Keeping a Journal

This journal is essentially a report of your day, work, and everyday tasks.

Having a normal conversation is usually incredibly fast, requiring you to do many things simultaneously. You are listening, processing information, thinking about how to react and respond to what you have just heard, creating a response/sentence, and finally, speaking. As a beginner, this process can feel challenging and stressful. However, you set the pace with writing, and everything is much more relaxed.

Writing is a deep learning activity. You have ample time to think about what you want to say, look up the necessary vocabulary, and understand the language and grammar required.

Keeping a journal like this focuses almost exclusively on RELEVANCE: what is important to you and your daily life.

Once you have written a journal entry, correct it with your teacher so that you can learn from your mistakes. Correcting and understanding your mistakes helps create confidence and prepare you for when that situation happens again in your life. You have the general vocabulary, grammar, and phrases needed to have a conversation/talk about it.

This approach to writing is very similar to the first method discussed previously but on a more ongoing basis. You are gradually improving your language skills to respond quickly and accurately to any situation
in your life. You are slowly writing about and adding on more and more situations in which you will feel more at ease expressing yourself.