With over two billion speakers worldwide, English is the most spoken language in the world. This is a solid reason to constantly work on your English writing skills if you wish to become successful in business.
Most popular movies are in English today, and many famous artists sing in this language. Of course, the overwhelming majority of the internet is in English. According to W3Techs, almost half of the internet is written in English. That makes us confident in claiming that most of the business done online is in this language.
That’s why it is crucial to improve your English writing skills so that you can have more success in online business.
However, improving your English writing skills is a serious task. Do it wrong, and you may find yourself failing to make progress. Many people understand the language and can even speak it, but fail to write well. That’s also the language’s fault. Of all the international languages, English has the biggest disparity between how it’s written and how it sounds. While it doesn’t have the most complex grammatical system, many people find it difficult to master because of its spelling.
Besides its phonetics, other difficulties with mastering the language include a large vocabulary base with more subtle nuances than in other languages. Also, the complexity of the English tense system makes it harder to master.
Here is what you can do, right now, to improve your English writing skills. You don’t need tutors or expensive learning resources—just time and the will to improve.
1. Practice English Writing Daily
The first thing that you should do to improve your English writing skills is to just write in English. For that, you need a consistent writing schedule.
It’s better to write for five minutes daily than one hour rarely. Here, consistency is key. It’s better to do a little every day than to do a lot once in a while.
How can you practice writing? Keep an electronic journal. Write every day about how you feel, and try using words that you have recently learned. This way, you are forming the habit of writing in English.
Example: “Today I felt anxious about my job interview. I reviewed common questions and practiced my answers.” (Try adding one or two new words you’ve learned.)
2. Read More in English
The best way to write better is to read more. Of course, not just any reading will do. Choose content that aligns with your proficiency level and your goals.
For example, if your goal is to improve your business English writing, then the best thing to do is read business writing content. Read a book on business or find documents that you want to imitate in your writing—remember, a language is learned through imitation.
While reading, you should do two things:
- Note down the words that you don’t know.
- Focus on the structure of the writing.
Reading must serve two purposes:
- Learning new vocabulary
- Learning the grammatical structures of English sentences
3. Learn New Words
As mentioned, the goal of English reading is to expand your vocabulary. When you can use words and phrases meaningfully, you can speak and write the language well. Of course, you should know a great deal of words so that you can hold more complex conversations.
How can you expand your vocabulary? Other than reading, you can do this by actively searching for synonyms and antonyms. When you come across a new word, use an online thesaurus and check for other words with similar meanings, as well as their opposites. Write these words down as much as you want, but be sure to use them in your writing practice as quickly as possible.
How many new words should you learn in a day? There is no fixed rule. However, one new word per day is more than enough, especially if you already have a rich English vocabulary. Of course, you should never ignore your goals. If it’s business English that you are trying to improve, then learn words that are relevant to the topic.
Example: If you’re learning the word “negotiate”, look up “bargain,” “compromise,” and “agree.” Then use them in a sentence: “We tried to negotiate a better contract.”
4. Focus on Grammar
Grammatical errors are more frequent with nonnatives than with natives. This is understandable. You’ve grown up thinking in your mother tongue, which likely has a very different grammar structure.
Shifting from one grammar system to another can be difficult—it’s like changing the software of your brain. However, if you want to improve your English writing skills, you will need to improve your grammar consistently.
For this, you will need to set time aside to learn grammar theory. Maybe that doesn’t sound too exciting. You may have memories of grammar lessons from school. However, there are many free online tutorials, as well as other valuable resources, that can help you learn.
The best approach is to find the most common grammar mistakes and correct them. This way, you can notice your personal error patterns. Once you identify your most common grammatical errors, you can work on correcting them. Tools like Grammarly or Hemingway can help. You will be satisfied with the support they offer.
5. Get Feedback on Your English Writing
Probably the best scenario is to have a native English speaker give you feedback on your writing. Not everyone has this opportunity, but if you have a close friend, politely ask them to review your writing.
(There are websites dedicated to this kind of activity. You can correct texts in your native language and receive corrections in the language that you’re learning. One such website is Nyan-8. We recommend you try it out. Signing up is free, and no fees are required.)
The person who is looking over your text doesn’t need to be a grammar expert. The first and most important thing they should notice is whether you’re using the language properly. Do the words make sense? Are you using them correctly? Of course, more serious grammatical errors should also stand out to a native speaker’s eye.
6. Imitate Good English Writing
The best way to improve your English writing skills is by imitating what’s considered good writing. Do a quick search for quality writing in the genre or style in which you want to improve. Then start imitating it.
You already know that writing and reading are two powerful ways to improve. So start imitating the people you want to sound like. See how they structure their sentences and whether they repeat certain words or phrases in specific ways.
Example: If you’re writing emails, find examples of strong professional emails and copy their structure—greeting, introduction, body, closing.
7. Paraphrase What You Read
Paraphrasing is a powerful method to improve your English writing. How does it work? Read a paragraph in English. Then, try rewriting it using other words. Start with short paragraphs and simple sentences. Then move on to complex sentences and longer texts.
Example:
Original: “He was extremely tired after the long journey.”
Paraphrased: “The trip left him completely exhausted.”
The better you become at doing this, the better your written English will become.
8. Think in English
One of the best methods for improving your English writing skills is to think in the target language. What is writing if not a reflection of your thinking? To become better at writing in English, you need to become better at thinking in English.
Go about your daily activities in the language of Shakespeare. Try it. Make a conscious effort to think your daily thoughts in English. It may be hard at first, but it will become easier over time.
You may initially translate sentences from your native language into English, but as you become more proficient, you’ll start thinking directly in English. Another useful habit is to think in English as you write. You can also read aloud what you write in your mind. This will help you develop more complex thought patterns in English.
9. Make Use of AI Tools
2025 offers the possibility of using AI tools to learn a new language. This means that you can use such tools to improve your English writing skills. Think of these tools as digital tutors that you can take with you anywhere and ask anything you need.
Two such tools—Grammarly and Hemingway—have already been mentioned in this article, but there are others that can also help in your quest to improve your English writing skills.
The best place to start is actually an AI platform. Take ChatGPT, for example. Ask it to help you with your written English. In no time, ChatGPT will suggest a couple of actions you can take.
A great way to use ChatGPT is to interact with it as you would with a human. Have a real conversation. Since you are trying to improve your business English, hold conversations on that topic. Make sure ChatGPT gives you feedback on your grammar, spelling, and writing cohesion.
Final Thoughts
Improving your English writing skills is important, especially in the competitive world of business. In this article, you’ve had the opportunity to read eight different techniques that you can use to become a better writer in this foreign language.
Keep in mind that not even native speakers are perfect when using their mother tongue in a business context. What you must remember is that the better you become, the more appreciated you will be, and the more success you will have in the business world.
We at Thumos Writing are dedicated to offering business writing services. For more on that, please contact us via our Contact Us page or on one of our social media platforms.
In the meantime, we have published posts on grammatical errors in English. Check out this article on some common errors in business English.
