1. Type carefully. Many second language writers worry about their language so much that their writing ends up filled with too many typing errors.

2. All English sentences have a subject and a verb. Keep that in mind and make sure every sentence you create has them.

3. Vary sentence lengths. Most second-language writers tend to fall back on simple sentences too much. There’s nothing wrong with it. If you fall into the same trap, just combine two or more sentences every few lines and you should be fine.

4. Use active verbs. This is simpler than it sounds. Instead of using verb forms of “to be,” such as “is,” “are,” “have” and other similar words, use actual action words for the verbs in your sentences. The maturity they lend your writing is worth every extra minute you take to rewrite erstwhile passive sentences.

5. Use a spellchecker and a grammar software at bare minimum. There’s nothing uglier than material rendered unreadable by bad grammar and misspellings. These automated English language tools can fix those problems on the fly, so that you need not add to your worries.

Business writing is different from other types of writing in that it’s a little more formal and requires you to produce material with a professional tone.   If you’re going to work in an English-speaking country, there’s no escaping it, as most professions (especially white-collar ones) will require you to write in that manner.

To help you out, here are a few tips:

1. Learn to write English in a more formal, straightforward manner.  To be on the safe side,  it’s best to aim for a more formal tone, rather than find a more balanced writing style.  Sure, you might not end up writing the most interesting emails or memos, but you’ll sound professional doing so.

2. Write to your audience.  Always know who you’re writing a document for.  If it’s an email to a co-worker along the same rank as you, a little less formality might help you establish better rapport.  For a report that you’ll submit to superiors, though, you may want to dispense with the pleasantries.

3. Be clear and to the point.  No need for literary devices for business writing.  Sure, it might help for proposals and other materials intended to sway opinion.  But you’ll be teetering a fine line and it’s best not to rock the boat, especially if English isn’t your first language.

4. Arm yourself with a good English language software.  You’ll need it, especially when it comes to cleaning up writing mistakes and improving your overall facility.

Many ESL speakers, especially those on the early stages of their English learning software, understandably feel self-conscious about small talk.  Despite the relaxed nature of such interaction, their personal struggles with the language can prove a hindrance  that sees them go through the process with much anxiety.

When mustering the “power” to hold your own during small talk, here are a few things to remember:

• Be interested in the basics about them. Who? What? When? Where? Why?  Those are the bare basics you’d like to ask your acquaintance.  Those are also the likely the same things they will be asking you about, so try practicing your answers in English.
• Learn some conversation starters. Pick up one of those basic social skills book in the library and memorize a few of the conversation starters.  When nothing else comes to mind, you can whip them up and, hopefully, get the ball rolling.
• Practice every chance you get. If you’re in an English speaking country, you can practice small talk wherever you come upon people – while riding the bus, waiting for the train or in line at the grocery.  Try it – it’s more rewarding than you’d ever expect.

1.  Read at a suitable level.  If you’re barely two weeks into your ESL studies, opening up a book written by academics will likely leave you with a headache.  As much as possible, try to read at a level that is right for you.  If a particular material is too difficult for you to comprehend, put it down and find something else.  It’s perfectly valid.

2. New words are awesome.  When you encounter new words, don’t let them intimidate you.  Just guess their meaning and continue reading.  I’d suggest marking them, though, as you go.  That way, you can go back after you’ve finished a piece to research the new vocabulary individually.

3. Read regularly.  Like all skills, reading requires consistent practice.  Save at least 10 or 20 minutes each day for reading, that way you’re able to maintain a regular, active pace.

4. Read with learning the language in mind.  Reading for leisure is very different when reading for learning.  With the latter, you need to come prepared – have your markers at hand, a dictionary (in case you really can’t understand the words) and other study materials while you read.

5. Choose interesting materials.  There are thousands, maybe millions, of reading materials available.  Why would you even pick up something you can hardly care about.

In English, each word always has a single point of stress, meaning there’s one syllable that you accentuate.  You pronounce this syllable loudly, all while staying quiet with all the others.  If you hear two stresses, then the speaker just said out two words and so on.

In some languages, such as Japanese and French, all syllables are given equal emphasis.  As such, native users of these vernaculars typically have a difficult time making out a conversation among native English speakers.  It’s like learning a whole new system of using sound all on its own.

When you’re trying to learn word stress in English, the simplest rule you must bear in mind is that the stress is always on the vowel.  There are many other rules, too, although learning them all will likely complicate matters if you’re only trying to get a good grasp of communication skills.

Rather than perform calculations on the fly, we recommend the following to wrap your head around various English pronunciations:

• When you memorize vocabulary with your language software, memorize word stress too.
• Realize that word stress is a big part of the language.  Without learning where the stress falls on a word, you’re not learning a word completely.
• Listen to native speakers – either in person, on talk radio or in films.  That’s the easiest way to get used to the way native English speakers use word stress.

Some words bear the same spelling, but need to be pronounced differently.  For example, the word “read” is mouthed off differently in these two sentences:

• Read the paper from yesterday.
• I have read yesterday’s paper.

