses, some of them free on the internet, that can help you with the first three skills.

One very useful tool for checking your grammar and spelling is the Googlefight website.

Here's a simple example. Let's say you can't remember whether the correct question is Does he like apples? or Does he likes apples? Go to Googlefight and type in Does he like for Keyword 1 and Does he likes for Keyword 2. Click on Make a fight! and see what happens.

I just tried it and Does he like was the clear winner with 347,000,000 search results. There were only 30,600,000 results for Does he likes.

Now you know that Does he like is more common, at least in American English. (It's also correct grammar.)

A dictionary website can be very helpful for spelling. You can also use Googlefight to find out which of two correct spellings is more common in the U.S. Try neighbour and neighbor, for example, or satelite and satellite.

Now let's go on to ideas. Say you want to improve your writing skills so you can send business e-mails. I searched for business e-mails and found many websites with free information.

They should give you some ideas about how to communicate with a customer, ask about a service, ask for help from a co-worker, or thank an interviewer for meeting with you.

Did you know that the best writers are people who read a lot? Your homework for this week is to read the kind of writing you want to do, whether it's business e-mails, love letters(!), book reviews, essays or something else.

Then come back in a week and check out ESL Students: Improve Your Writing in 10 Minutes a Day (Part Two) here at Ezine Articles. I'll show you an easy and pleasant way to improve your writing skills while learning more about your topic.

Happy reading!

Margaret Welwood is an English as a Second Language Instructor, freelance writer and editor. She has taught English as a Second Language in Alberta, Canada, for over 25 years. To sign up for her free seven-part vocabulary course for adults, click here: http://www.teachyouryoungchild.ca/registration_form.htm To learn how to prepare your young child for success in school, click here: http://www.teachyouryoungchild.ca