Why are reading and writing in English so difficult for foreign language learners? The English language originates from dozens of languages such as Latin, French, German, and Greek. The diversity of English words and variations of nuances and sentence structure is nearly infinite. Here are some simple tips to help you begin improving your reading comprehension and writing。為什么對于其他國家的語言學習者來說英語閱讀和寫作這么難?英語這門語言源自多門語言，比如拉丁語，法語，德語和希臘語。英語詞匯的多樣，細微差距變化，以及句法結構無窮無盡。這里有一些小貼士來幫你提高你的閱讀理解與寫作能力。

Choosing a Reading Passage選擇一篇精讀

Choose an article or story that interests you. It’s best to read about something related to your work or college major. Be sure you have a general understanding about the topic before you begin reading。選擇一篇吸引你的文章或者故事。最好讀一些與你工作或大學專業相關的文章。確保你在讀之前對文章主題有一個大概的了解。

Skim the passage for unfamiliar vocabulary. You want to be sure there are some new words to learn, but that you are also capable of understanding the majority of the passage. Try to choose a passage of moderate length with an informative, logical structure。略讀文章，找出不熟悉的詞匯。你要確保有一些新的詞匯來學習，與此同時也能夠理解文章大意。選擇中等長度，有信息有條理的文章

Reading Comprehension閱讀理解

Paragraphs段落

Read the entire passage for a general understanding. What is the article discussing? Is the author’s tone of voice informative, excited, angry…? You may then go back and focus on understanding one paragraph at a time。讀整段來理解大意。這篇文章在討論什么?作者的語氣是客觀提供信息式的，興奮的，生氣的等等?你可以再回頭重讀，并每次著重理解一段

Sentences句子

Go back and break apart a paragraph into individual sentences. Can you understand the main meaning of the sentence? If so, then you will be able to understand what the new vocabulary word(s) are referring to based upon context。回頭把段落分為各個句子。你能理解句子的主要含義嗎?如果能，你就能基于上下文理解新詞匯。

Vocabulary Words詞匯

Unfamiliar words may seem intimidating, but actually you are very capable of figuring out the meaning of the words all by yourself. Once you believe you know what the word means, you can then try to find the same vocabulary word used in the same way in another sentence. Does it seem to refer to the same concept? Check your answer by asking an English tutor or looking up the definition in a dictionary。不熟悉的詞匯可能會顯得令人生畏，但其實你自己完全有能力想出詞匯的意思。一旦你確信你知道的詞匯的意思，你可以嘗試尋找在其他句子里以統一用法出現的同一詞匯。它是否指的是同一概念?在問你英文教師或查詞典之前對一下答案。

Note: Avoid reading articles pertaining to abstract topics until you feel comfortable reading daily news articles. Also, articles that use too many idioms may become very frustrating for a foreign reader to understand。注意：避免在你有信心讀日常資訊文章前讀有關抽象主題的文章。并且，使用過多習語的文章可能會讓外國閱讀者很難理解。

Writing an Entry寫讀后感

Being able to express your thoughts and ideas in English are just as important a skill as understanding what you are reading. Students often feel writing to be an impossible task because the English language has too many grammatical rules and ways of expression; however, writing is a skill that can definitely be achieved over time。能夠用英語表達你的想法這個能力和能理解你讀的文章的能力一樣重要。學生經常感覺寫作是一個無法完成的任務因為英語有太多語法規則和特定表達;然而，寫作絕對是一個能通過時間提高的能力。

Organization組織

Have a plan before beginning your essay. Write down ideas you have about a particular topic. Is your essay an argument or opinion?在寫文章前計劃一下。寫下你對某一話題的想法。你的文章是一個論證還是觀點?

1.The first paragraph of an article is an introduction about the topic you plan to discuss。文章第一段是一個關于你要討論話題的介紹。

2.All following paragraphs are the body of your essay. These paragraphs will relate to the main idea of your article. Only begin a new paragraph when you wish to begin the next idea。.所有接下來的段落是你文章的主題。這些段落將和你文章的中心思想有關。只有當你想開始寫下一個想法時再新起一段。

3. The closing paragraph is usually the solution or conclusion to your discussion. 結尾段通常是所你討論問題的解決方案或結論。

Write a topic sentence for each of your paragraphs so the reader knows what the main idea of each paragraph is. The body sentences will pertain to your topic sentence. The last sentence of the paragraph should conclude what you just wrote about while leading into the next topic. Transition sentences are quite tricky to master; this is why you should have a plan as to what order you will discuss your ideas。對每一個段落寫一個中心句，以便讀者了解這個段落的中心思想。段內的句子所講內容要與你的中心句有關聯。段落最后一句應該總結你所寫的，并引入下一個話題。過渡句很難掌握，因此你最好有一個大綱，關于你講以何種順序討論你的想法。

