Why Writing Is Specially Important

In any language acquisition, there will be four important skills to master before anyone can claim he or she has acquired the target language. Those skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Generally speaking, each skill is equally important and to ignore one of them will only mean you're not doing your best to acquire the language.

However, there is one skill that stands a little bit higher than the rest, and as you can see in the title, that skill is writing.

Why is writing different from other skills?

If you compare the four skills with each other, you will realize that writing is the least used skill in your daily routine. You listen, speak and read every single day; it's like an obligation for you to communicate using these skills, but this does not apply on writing. Yet, the most important things that can ever happen in your life will involve writing.

If you want to apply for a job or a scholarship, what do you need to do? If you want to graduate from school with flying colours, what do you need to do? If you want to further your studies towards the next level, what do you need to do? If I'm imagining it correctly, you will need to write. You'll need to write a resume, a formal or recommendation letter, an essay or you have to fill in forms - which still falls under 'writing' category.

Then, let's say you have done all these things without breaking a sweat. But now you feel like continuing your studies towards the highest level; a master's degree or PhD. Can you achieve that by just listening, speaking and reading? No! You will still need to write. A normal piece of writing or a more advanced and detailed one; a research paper or a thesis.

What I'm trying to say is, even though writing is not utilised as frequent as the other three skills, whatever you do in life, if it's important, then you will complete it by writing. This is what makes writing special.

So, if you want to improve your performance in English language, then I suggest you to start writing in English now. Expose yourself to various types of English writing and use the experience and knowledge you've gained to develop. There is no harm in doing so.

On a less related note, I always wonder about teachers who teach language skills but don't expose themselves to the same skills they are teaching. I mean, how do you teach a skill when you yourself don't... never mind.