Some words are pronounced the exact same way, yet are spelled differently.  For example, the words “way” and “weigh” are complete separate things, yet are mouthed off in exactly the same manner.

• Show me the way.
• How much do you weigh?

Unless you’ve specifically studied both uses of the word, there’s no way you could have known how to differentiate one from the other.   Most likely, you will make mistakes with such words during the course of your study with your language software.  Just know that it’s nothing to be embarrassed about – those phonetic differences are things you will need to recognize and remember whenever you encounter them.

There are a total of 52 different sounds in the English language, each of which you will likely encounter during your attempts at mastering it.  You should learn all these different pronunciations  if you want to both speak and listen more capably.

• Use short sentences
• Use short first paragraphs
• Use vigorous English
• And be positive, never negative

If those items sound familiar, that’s because you’ve likely heard them repeated numerous times in many writing guides.  They’re as basic for good writing as it gets.

“Those were the best rules I ever learned in the business of writing,” Hemingway recounted years later.  “I’ve never forgotten them.  No one…can fail to write well if he abides by them.”

As an ESL writer who’s still struggling with the written aspect of the English language, following the above guidelines can be the best thing to keep in mind.   Even with the lack of a full facility in the vernacular, you can end up with prose that reads well if you follow them in your own work, coupled with a good ESL assistant software.

Why do they work so well?

• Short sentences are easy to read, allowing you to make fewer mistakes while never losing the reader at any point.
• Short first paragraphs are easy to digest, making it easy to begin reading anything you put to paper.
• Vigorous English may not be up your alley yet as an ESL writer.  But if you can manage it, your text will read alive and powerful.
• Positive statements are easier to understand than negative ones, apart from helping you come up with more powerful arguments.

Brand. A noun that denotes a type of product made by a particular company (e.g. “Our brand of soap was first in sales last year.”)

Brand Identity. A noun that encapsulates how a company wants consumers to see their products. Are you a luxury item, a product for technical types, a bargain or something intended for women?

Brand Image. In contrast, with “brand identity,” this refers to how consumers actually perceive your products (e.g. “We need to change our brand image.”).

Launch. A verb that’s used to refer to the introduction of a new product, along with a complete advertising and marketing effort (e.g. “During the launch of our new product next month..”).

Consumer. A noun that refers to a person who buys the company’s products (good and services)both in retail and wholesale (e.g.”Our consumers were unhappy with the price hike.”).

End User. A noun that refers to a consumer who uses a product, instead of selling it (e.g. “The end user feedback was very positive.”).

Market Research. A noun that describes the process of collecting and processing information about customers, primarily concerning their feelings and attitudes about a particular product (e.g. “Market research indicates that consumers want more of the old version.”)

Public Relations. A noun that refers to the act of creating and maintaining a positive image for your company in the eyes of both customers and the general public.

Editing services, especially those geared towards students and ESL speakers, are seeing increasing growth online.  With English establishing itself as the international language for business and many other endeavors, it’s not surprising to see a rise in the number of people requiring editing services in the vernacular.

Fees typically range from $20 to $30 for minimal editing (basic proofreading for short documents) all the way to several hundred dollars for longer, more involved work.  As you can see, it’s not cheap, making it less of an option for regular day-to-day correspondences and similarly mundane tasks.

For more important documents,such as when you’re a foreign national applying for a position in an American company, the price is absolutely warranted and we highly recommend you take advantage of them.  After all, a well-written application essay really could make the difference in your application process.

With less-significant items, though, such as regular correspondences with American friends, you may want to hold on to that cash and invest in a language software for writing instead.  These all-in-one English writing software can take your badly-worded, low-level English text and fashion it into something better.  Sure, it won’t make you sound like a professional writer the way some editing services can, but it should iron out many of your mistakes.

Of course, you can always just call upon an editing service every time you need text run over.  Prepare to spend a good amount of cash, though.

The good news is, there are plenty of resources available to help you improve your English writing capabilities.  Here are a few of them.

Desktop-based language software. Want the best way to bring your written English to the next level?  An all-in-one language tool should help.  Even better, you can learn by application, as you watch it point out mistakes, fix them and improve on your own writing.

Books. There are probably a million and one books about writing.  I’m not exaggerating either.  Being one of the longest-standing art forms and one of the most enduring communication methods, writing has seen a wide and varied share of guides.

Writing Classes and Workshops. If you live in an English-speaking country, you can literally walk into any college and find one of these scheduled.  If you live elsewhere, you will likely find them too, as English has entrenched itself as an international language for many fields of endeavor.

Online. There’s a literal flood of online resources on writing.  If you seek them out, you’ll probably end up overwhelmed, more than anything else.  The real problem is not finding, it’s figuring out the good ones from the bad.

Others. There are many more avenues you can pursue when you’re trying to improve your writing faculties.  Regardless of which one you choose, the important thing is to apply yourself in acquiring the skill.  It’s not easy (nothing ever really is), but if you put your heart into it, you should be seeing some improvements within a short time.