Conjunctions連詞

It is common for foreigners to write many sentences, but sometimes they are just too short. Combine these sentences by adding a conjunction such as “but, and, or, because, etc。”對于外國人來說，寫很多句子很平常的事情，但是有時它們都太短了。通過加一個連詞比如“但是，和，或者，因為等等”將可以講這些句子結合起來。

Be Concise要簡潔

Your boss or college professor would much rather you write quality instead of quantity. Although it is good to combine short sentences to make them longer, don’t ramble. In other words, don’t just write a bunch of extra words to meet the required word count. Instead, write a detailed response with better word choice。你的老板或者教授希望你寫質量好而不是字數多的文章。雖然把短句結合成長句很好，但注意別啰嗦。也就是說，不要寫一堆額外的詞來湊字數。相反，用精簡的措詞寫一個詳細的回答。

Redundancy贅言

Because it is difficult for foreigners to express their ideas, they often write the same idea repeatedly in multiple ways. Avoid writing the same ideas over and over, because it becomes boring for the reader。由于對于外國人來說，用外語表達他們的想法很難，所以他們經常用不同的方式重復地表達同一意思。要注意避免重復寫同一想法，因為這讓讀者覺得很枯燥。

Punctuation標點符號

Capitalization, spacing, and commas are commonly misused。大寫，間距，逗號經常被誤用。

Capitalize the first letter of every sentence and when using proper nouns。每一句的第一個字母要大寫，使用特定名詞要大寫。

Incorrect: while she was in chicago, she went to lincoln park to walk her dog named rocky。不正確：當她在chicago時，她去lincoln公園去遛叫rocky的狗。

Correct: While she was in Chicago, she went to Lincoln park to walk her dog named Rocky。正確：當她在Chicago時，她去Lincoln公園去遛叫Rocky的狗。

Spacing is often wrong when I am reading italki users’ notebook entries. Be sure to leave a space between each word, after a comma, and after the period at the end of a sentence。當我讀italki用戶寫的小作文時發現，間距經常被用錯。確保詞與詞之間，逗號后，句尾句號后有空格

Incorrect: He went shopping for bread,milk,and eggs.He really needed breakfast food。不正確：他去買面包，牛奶，和雞蛋。他真的需要早餐。

Correct: He went shopping for bread, milk, and eggs. He really need breakfast food。正確：他去買面包， 牛奶， 和雞蛋。 他真的需要早餐。

Use commas when separating items in a list。列舉時用逗號把不同項隔離。

Incorrect: My classmates Sarah John and Mary came over to my house after school。不正確：我同學Sarah John 和Mary放學后來我家。

Correct: My classmates Sarah, John, and Mary came over to my house after school。正確：我同學Sarah， John，和Mary放學后來我家。

It looks like Sarah’s last name is John if a comma is NOT added。

你如果沒有加逗號的話，會誤以為Sarah的姓是John。

Don’t forget to check for misspelled words and correct use of periods, quotes, parentheses, and exclamation marks. Please see other italki teacher articles for grammar tips。別忘了檢查有沒有拼寫錯誤，有沒有正確使用句號，引用號，括號，和感嘆號。請參看其他italki老師寫的關于語法小貼士的文章。

Note: Watch out for verb tenses when writing your articles!注意：寫文章時注意動詞時態。

Conclusion結論

Although reading and writing in English are very challenging tasks, each and every one of you is capable of learning these skills. When reading, keep your eyes moving ahead on the page to grasp the main idea of the article. Do not become fixated on one word or phrase, otherwise it will cause your reading fluency to lag. Break down the passage into parts when you are confused。盡管閱讀和寫作在英語中是非常具有挑戰性的任務，但你們每個人都能學會這些技能。當閱讀時，仔細閱讀掌握文章中心思想。不要一個詞或短語糾結過久，否則它將導致你閱讀的流暢性滯后。當你不明白時，把文章分解成不同部分。

No matter what topic you are writing about, organize your thoughts and ideas before beginning. Once you finish, go back through the essay and read it aloud to see if it sounds fluent. You want your writing to flow from one idea to another. Double-check your spelling and punctuation. If you keep working to improve your reading and writing skills, you will soon look back and see the substantial progress you have made!不管你寫什么主題，寫之前組織好你的想法。一旦結束，檢查你的文章并大聲讀出來，來看它是否流暢。你希望你的寫作內容是流暢地從一個觀點過度到另一個觀點。仔細檢查拼寫和標點。如果你一直努力提高你的閱讀和寫作能力，不久當你回頭看時，你將會看到你所獲得的實質性進步!

