Elements of Effective Independent Language Learning

4. Writing

This presents a special problem in a second language. Language was meant to be oral and writing was meant to record what people do when they speak and enlarge the memory as writers record what has been spoken. There is a Chinese proverb that says that the faintest ink is greater than the sharpest memory, and anyone who has taken notes that they needed weeks later can agree. Writing also enables us to write across space and time, which makes language so much more useful and the ability to write in a second language essential.

For some reason, even those who we would consider very fluent when speaking find this hard to do. Second language speakers who are just barely identifiable when speaking, show themselves as a nonnative the moment they write. Perhaps writing doesn't mimic spoken language as closely as we'd like to think it does. However, I promise that you will find that if you write in the language you speak that your speaking gets better. Not only that but it is closely related to reading, as anyone knows, and if you can read the language, you will retain it.

Here are some thoughts from my experience with Japanese writing. When I was a very new missionary, I was told on all sides not to bother with the language but to focus on speaking and teaching. I kept with it, though. The characters looked like beautiful little bugs and everyday I tried to memorize one of them. I didn't keep to my goal very well, but I often practiced while waiting, or traced the characters on my hand while on my bicycle at stoplights.

The Japanese people seeing my writing often commented, some with kind praise for my efforts, but the more honest part admitted it looked awfully wobbly. One friend asked if she could take a picture of one of the characters I wrote because it was so funny. But often these criticisms were followed by advice and corrections in my stroke order or the offer to teach on the corner of a newspaper. I began to improve until at one point I needed to write someone a letter who I could not contact by phone or at her home. I wrote Emiko a letter that though laboriously written, communicated for the most part what I wanted to say. I asked a native to look it over and I was thrilled that she only had 1 correction for me. The goal of language is not to say everything perfectly through the memorization of key phrases and vocabulary, but more importantly it is meant to communicate what you want it to and writing allows for it a lot of development here.

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(Here's a great site for Kanji enthusiasts)
www.nihongoweb.com