English Writing Skills

Welcome to EnglishClub Writing for ESL learners, to help you learn and practise the skill of writing in English.

Writing Skills Guide
Tips and strategies to improve your English writing skills

Alphabet
English alphabet from aA to zZ, in small and large letters, with font styles and alphabetical order

Using Capital Letters
In English, we do not use capital letters (large letters) very much. It is not correct or even polite to use a lot of capitals in English. But there are times when they are important.

Spelling Rules
The following rules can help you to decode the mysteries of English spelling. This section includes spelling variations between British English and American English.

Abbreviations
Learn the main types of abbreviation—shortenings, contractions, initialisms, acronyms—and how to write and say them.

Type
Writing that you see in a book or on a computer screen is called "type".

Punctuation
Punctuation is the system of symbols (. , ! - : etc) that we use to separate sentences and parts of sentences, and to make their meaning clear. Here are the punctuation marks that we use in English, together with some punctuation quizzes and a punctuation song.

Signs and Symbols
English also uses a number of special symbols (like * # & % $) that act as abbreviations or have their own meaning.

Plagiarism
And how to avoid it! Plagiarism is an illegal form of copying. It means taking another person's work (without asking) and calling it your own.

Writing Prompts
Practise various aspects of written English with prompts designed specially for English learners.

Sentence Variety
How to avoid writing boring sentences that all seem the same

Textual Reference Terms
All those strange words like following, preceding, overleaf, PTO that don't carry any meaning but tell us where the author wants us to look. Illustrated

Peer Editing
Why you need a friend to help you check your own writing - and how s/he can do it

Six Common Mistakes in ESL Writing
and how to avoid them

Typing Test
How fast can you type English?

Creative Writing Forum
Add your own written work or read what other English learners are writing.

People often ask

FAQ: frequently asked writing questions

More Writing Articles

Citation Styles
This article explains the three most common citation styles used in research papers with an example for each.

IELTS Writing Quiz
An online multiple-choice quiz to test how much you know about the IELTS Academic Writing and General Training Writing exams

Tips for Non-Native English Writers
Non-native English speaker Cheryl Alvin offers practical ideas to help other non-native English speakers become good English writers.

6 Ways to Cut Wordiness for More Effective Writing
Less is more. Six easy ways to say more in fewer words

How to Proofread for Error-free Writing
A few tips to help you check your writing and make sure it is always correct

A Tip for the Possessive Apostrophe
Apostrophes need not be learning catastrophes.

Speaking versus Writing
The pen is mightier than the spoken word—or is it?

Five Tips for Easy Email
How to write "good" emails and make life easier for everyone

Recommended Writing Links

What is written without effort is read without pleasure.Samuel Johnson