Why are reading and writing in English so difficult for foreign language learners? The English language originates from dozens of languages such as Latin, French, German, and Greek. The diversity of English words and variations of nuances and sentence structure is nearly infinite. Here are some simple tips to help you begin improving your reading comprehension and writing。為什么對于其他國家的語言學習者來說英語閱讀和寫作這么難?英語這門語言源自多門語言，比如拉丁語，法語，德語和希臘語。英語詞匯的多樣，細微差距變化，以及句法結構無窮無盡。這里有一些小貼士來幫你提高你的閱讀理解與寫作能力。

Choosing a Reading Passage選擇一篇精讀

Choose an article or story that interests you. It’s best to read about something related to your work or college major. Be sure you have a general understanding about the topic before you begin reading。選擇一篇吸引你的文章或者故事。最好讀一些與你工作或大學專業相關的文章。確保你在讀之前對文章主題有一個大概的了解。

Skim the passage for unfamiliar vocabulary. You want to be sure there are some new words to learn, but that you are also capable of understanding the majority of the passage. Try to choose a passage of moderate length with an informative, logical structure。略讀文章，找出不熟悉的詞匯。你要確保有一些新的詞匯來學習，與此同時也能夠理解文章大意。選擇中等長度，有信息有條理的文章

Reading Comprehension閱讀理解

Paragraphs段落

Read the entire passage for a general understanding. What is the article discussing? Is the author’s tone of voice informative, excited, angry…? You may then go back and focus on understanding one paragraph at a time。讀整段來理解大意。這篇文章在討論什么?作者的語氣是客觀提供信息式的，興奮的，生氣的等等?你可以再回頭重讀，并每次著重理解一段

Sentences句子

Go back and break apart a paragraph into individual sentences. Can you understand the main meaning of the sentence? If so, then you will be able to understand what the new vocabulary word(s) are referring to based upon context。回頭把段落分為各個句子。你能理解句子的主要含義嗎?如果能，你就能基于上下文理解新詞匯。

Vocabulary Words詞匯

Unfamiliar words may seem intimidating, but actually you are very capable of figuring out the meaning of the words all by yourself. Once you believe you know what the word means, you can then try to find the same vocabulary word used in the same way in another sentence. Does it seem to refer to the same concept? Check your answer by asking an English tutor or looking up the definition in a dictionary。不熟悉的詞匯可能會顯得令人生畏，但其實你自己完全有能力想出詞匯的意思。一旦你確信你知道的詞匯的意思，你可以嘗試尋找在其他句子里以統一用法出現的同一詞匯。它是否指的是同一概念?在問你英文教師或查詞典之前對一下答案。

Note: Avoid reading articles pertaining to abstract topics until you feel comfortable reading daily news articles. Also, articles that use too many idioms may become very frustrating for a foreign reader to understand。注意：避免在你有信心讀日常資訊文章前讀有關抽象主題的文章。并且，使用過多習語的文章可能會讓外國閱讀者很難理解。

Writing an Entry寫讀后感

Being able to express your thoughts and ideas in English are just as important a skill as understanding what you are reading. Students often feel writing to be an impossible task because the English language has too many grammatical rules and ways of expression; however, writing is a skill that can definitely be achieved over time。能夠用英語表達你的想法這個能力和能理解你讀的文章的能力一樣重要。學生經常感覺寫作是一個無法完成的任務因為英語有太多語法規則和特定表達;然而，寫作絕對是一個能通過時間提高的能力。

Organization組織

Have a plan before beginning your essay. Write down ideas you have about a particular topic. Is your essay an argument or opinion?在寫文章前計劃一下。寫下你對某一話題的想法。你的文章是一個論證還是觀點?

1.The first paragraph of an article is an introduction about the topic you plan to discuss。文章第一段是一個關于你要討論話題的介紹。

2.All following paragraphs are the body of your essay. These paragraphs will relate to the main idea of your article. Only begin a new paragraph when you wish to begin the next idea。.所有接下來的段落是你文章的主題。這些段落將和你文章的中心思想有關。只有當你想開始寫下一個想法時再新起一段。

3. The closing paragraph is usually the solution or conclusion to your discussion. 結尾段通常是所你討論問題的解決方案或結論。

Write a topic sentence for each of your paragraphs so the reader knows what the main idea of each paragraph is. The body sentences will pertain to your topic sentence. The last sentence of the paragraph should conclude what you just wrote about while leading into the next topic. Transition sentences are quite tricky to master; this is why you should have a plan as to what order you will discuss your ideas。對每一個段落寫一個中心句，以便讀者了解這個段落的中心思想。段內的句子所講內容要與你的中心句有關聯。段落最后一句應該總結你所寫的，并引入下一個話題。過渡句很難掌握，因此你最好有一個大綱，關于你講以何種順序討論你的想法。

Conjunctions連詞

It is common for foreigners to write many sentences, but sometimes they are just too short. Combine these sentences by adding a conjunction such as “but, and, or, because, etc。”對于外國人來說，寫很多句子很平常的事情，但是有時它們都太短了。通過加一個連詞比如“但是，和，或者，因為等等”將可以講這些句子結合起來。

Be Concise要簡潔

Your boss or college professor would much rather you write quality instead of quantity. Although it is good to combine short sentences to make them longer, don’t ramble. In other words, don’t just write a bunch of extra words to meet the required word count. Instead, write a detailed response with better word choice。你的老板或者教授希望你寫質量好而不是字數多的文章。雖然把短句結合成長句很好，但注意別啰嗦。也就是說，不要寫一堆額外的詞來湊字數。相反，用精簡的措詞寫一個詳細的回答。

Redundancy贅言

Because it is difficult for foreigners to express their ideas, they often write the same idea repeatedly in multiple ways. Avoid writing the same ideas over and over, because it becomes boring for the reader。由于對于外國人來說，用外語表達他們的想法很難，所以他們經常用不同的方式重復地表達同一意思。要注意避免重復寫同一想法，因為這讓讀者覺得很枯燥。

Punctuation標點符號

Capitalization, spacing, and commas are commonly misused。大寫，間距，逗號經常被誤用。

Capitalize the first letter of every sentence and when using proper nouns。每一句的第一個字母要大寫，使用特定名詞要大寫。

Incorrect: while she was in chicago, she went to lincoln park to walk her dog named rocky。不正確：當她在chicago時，她去lincoln公園去遛叫rocky的狗。

Correct: While she was in Chicago, she went to Lincoln park to walk her dog named Rocky。正確：當她在Chicago時，她去Lincoln公園去遛叫Rocky的狗。

Spacing is often wrong when I am reading italki users’ notebook entries. Be sure to leave a space between each word, after a comma, and after the period at the end of a sentence。當我讀italki用戶寫的小作文時發現，間距經常被用錯。確保詞與詞之間，逗號后，句尾句號后有空格

Incorrect: He went shopping for bread,milk,and eggs.He really needed breakfast food。不正確：他去買面包，牛奶，和雞蛋。他真的需要早餐。

Correct: He went shopping for bread, milk, and eggs. He really need breakfast food。正確：他去買面包， 牛奶， 和雞蛋。 他真的需要早餐。

Use commas when separating items in a list。列舉時用逗號把不同項隔離。

Incorrect: My classmates Sarah John and Mary came over to my house after school。不正確：我同學Sarah John 和Mary放學后來我家。

Correct: My classmates Sarah, John, and Mary came over to my house after school。正確：我同學Sarah， John，和Mary放學后來我家。

It looks like Sarah’s last name is John if a comma is NOT added。

你如果沒有加逗號的話，會誤以為Sarah的姓是John。

Don’t forget to check for misspelled words and correct use of periods, quotes, parentheses, and exclamation marks. Please see other italki teacher articles for grammar tips。別忘了檢查有沒有拼寫錯誤，有沒有正確使用句號，引用號，括號，和感嘆號。請參看其他italki老師寫的關于語法小貼士的文章。

Note: Watch out for verb tenses when writing your articles!注意：寫文章時注意動詞時態。

Conclusion結論

Although reading and writing in English are very challenging tasks, each and every one of you is capable of learning these skills. When reading, keep your eyes moving ahead on the page to grasp the main idea of the article. Do not become fixated on one word or phrase, otherwise it will cause your reading fluency to lag. Break down the passage into parts when you are confused。盡管閱讀和寫作在英語中是非常具有挑戰性的任務，但你們每個人都能學會這些技能。當閱讀時，仔細閱讀掌握文章中心思想。不要一個詞或短語糾結過久，否則它將導致你閱讀的流暢性滯后。當你不明白時，把文章分解成不同部分。

No matter what topic you are writing about, organize your thoughts and ideas before beginning. Once you finish, go back through the essay and read it aloud to see if it sounds fluent. You want your writing to flow from one idea to another. Double-check your spelling and punctuation. If you keep working to improve your reading and writing skills, you will soon look back and see the substantial progress you have made!不管你寫什么主題，寫之前組織好你的想法。一旦結束，檢查你的文章并大聲讀出來，來看它是否流暢。你希望你的寫作內容是流暢地從一個觀點過度到另一個觀點。仔細檢查拼寫和標點。如果你一直努力提高你的閱讀和寫作能力，不久當你回頭看時，你將會看到你所獲得的實質性進步!